From gray to green

Thanks so much for your replys. Sorry its taken me so long to reply. Been away for a while. I always used the same brand and color on my hair in the non permanent color. I decided I wanted the same color just to last a little longer and used the same color, same brand, only this time I got semi-perm color. I never went to the tanning bed while using non perm color so Im asuming that was what caused it to fade so quickly and turning it green this time?? I went to a salon, they couldnt get the green out, so they put a reddish color on for whatever the heck reason (and it looked pathetic) and now thatits fading, some of it looks like its going to be greenish too? I havent been back to the tanning bed or in the sun either. When its all out, Im going to a different salon thats supposed to know what theyre doing and Im curious how they will color my hair making it medium to dark brown again without it having any red tint and not fading to look so green??? Tell me what you all think and I will ask them what they can do and compare opinions. Thanks...

The green-ish color is due to a lack of red tone.  I'd have to guess the red molecules in the hair dye didn't stay put.

The tanning bed can certainly affect your hair color.  I'd recommend covering your hair when you tan.  (There are some products that contain sunscreen, but I'd still cover it with a towel, at the very least.)

If the salon used a product like colorfix, it may not have been able to remove all of the dye.  Colorfix is designed to remove oxidative dyes, but most semipermanent dyes are a combination of oxidative and direct dyes.

At any rate - I certainly don't think you have to live with green hair until it grows out.

I'm a little confused as to what you did differently this time than the other times when you had successful results.  Was the tanning bed the only difference?  Or did you try a different brand or shade than in the past?  Have you been swimming?  (Pool chemicals can turn hair greenish, though it usually happens to blondes.)

Also - how long after coloring did it turn greenish?  A few days?  A month?

And most importantly... Is the greenish lighter than the the desired shade?  Darker?  Or the same shade?

If you can give a little more detail about the questions I asked, it will be easier for us to make some recommendations. 

Edited by KarenNJ - June 26 2006 at 8:12pm

Hello everyone. Im new here. I have a question I hope someone can help me with. You all seem to have alot of knowledge about hair coloring. I have medium to dark brown natural hair, with almost 50% gray. I used a semi perm color medium brown to cover the gray. As it was fading out, the gray turned greenish. Could it have been the peroxide solution in the color? I went to a salon to try to get it stripped out and it only made it worse. A few days after I colored, I went to the tanning bed about 3 times. Could this have drawn out the color leaving it green? The salon couldnt get it out, so will it just have to grow out? I have very resistant gray and have only used non perm color except for this time when I thought it would stay in longer. Any suggestions? Thanks!!