Thanks to Aggie Pam and Fiona for the good tips. I really love Fiona`s idea of the lowlights. That would be a great alternative and relatively painless way to grow out the roots.
Yes, a colorist is really best if possible. I also agree about that. To find a good colorist check out: http://www.haircolorist.com/
Aggie Pam is right. When the hair has been bleached from dark brown to blonde, the hair becomes porous and when you try to put a dark brown color over it, it will become almost black. Also bleaching removes the natural red tones from the hair, so when you put a color over it, it looks unnatural. To get a natural color, a professional colorist will add a filler to replace the natural red tones that were removed. After the filler is put on, then you can put a brown tint on it. Since your natural color is dark, this may look ok, but will still be a little darker than your natural hair color. However, I personally would recommend doing lowlights, painted darker streaks, while your hair grows out. Your hair will look like it has highlights. The roots should blend in with the lowlights. I strongly recomend going to a professional colorist to have this done.
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OH!!! I just went through something similar. Except I didn`t have completely blond hair, just major highlights. (I`m have natural dark brown hair) Let me tell you something I wish that I would have known before my at-home correction attempt. Since your hair has been bleached (or colored whatever they used) it is much more porous! So, color adheres MORE to your hair. Therefore, when I bought the medium golden brown box of color to cover my highlights, I got DARK, very DARK brown closer to black results. It actually had some cool auburn highlights, but I pretty much freaked out! Now, it did gradually fade to my normal brown shade, but....I`m just warning...be careful.(It probably took maybe 6 weeks to fade all the way) Karen is right, the people at the 800#`s are helpful. I`ve used them. Also...it may seem like a waste but you can buy several boxes of color then do strand tests on a small snippet of hair. That way you will get an exact indication of the result. I did that when I was trying to correct my correction!! I did like 3 different ones side by side..it was like a science experiment! And...its cheaper than going to the salon. But of course, if they don`t turn out right you can still go to the salon. Its worth a shot!! Let us know!!
Did you get the blonde from a home kit or from a salon? If you got it from a home kit, dig out the box and then call the 800 hotline on the box and ask them how to get back to your original color. They can often offer good solutions. However, you need to have the box there because they will ask questions about the color or bleach that you used. Also, they only help people that buy their products so you may need to give them a box code as well.
I actually called an 800 hotline a couple of times and the people are really nice and helpful but they need the box of color or bleach that you used to be able to help. So have it by the phone when you call.
If you went to a colorist for the bleach then you may want to consider just asking them to add color back for you. Yes, it will cost money, but not as much to maintain the roots if you remained bleached blonde.
If you really can`t afford to go to a salon, I would recommend that you try the vegetable colors that are temporary and wash out after so many shampoos. One thing to consider...please remember that I am not a professional colorist....is that some temporary shades that are applied to really bleached and porous hair may actually be permanent in that they will not completely wash out - ever. So again, the advice of a stylist or colorist would really be a good idea if you can possibly do it.
If not, remember that the color on the box does not guarantee the color you will get when you apply it to your bleached hair. So you may have a much lighter result than the box since your hair is bleached.
I would start out with what they call a Level One type of Semi-Permanent color like Clairol Glints. To see the color chart go to:
I would suggest that you go with this very easy to remove color type because it would probably give you a great preview of the color you are looking for. Depending on how dark you want to go you might try Cocoa or Expresso.
This color washes out after 6-12 shampoos. Because your hair is so bleached it may not ever completely wash out depending on the color your choose. So you might want to call Clairol first and ask their advice.
I would recommend that you start with a Level 1 and if you hate the color, it will probably wash out. If you like the color you can move to a permanent color and then allow your natural color to grow into the color you select.
Level 3 is a permanent color.
Hope that helps.
Best wishes, Karen
That which doesn't kill you makes you stronger or drives you totally insane. :-)
I used to have dark brown hair and I went Bleach blonde. I have let it go to long and now I have four inch roots. I am out of money and i just want to go back to my brown hair- or close to it. Can anyone help on which shades to use and which not to? Thanks You.
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