I went to a salon yesterday to have my light brown hair colored.  My stylist made it almost black.  With my skin coloring it looks disgusting.  I went back today for her to fix it.  She said she can't make the black any lighter and added red highlights.  It still looks gross.  It is MUCH too dark for me and makes me look washed out and witchy.  Is there anything I can do at home to fix this?  I have just paid $300 in two days and don't really want to go back to the sylist again.

Any suggestions on how to remove a permanent black hair color? 

First of all how did she add the red highlights?  Was this just permanent color or did she use bleach? 

Rebekah

yes I agree, definitely ask for a refund.

And i cant believe she told you she cant make the black any lighter.Thats a flat out lie.

Sounds like your hair was overly porous to begin with.Thats why you got black hair.

Yes colorfix will make it orangey red.But its a gentler way to get out the black.Plus after you strip out the black(which might take a couple of times) you put on the shade you want.Just nothing lighter than you started with.That would require bleach.And please dont bleach out the black.You'll be left with patchy hair..Colorfix does a bit of damage too as does any chemical.But it is one of the most gentle ones on the market.Good luck.

I am so afraid to try anything on my own.  I called the salon, but they don't seem willing to refund my money or do anything else.  She used red highlights to try and lighten it up some.  To them they tried to fix the problem.

Thanks for all the suggestions.  I think maybe I will have to tough this one out and spend a lot of time in the sun hoping it will fade quicker. (Not easy to do in the north at this time of year!)  I guess it is the last time I will go to that salon.

Colorfix will only strip off the hair dye from your hair.  I've used it before and it doesn't damage hair too much.  You should still hydrate it every week.  Try L'Oréal Professionnel's (www.lorealprofessionnel.com) Absolut Repair shampoo and masque once a week.  You should know that depending on how dark your hair is you'll need to use Colorfix more than once until you get the desired color.  If your hair is a light brown, it would be about a five, what the hair dresser should have done was use a dark blonde on your hair to get the desired result.  Nonetheless, I suggest you go back to the hair salon in person and tell the hairdresser you don't like the color and you want her to fix it.  It's her responsability to fix it, you paid for something that you did not get, so her obligation is to give you what you wanted in the first place.  Make sure you don't wait too long to go back, otherwise you lose reason.  And make sure she fixes your hair free of charge!  And don't let her bleach it, that would just be the easy way out for her.