Can I successfully tone down highlights??

Mir1972 wrote: I just did something I swore I would never do...put color in my hair.  When I was in college I dyed my hair all the time..but have since cooled doing it.  Last night I tried some L'Oreal carmel highlights....it's not a bad shade on my medium brown hair...however, it does (now I find out) contain a bleaching element and I inadvertantly went a bit heavy around my face.  There will definitely be roots to cover which I don't want to end up doing.  My co-workers suggested either a color enhancing conditioner or a henna rinse to tone the color down.  At this point that's what I feel my best bet would be, to tone them down........anyone have any ideas???

Ummm don't do anything your co-worked suggested especially Henna Rinse as disaster will occur. If you decide you don't want to retouch your highlights you could goto a salon or beauty school and have the highlights returned to your natural color by having them filled and then colored. They can get you so close to your natural color that you won't really see a line of demarcation when it grows out. Don't attempt fixing it yourself. If those highlights are more than 2 levels lighter than you natural haircolor in order to correct that and return you to your natural color you need to do whats called a "TINT BACK" which is best left to the pros then color back to your natural color. If you just try to color over those highlighted parts of your hair they could turn orange, pink or very brassy and then you will be kicking yourself.

G'luck

Depending on the level and tone of the highlights get a demi or a semi in a neutral color, I think L'Oreal has a demi.  Select just those strands that have been highlighted, and tone them with the demi.  Make sure you strand test first. 

If you have a Sally Beauty supply try L'Oreal Colorgems in a neutral lightest brown? or whatever level you think would look best.  Usually one or two levels lighter than your natural color is nice.  

Good luck!