FROM SINGLE PROCESS TO HIGHLIGHT HELP

Well, this is really complicated, you have not only different shades of blonde, but different tones of it (your ends more white and higher up more brassy orangy).  I can tell you that after you get it dyed brown, you will not be able to use color to give you blonde highlights (color won't lift color).  You will need to use something stronger, and test strand that to make sure it doesn't go too white.

The reason you are getting brassy orangy blonde is because your natural shade is dark and red comes out when you lighten.  So, from now on when you lighten, even just to lighter brown from your natural, you will need to choose a blonde or a brown with a blue or green base to counter this. (You will not be able to see what base is in the color if you buy boxed colors, but if you're buying brown, there is a better chance it will have a green base...you can always call the company that makes the color and ask what base is in it.  (You can also get it at Sally or a beauty supply shop, where the base is written on the color).

Since your roots are only 1/8 of an inch, maybe coloring them blonde first is not so important. Most people don't color them when they are that short, so I was thinking they were longer and would be more noticeable (though it is good to do them that short, prevents the line of demarcation!)  They still may present complications, but 1/8 of an inch really hides in the shadow of your head, so they should be okay.  Again, I'm not a pro, I don't know everything, test stranding is going to be VERY important.

I would really suggest a pro for where your hair is now.  Not only is it difficult with the different tones in it, but if your ends are white blonde (lighter than yellow), it will be difficult to dye your hair brown and get good color without a green or red base showing through and making your ends look pink or green after a few washes, or even right away.  

If you really don't want to try a new pro (there are good ones out there, and a high price doesn't necessarily mean they are better, you could look for a good cheaper one), then you might want to try using a protein filler first (from the beauty supply shop), then just dying it brown afterwards.  Choose a brown that is a couple of shades lighter than you want, in case your porous hair absorbs more of it than you want (you don't want it turning black).  Be prepared for the fact that it will probably fade in a few weeks, even if you use permanent dye, because your hair is porous. 

Test strand, absolutely, to make sure it's going to work, and not come out funny colors, to get your timing right, and to experiment with application.  You may need to do your white ends last, and leave the dye on them a much shorter time to avoid them going much darker than the rest.  Wash your test strand a few times too, to see what its going to fade to after a few washes.

This is a difficult post to answer, and let me say I'm not a pro, I just do my own hair, so if any professionals answer, I'd recommend listening to them over me.  If your roots are dark brown, and your length is...? 

I am unsure if your length is now light blonde?  If this is the case, removing the color isn't going to change much, and not worth doing. 

It really depends what color your hair is now what color dye you will need.  You should definitely go to Sally to get your stuff, they have the base written on the colors and you can see that on boxed color from the drugstore.  Knowing the base color will help greatly to give predictable results.  In general, if you are trying to get from dark brown to light brown and don't want it to go orange, you need to get a brown color with a green base, and only use a low volume developer (don't use anything higher than 20...you may need 20 since you want a little lift, but you could also try 10 and see if it lifts enough for you since you don't want much lift and it would be less damaging).  DON'T however do what I just said if your length is blonde, that will give you green hair. 
(()).  So what color is your length?

If it is blonde, your best bet for now may be to lift your roots to blonde and go from there to brown, so your hair will match better, then later just do your roots to light brown and let it grow out that way.  Depending on how light your blonde hair is (if it is blonde) this could be difficult, you may need to more complicated things to it to get it to brown.  And yes, I think what you mean by "slipping" is that the color fades very quickly?  That will always happen on a dyed blonde that goes dark.  It just has to look dull and will fade and need to be redone occasionally until the parts that were dyed blonde grow out.




Edited by Susan W - February 15 2007 at 7:07am