Advice on haircolor removers??

Try Jheri Redding One 'n Only Colorfix. It's $12 (more or less) at Sally's and has enough for 2-6 applications.

Basically, you mix 2 solutions and saturate the hair, cover it with plastic (tipping caps are almost perfect for the job), and let it work for 20-30 minutes. You wash it off, let the hair dry, then apply a third solution, wait 5 minutes, and wash it off.

It works by reversing the chemical reaction that colored the hair in the first place so the dye molecules will liquefy and wash away.


THE GOOD: it does very little damage to the hair.

THE BETTER: it softens the new growth so it will take color almost as well as the already-colored growth.

THE BAD: You have to wait a few hours before re-coloring, because all your scalp oil will be washed away while doing the color removal. Unless, of course, you don't mind dark stains that'll last longer than the color on the hair

THE UGLY: It works almost PERFECTLY for demi-permanent and oxidative semi-permanent color (Clairol Complements Semi, Clairol Second Nature, etc.), but won't help much with permanent color (like Miss Clairol), and probably won't do a thing for non-oxidative color (like the direct dyes in Feria). The problem with permanent color is that the Colorfix liquefies the dye inside the hair shaft, but the color molecules themselves are perfectly content to stay put and remain inside -- oxidizing right back to their original color the moment they come in contact with peroxide.

THE SERENDIPITOUS: it's not a bleach, and officially doesn't lighten hair, but let me put it this way: after using it weekly along with Clairol Complements semi-permanent haircolor, my naturally level-3 brown hair is slightly orange-gold after using the Colorfix. Somewhere along the line, something is lifting the natural color, and I think the Colorfix is more responsible than the Semi-permanent Complements.

to the top... Someone help me please. 

You did the last step, right?  You added the peroxide that comes in the ColorFix box (bottle #3), let it sit on your hair for five minutes, and your color didn't darken one bit?  Because is sounds like the permanent hair color is reoxidising to black, meaning you haven't removed it all yet.

Also, if you want a light red-brown, then buy a red-blonde shade, not medium red-brown.  Your hair is now very porous and likely (as you have seen) to come out much darker than you want.  You may still need another round of colorfix first...it depends partly on your natural color, but most people get to a medium orange when they're through with colorfix.

Go ahead and use that protein filler. Get the clear one. It's definitely what you need for porous hair.

My hair is still very dark brown-red....

So, say I decided to use colorzap.... Since I've already removed a good portion of the black dye, would I have to leave it on as long as the directions said? I really am scared of damaging my hair and then having to cut the damage off as I've been growing it for ~3 years~.... Only minimal trimming in those 3 years too. And it's still in great condition.

I've treated my hair as if it's my own child my whole life and I don't want to screw it up. It's finally down to my natural waistline and I don't want to do something that I'm going to regret.....


Edited by Isilinde

Where can I buy Phantom? Do they have it at Sally's??

EDIT>>> The problem with going to a color correction specialist is that I really don't have the money for that right now. I'm travelling (have travelled) to several festivals and concerts this summer and I've had to spend money on camping, hotels, gas, and tickets.


Edited by Isilinde

I went to a salon and got some highlights today to break it up. Looks pretty good and my hair is still in good condition. I'll just have to deep condition a lot for the next few days and it should be back to normal.

Yup. It's worked out quite well for me. I also just got done using a red tinted protein filler and it made my hair look a bit more reddish....of course. hehe

Anyone know how long the color from protein fillers lasts?

And the next time I go back to the salon to get touchups on my highlights, more of the dark brown-red will get the chance to be highlighted since you can't pick out all the same strands. :) Slowly, but surely, I will get red hair.
So long as it's before the second weekend of September. I want to have red hair when I go see DMB at ~Red Rocks~.


Edited by Isilinde