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My very gray hair keeps turning reddish brown HELP

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davidm1971 View Drop Down
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    Posted: September 30 2010 at 1:43pm

I can't find the answer to this question anywhere on the web, so I really would appreciate if someone could give me some helpful tips.

Problem: I have 90% gray hair and 10% natural light ash brown hair.  I have been dying my hair for several months with Ion Color Brilliance Creme in Light ash brown mixed with light brown.  I use Ion 20 developer and the color 1:1.  I have tried different brands of hair color and 20 developer, but I keep ending up with the same result: brown hair with a bad red tone to it. I don't want any red tones at all, just plain light brown.  I even tried using the gray drops but those didn't help.  Is there something I'm doing wrong?  I leave the color on for about 45 mins to ensure that it is working.  Is there a pretreatment I should do?  HELP!  I'm getting married in one month and would like to have my hair brown, not red/brown, on my wedding day. Thanks very much for help!SmileSmileSmile
 
Dave
 
 
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Susan W View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Susan W Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 01 2010 at 8:06am
I am not a pro, and do not have gray hair yet, so please if you do anything I suggest, test strand profusely! 

Gray hair is very resistant to color, so this may be one reason.  Another reason may be that because the grays are so light, the base color in the dye is showing too much (I have had this problem when dyeing my lightened blonde hair darker).  See what the base is in your color, if it is brown, red or orange, this may be what you're seeing.  On the other hand though, your only other base options will be neutral, green, or maybe violet.  You can imagine that if these wind up showing through, this is not going to be pleasant either -so I'd try the neutral first.   I think trying different shades with test strands may really be your best option.  It may cost a little to get going, but you have a chance of finding something that works better.

As for gray being resistant to dye.  If your dye (not including developer) is ammonia based, I have heard some have luck putting the dye alone on the gray hair with no developer for 10 minutes, then adding the mix of dye and developer after that.  The alkaline dye is supposed to open up the cuticle of resistant gray hair, allowing the dye to penetrate.  Another thing people do is put some peroxide on only the grays sometime before dye day to make them more porous.  Again, I'm not gray yet so I haven't tried these, but they are something you can test strand.


Making metal barettes/concord clips hair safe, long hair style how to: http://alonghair.wordpress.com
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davidm1971 View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote davidm1971 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 01 2010 at 12:47pm
Wow, thanks for taking the time to give such a detailed explanation!  I will definitely try these things at home.
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PrettyDanica View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote PrettyDanica Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 13 2010 at 4:20am
Hello Davidm1971,

you can try the product of Lavender Hill Hair Color i've been using their Gray Hair Diffuser for over a year and a half and its very affordable at very cheap price, Saves Time & Saves Money
Semi-Permanent Hair Colorant
No Peroxide/No Ammonia/No Alcohol
you can google them just search Lavender Hill Hair Color
Lavender Hill Hair Color
www.lavenderhillhaircolor.com
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