Stripey hair

As long as your hair feels healthy, you can do something with it right away.  Otherwise, keep using good conditioning treatments and wait until it feels healthy.

But you can't use a lighter dye on previously colored hair.  You have to remove the dye first, or your hair will just get darker.

Be sure to read Claude's sticky at the top of this forum.  It's an excellent introduction to hair coloring.

Honestly, your best bet is to live with the dark color until it grows out.  You could also brighten it up with a few foil highlights.

I'd suggest you try to live with it for a week and see if you can stand it the way it is and also to see if it fades a little.  If you fell you absolutely must get to a lighter brown, here's what you need to do:

If you can afford to go to a salon, find a master colorist and have it done professionally.  Be sure to explain everything you did to your hair.

If you cannot afford to go to a salon or you are unable to find a master colorist, find a Beauty Supply store like Sally's.  Purchase a color remover product like Colorfix & follow the directions to remove the dye.  Your hair will likely be a pumpkin-like color.  (Make sure the color is even throughout.)
Ideally, you should use a porosity treatment.
Then color your hair to the desired color.  Be sure to do a strand test first.  Unless you have very short hair, the ends will soak up the color very fast and look muddy, if processed too long.  So apply the color from the roots to mid-shaft and do not pull it all the way through to the ends until the last 10 minutes or so.
If your strand test doesn't give you the desired color, you will need to pre-pigment.

This is the "gentler" method, but it is still damaging to the hair.  Color removal can also be done with bleach.

Again, my suggestion is not to remove the color.  I'd leave it as it is or add a few foil highlights.

Good luck!


Edited by KarenNJ - October 01 2006 at 12:17pm

 It may also lighten up on it's own with alot of washings. My hair was dyed a light reddish brown but at first looked almost jet black,and It looked pretty drastic.But after only a week of washings,it lightened up almost to the color I wanted.