So. Cal. Master Colorist / Corrector?

Hello all,

Wow, what a great site.  Glad to know I'm not the only one in the world who feels pissed / sad / frustrated whenever I look at my hair in the mirror.

Can anyone recommend a smart colorist who truly knows what they are doing, in the Los Angeles area?  As in, understands the chemistry and the reactions when x is mixed with y, etc?  I wish I had never put color to my healthy, shiny, curly virgin hair 2 years ago, because I am still dealing with the repercussions!  My story, for anyone who cares to read:

I am middle eastern, and my natural color is super-dark brown (looks almost black).  My hair is naturally curly and the length was about to my shoulder blades.  Well, for years, people told me I should get some highlights, so finally I went to the long-time hairstylist (15+ years!) of my uncle, his wife, her mother, and her cousin, all of whom have beautiful, Cindy Crawford-like hair.  This was at a very she-she, high-end salon in Beverly Hills.  I told the stylist he was about to work on virgin hair, and that I wanted "SUBTLE" highlights, "not blonde, and please don't make it orange."  I said these words.  In fact, he and I shared a laugh at the middle-eastern girls he saw around Beverly Hills with orange or blonde streaks through their dark hair.  So I trusted him because we were on the same page. 

Well, you know where the story goes.  I came out of there with a bunch of BRIGHT ORANGE highlights, and I paid over $200 for the privilege.  I don't remember the exact process he used, but I remember after the highlighting, he put a toner over all my hair ("to make it less black."), which I thought was weird, since I didn't understand why chemicals had to be applied to my entire hair.  Anyway, I never understood the stories about women crying over a bad hair job until then.  I sobbed when I got home.  I was horrified and devastated.  How my hair came out this way when he and I were on the same page was beyond me.  It still is.  This was 2 years ago, in March 2004.

Well, the color got even more and more orange as time went on, so a couple of months later, I went to ANOTHER Beverly Hills salon on the recommendation of an acquaintance.  The colorist agreed that my hair was very brassy, and said "you wanted caramel highlights," and I was like YES!  So she did my entire head, and it came out okay, not great, but after a short while the highlights and non-highlighted parts started turning green! 

Thinking I was so smart and not wanting to waste more $$$, a few months after that, I colored my hair for the first time at home using Feria – it was a mahogany red.  It actually looked pretty cool, but after the roots came in, I decided just to go back to my natural color so I wouldn't have to deal with coloring ever again, at least not until I started getting gray hairs.  So I used Feria Midnight Ruby.  The color came out perfect, but after several weeks, would fade to red / orange!  So I re-did it again probably 5 more times after that, always with the same result – the color soon fading and leaving my hair red / orange.

A couple of months ago, still wanting my natural color back but not wanting to fry my formerly lustrous hair any further, I thought I'd be REALLY smart, and go to a henna specialist to get my hair colored back to its natural color with "black" henna, which she assured me was safe and good and would work.  Well, I came out of there with my hair more orange than ever!!!!  PISSED!!!!  Why does no one know what they are doing?!?!?!

So, now, I am at my wit's end.  I have curly, medium-length hair, with about 4 inches of black  roots and the rest of the length a medium to dark orange!  It looks ridiculous, not to mention that my hair has lost its health and bounce!  HOW CAN I GO BACK TO MY NATURAL COLOR, ONCE AND FOR ALL, especially now that my hair has been henna-ed?  I wish I could just turn back time, because this is 2 years now of dealing with this. 

So, any advice on a true master colorist or someone who can fix this in Southern California would be MUCH appreciated.  Any advice on what should be done would be great as well.  PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE.  Thanks so much.