I hope this (long) story will serve as a strong warning to all members.
You may recall a few weeks back I joined the forum to ask for advice on the removal of Black Hair dye from my very long hair, in order to allow me to highlight to a "Californian Sun Kissed look"
(see topic "From Mortiocia to Cindy C").

Well, for the past two Fridays,I have spent a total of 9 hours and £120 on a colour correction at a very good salon, and I can tell you, having seen the amount of hard work this colour correction actually involved, carried out by a team of 3 extremely profficient and experienced Stylists and an approved colour technician, I can tell you - please DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!!!
First, my hair was cut into a long layered style - I 'd say I lost about 3 inches on the length.
Next, "Wipeout" a colour remover containing 40 vol Peroxide was applied to my hair. This lifted my roots to a bright yellow, and my ends to a reddy, goldy muddy colour. However, around the front, on the mid length, the black just would not budge.
A second application also proved unsuccessful in removing the black from this area.

By this point, it was almost 7pm, so a level 07  tint with 3% vol was applied all over in an attempt to "even out" the colour, and an appointment for part two of the process, was made for exactly 7 days later, thus allowing my hair to recover a little from the ordeal.

7 days on, I'm back in the salon again; my aim is to ultimately lighten up, so they put highlights through a cap, in order to add another lighter tone right through the hair; the actual tone was perfect blonde at the roots, but an  awful orangey / gold / copper through the ends, and so then a toner was applied to tone away the gold a little.

The result after all that work: from being a level 01 jet black, I'm now about a level 6, with dark brown patches at the front / sides (which luckily blend) and with streaks of  copper, and bright blonde roots, but you know, I'm probably only one more session away from my goal - in 6 weeks time I go in for woven highlights.

However my hair is very dry, breaking on some strands, and looking very sorry for itself; it probably wont be back to it's former glory for 5-6 years.
The morals of the story:
1. DO NOT colour with Black unless you are willing to commit untill the colour is grown right out.

2. DO NOT attempt a home colour correction at home on dyed black hair unless you are willing to risk your hair length and condition.  As I found out, you cannot predictt the results, and you must be able to mix colour in order to counterract adverse reactions. Also, the results vary from each individual - there was another girl in the salon with me having exactly the same process, and her black dye lifted out no trouble, whereas my hair had to be fried. 

I hope this helps alot of you understand what removing black can actually entail.

its nice to see some honest feedback.I think too many people come here read about one story where someone went from black to blonde successfully and  think it will be so easy.The funny part is how many people ignore alllll the other posts about color gone wrong.Going from black to blond is extremely hard on hair.I will have to say I did it successfully at home.But not first without the gentlest products,a good haircut,and an extensive knowledge of dying hair.Plus people dont realize that even if their hair looks fine at first,over time the bleachings will take their toll.

I am suprised they used wipe out on you.Were they removing permanent haircolor?Its alot easier to remove permanent IMO, than demi and semi's.Since they used 40 volume with it I'm guessing it works with bleach.I'm suprised theyr'e are still so many salons not using color strippers like the ones by swarzkopf.They have access to the best stuff and choose not to use it.Those cheaper products like wipe out(which you can get at any sally's)can compromise hair even more.

It is very interesting to hear what is entailed in a salon color correction.I know when I went from medium brown  to blond at home.I used swarzkopf's phantom(sulfur based) color remover.It stripped out all the color evenly and didnt change my virgin hair on the bottom layers or at the roots.Then i bleached twice with 7th stage lightener and 20 volume.Then i toned.It turned out very well.

So I know it can be done at home with the appropriate info.Just be careful even with highlights.Too many times when you go to get gradual highlights they overlap which can be very damaging on hair. I had my hair highlighted for a long time.I couldnt figure out why my hair would only get to shoulder length and would already need a trim.The stylist was good but she still overlapped.It really took a toll on my hair.So be careful.You've gotten this far,it would be sad if you had to cut anymore of long hair.

I'm curious about what claude thinks,since he is a student and seems to know his stuff?

Hi LHD, and thanks for the reply. Yep - I am very worried anjd nervous about highlighting again - I've been in that situation where overlapping occurs, and with bleached in highlights especially, that can be devastating. Put it this way, if I dont feel in my heart my hair is going to take it, I'll wait 6-12 months atleast. The stylists give you all this jazz like, "well, if you work on your condition in between visits you will get there safely", but youre dead right, if the hairs had enough, it's had enough, and I feel I'[ve been lucky so far to keep what I have, although breakage is visible (you know when you see the odd fuzzy strand sticking up here and there!) and my hair is starting to get that wire wool feel about it.

I must admit, I admire anyone who can tackle this on their own at home, you gotta be brave!!!!  So If you were me, having come this far, would you go back for more highlights ? (if you were happy with the condition that is).

Thanks again for the reply!

Longhairdreams wrote: its nice to see some honest feedback.I think too many people come here read about one story where someone went from black to blonde successfully and  think it will be so easy.

that advice also comes from the dumba$$es who go "I bleached and colored my hair 7 times in one day and its still totally healthy"

If you read that, move on and ignore any future hair advice from that type of individual.  They're lying to you, and lying to themselves.  One bleach away from a chemical haircut.  I know, Ive been there!  But at least I was honest with myself on how damaging it was  and would never recommend it for someone else.

Yep, but you know some so called "stylists" get it wrong too.Exactly 10 years ago, I lost my lovely  long thick hair, after I visited a Salon, and a stylist in which I placed all of my faith.

I had bleached in highlights, but had wanted to get a more even all over look. My hair was bleached 3 times, from bright Orange, to bright yellow to white and yellow. Of course I went back dark some months later, but then I wanted highlights again, so my hair was stripped by a woman who had never used a stripper before.

I ended up with a Jon Bon Jovi - Keep the Faith haircut, and I was shattered, lost all my confidence, and really beat myself up over it. But you can put too much trust in some stylists. The good ones are the ones who know when to trell you "No - if I do that, your hair will be damaged". 
4 days after my hairs last "beating" I'm happy to report it's starting to bounce back, it has regained its curl, and the dry frizz has been eradicated through deep conditioning. I'm going to request, that on my next visit, she concentrates on highlighting  the darker, practically untouched front / side areas, and only puts a few around the back, where it has already lifted nicely to a caramel tone. I will keep you updated on how the next stage of highlighting goes; and perhaps send a photo.

1985indy500 wrote: My client wants her BLACK Permanent Home-Colored hair BLOND. I don't want to use a color remover or bleach all over. Do you recommend Heavy Hilights with a lite brown toner? I think I should make her lighter gradually. Then what should I do with her roots? Tell her to go a half shade lighter with her at home color each time? Thanks for any advice. I read Beth Minardi's advise and I think this is what she recommended, one half shade lighter each time you color the base.

we should be asking YOU the questions.. :]

but i say.. do what she wants, warn her of possible bad things that can happend and if she wants to go for it then do it.

What color line duos ur salon use? Schwarzkopf has a color remover called Phantom and doesn't strip the color, instead it leaves the hair in the previous state that it was in prior to using color.

Well as long as its a gentler product like phantom then alteast u know the orange is to be expected. That also helps in determining what base color to use...Tell us how it goes!