What do you want to do?  It sounds like your poor hair is toast...

The only thing I'm thinking is to add some color to only the roots as they grow in, maybe do some lowlights with a demi or a semi that will compliment the hair on the ends.  Basically, I mean blend the roots a bit with the ends a bit a few times.  Then grow the poor hair out, baby it, and get regular cuts to finally get rid of the damage. 

What products are you using to conditioner your hair?  It's possible that you need more.  Get Paula Begoun's Book "Don't Go Shopping For Hair Care Products Without Me", I just got it at the library, and see what she recommends for your hair type and damage. 

Good luck!

What is the diff betw demi and semi?--demi usually has a very low level developer and semi is more like a direct dye that doesn't penetrate the hair shaft. 

Highlights and 40 vol...hmmm.  If you hair is previously colored, then color will not lighten color.  Highlights are usually done with BLEACH and 20 vol. or 30 vol.

Listen if your roots are bright brassy gold (red or orange or yellow gold?)  You could try toning down your hair with an ash color (unless it's truely yellow--then use violet, red?--then use a green, and orange---well use ash or blue), demi permanent.  You'll need to make sure that it's the same level color of the brassy gold color.  I'm pretty sure you could use the same color to tone the whole head down, but strand test first to see what's going to happen. 

Can you  post a picture?  It might help to see what color your hair is, cause I'm imagining yellow and orange...?

If you hair is damaged, and it sounds like it is, bleach and 20 is bad too.  The reason 40 is so bad is that on previously colored hair, color will not lighten color. 

When hair is lightened with single process color the pigments are added into the hair shaft, think of coloring hair like using water colors.  If you have a dark brown patch of color and you want to change it to light yellow, you'd first have to remove that brown off the paper.  Does that make sense? 

Toning could be damaging too.  You really need to strand test prior to doing the entire area or head to see if your hair can take it.  If I were you, I'd seek out a colorist who can fix your problem.  Certainly try to get your money back from that last place if they aren't willing to fix it.  Just be careful, it sounds like your hair is really damaged already. 

What I was suggesting was trying to tone the roots only to match the ends, then blend the rest of the hair with the roots.  I think you need to seek a professional to do this, I wouldn't try to tone with anything from Sally, unless you do a lot of research prior, so you know what color to use.

Good luck!

Oh, my!  Your poor hair.  Believe me when I say, I know exactly how you feel.  I've had a couple of experiences going into hair salons and asking them for one color and coming out with something completely different (i.e. orange hair, plum hair).  Your hair has gone through a lot in a short period of time, I suggest you take a few weeks and concentrate on your hair's health rather than the color.  You said you can live with the brassiness, so do that until you can get your hair to a healthier state.  

You should probably deep condition a couple of times a week, three times even if necessary.  Lay off on the hot tools for a while, if you use them.  If you want your curls better defined, use rollers, that might help to make your hair look healthier.  Once your hair is in better shape, I think you should either use a semi permanent color to your hair (if you don't need lift first), or in case you need lift, apply Colorfix and then use a semi permanent color on top.  I think you should avoid highlighting your hair as best possible, because remember, your entire head is already bleached and you'll just keep bleaching the same place over and over, and that is not healthy for your hair.  Stick to a brown, a number 4 or 5, something close to your natural hair color. 

As for your hairstylist, it seems to me like she knows what she's doing, at least in theory.  Before she put anything too harsh on your hair, she tried to tone down the brassiness.  I believe she used the 40 volume oxidizer on your hair because she was trying to get lift with the less damage possible, which in theory is a lot less harsher than to bleach than deposit color.  The only problem with that is that color will not lift color, so her only bet was to bleach your hair.  The next time you want to get anything done to your hair, you should first ask your hairstylist what he/she plans to do to achieve your desired result.  Even if you feel you have silly questions, ask, a hairstylist should be able to answer you without making you feel inferior, because though we don't know the complexities of hair coloring, we are at least in our right to know what they will do to achieve what we want.    

I myself am paying a visit to a hairstylist this week to see if she can fix my mess as best possible, but I will ask a LOT of questions, I want to make sure she understands my hair and that she knows what to do to fix it.  Go back to the hairstylist that did your hair and tell her you're not pleased with your hair color, and tell her what you want, and ask her if she can achieve it, if she says she can, ask her to do a strand test first.  That way if it's not what you want, you won't have ruined your whole hair.  Heck!  I myself am asking for a strand test first. =P

Good luck, and let us know how it all turned out.

Funnygirl and Rebekah you guys are awesome thank you so much for helping me here. I went to see a hairdresser today that supposedly deals with color correction but her personality was so overbearing I could not stand it. She was annoyed I would not buy some tiny bottle of $40 junk. She said I NEEDED to use it before I saw her which is what the last hairdresser said to me who made my hair more damaged. They went off about how it has Keratin in it what that is as if I do not know. Whatever, Keratin in many products. They said my Redken, Lanza and other stuff i use is equivalent to WAL MART and that this stuff is like Nordstrom or Neiman Marcus. I was like huh!?!?!?!? What the F!?!? I was sooo annoyed. She said it would be $200 to fix my hair and that she would use semi perm chesnut brown and maybe add some highlites on top and that my hair could be fixed. But she was one of those that do not like to answer questions and since I have a trust issue now I have scheduled other consults.

I am having the library order the book you recommended Rebekah and can;t wait to get it. Someone else had mentioned it a while back to me also but I totally forgot. Thanks for the reminder.

My scalp hurts and itchy.

How could the owner of the salon I went to NOT know better than to do 40 vol when I keep hearing now that color over color no workie!!?!? She has been doing my friends hair for 7 years!!!?!? AND my friend straightens her hair with flat iron so it should be way damaged from that and the bleach (she is blone natrually brunette). How has she managed to do HER hair fine but not mine?!?! I told the hair dresser that if she had to go a little darker to take out the brassy I would do it but not a lot since I want to be somewhat light as that was the whole point of the whole ordeal, $, damage and so on. I somehow thought that since my hair is so much lighter copper that using a low peroxide would result in nice dark blonde highlites, just a couple, I thought why would I need to bleach when I am at the light level I am at now? I did not know it was not possible and like the toner they did not show up just damaged more...but the stylist SHOULD have known before the high lites, and low lightes (permanent color) I hate so much. Why did she use perm color? Why 40 vol? Ugh I am sorry I am repeating myself I am so upset! Should I write her a letter??!?!! I want my $ back it the least she could do.

My co-workers made fun of my skunk scalp with the bright gold intermixed with black! Ugh! They did not know I was within earshot. The stylist today said she would not use toner just semi perm color I would have to keep coming back every 6 weeks. That too often! So you say for my gold yellow brassy I need violet toner? and for the copper brassy which is the rest I need green toner? When do I use blue toner then? But you said toner is damaging too so I worry about that... I wish you were here to help me fix this Rebekah! Are you anywhere near Oregon? LOL!  I will ask the stylist at my new consult tomorrow about toning and matching roots to ends like you said.

Funny girl, how do I know if I need lift first? What exactly is colorfix? How damaging is colorfix and how damaging is semi perm? Is semi perm better for me than demi perm? I worry about my damaged hair falling out.

What do you guys think of Clairol Shimmerlights shampoo/conditioner in Lavendar or sterling silver or Avedas blue malva? Will those work and will they cause damage? I wonder how they compare to salon toners? They sell Clairol in Sally's...

I think also I will do the Aphogee protein TX. The last stylist that was suppose to use it on me but she decided on Sebastians Penetraiit but I wonder if that works as well? Because Aphogee from Sallys is super high placenta protein. The hair dresser used her Sebtastin which smelled like regular conditioner....she said the Aphogee causes hair to get hard, which I know, and that it can break off in chunks so that scared me into $ tx with her instead. Plus she said it won't work without their special dryers...sigh....I need a hair dresser I can trust that doesn;t just try to make $ off me. She says  everything in Sallys no good becasue it cheap! And yet there are pletny of pro line stuff that sucks.

Vicky, I don't really have any advice, but I just wanted to tell you I FEEL for you! I've got issues with these Godblessed salons too! It is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO hard to find one you can trust and communicate with! Is it even possible?! I find a stylist that really knows their stuff (color) but then they treat my hair poorly (heat lamps, dryers, rake the comb through) or I find somebody that doesn't try to screw me over (by lying or shoving product down my throat) and I can't seem to convey to them what I want. It is SO FRUSTRATING. I'm about to give up already!

I would say just keep going for consultations until you find someone you feel comfortable with. When you call, ask for "color specialists" or "whose your best color person" (if you don't already). It helps a LITTLE. You know, one time I got this color job that I called "Rocker Chick" -- I HATED it (I had super chunks of blonde red and what looked like black) -- wasn't really the stylist's fault -- I guess I kinda sorta asked for it. Anyway, the next time I went back I told her it was not for me and she was totally able to get me back to blonde like I liked. I didn't have any major damage or problems and she was totally confident that she could do it. So, what I'm saying is, SOMEBODY out there CAN fix your hair. Of course, the hard part is finding WHO. Also, it only cost me like $100, which is what it always cost. Even when I first went to that girl, it was for a color correction and she didn't charge me anymore than anybody who came in for highlights or whatever.

What is WITH these cosmotologists? They SHOULD NOT be getting ANNOYED at us! That is so UNprofessional. I think they're just brainwashed to sell all that crap. I mean, I KNOW it's a business but they charge so frigging much for just a hair cut or a color, we can't AFFORD the product. We use the product money for their tip! Ok, now I'M ranting! Ha!

GOOD LUCK!!! I feel your pain!

OK that's just too much reading. Just reading your first post it sounds like your hair is overprocessed. It's damamged! Doing more chemical services like highlights, color and whatnot is only making the damage worse! Especially lightening hair as the only way to lighten hair is to bleach it.

I don't know what stylists are bashing L'ANZA but it's a great product line. I encourage you to goto a salon and try their 5 step Deep Conditioning Treatment. Go here  http://www.lanza.com/news-pr15.htm - http://www.lanza.com/news-pr15.htm  and use their salon locator, call and set up an appointment to get that treatment it's about $25 and well worth it.

Corrective color is expensive and $200 does sound about right to fix your hair if it's long hair.

Your hair could be in a weakened state from all the hair color processes you've gone thru recently. I wouldn't recommend coloring your hair again in the near future unless you are having the color corrected by a professional. But I would do this after you get the L'ANZA treatment done and several weeks of conditioning yourself at home also. You need to rebuild that hair structure.

You need to remember on previously colored hair that you can't put a lighter color haircoloring over it. Color does not lighten previously colored hair. The only way to lighten hair that has been previously colored is to bleach it to remove the artificial pigment. Stylists like to call it a lightener but IT'S BLEACH.

Whatever you decide if you want to keep your hair seek a master colorist who specializes in corrective hair coloring, pay the $$$, lesson learned. Don't attempt to correct this yourself and you might just make it worse.

G'luck

Thank you Vicki.  ^^  I hope you're hanging in there with your hair, just keep thinking positive (and mind not what your silly coworkers say, they'll be admiring your hair in no time, just laugh it off, it's always the best medecine).  You asked about Colorfix.  Colorfix is a color stripper and one of the mildest ones out there (they have it at Sally's).  It removes the dye from your hair so that you don't have to put color over color.  If your hairstylist doesn't bleach your hair to get the achieved color, it's possible that she'll use a hair stripper.  Usually your hair color will lighten, how lighter it will be really depends on how many times you use the stripper.  I once wanted my hair a lighter brown, and it was dyed a dark brown, so I had to go to the hairstylist once a week for about 3 or 4 weeks to get my hair light enough for the brown I wanted.  And that's exactly what I mean when I say that if the color you want is lighter than your current hair color then it will not give you the desired result.  The only exception to that rule would be if your hair was natural (no dye or any other chemicals), and even then, sometimes it's necessary to lighten it first.  Say you want a medium blonde to your hair, if your current hair color is a dark blonde, there's no way you'll have a medium blonde as the end result, you'll need to lift your current hair color to that level first, to later dye your hair the medium blonde.

Members of this forum have said that Aphogee is a good product.  As a matter of fact, one of the members even mentioned that, after you use the product you must follow with a deep conditioning.  I agree with her, Aphogee will restore the protein in your hair, but it does not restore moisture, that is why it makes your hair stiff, it's all protein.  After you've used it (follow the instructions, I don't live in the U.S. so I don't know how to use it, though I'll be there in a month and intend to buy it because I've heard good things about it) follow with a deep conditioning, let it sit for the time it says and then rinse, your hair should be soft and beautiful.  I think you probably need an ionic blow dryer for the treatment, it's not a super secret special blow dryer, you can find those anywhere nowadays.  Sally has good hair products, some of them are just regular (like something you can buy in the supermarket), but others are of better quality so just look at the ingredients.  Also, Redken, L'anza, Kérastase, Matrix, Alfa Parf, Paul Mitchell, L'Oréal Professionnel and many of those other salon products are really the high quality stuff, so obviously that hairstylist only told you that lie to sell her product.  Just to give you an idea, back when I used to flat iron my hair everyday (now I do TR), I went to dye it once and the hairstylist used the Reconstructor from L'anza in my hair (because the ends were so dry) and my hair was rediculously soft, I was amazed!  

Almost forgot, you asked the difference between semi and demi permanent colors.  Claude has a post in another topic explaining the difference, which is as follows, and I quote: 

"Hair Coloring comes in several forms. Permanent, Semi-Permanent and Demi-Permanent. Permanent is permanent....it will fade as it oxidizes but it's permanent. Semi and Demi are deposit only color that desosit color on the hair strands but over time they fade out. Demi lasts longer and if your hair is damamged or over processed where the cuticle which is the outter most layer of the hair strand is damaged, freyed or raised the demi color can actually stain the cortex of the hair strand so the color will remain for a very long period of time as the dye will stain the cortex just like a permanent color."

There's more to the text so you might want to go read it for more explanation on color in general (he's a hairstylist).  The topic is "Hair color question" and it was posted by essence21.

Good luck with your quest to finding a good hairstylist, you're doing the right thing, it's all about research until you find the right person for your hair.  Good luck with your hair as well.  Keep us posted.

You guys kick ass! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!! OKay so now I need to figure stuff out.... some people say don;t do anything to the hair at all for a while. Others say don;t do anything yourself for a while.

So the questions are....do I buy this colorfix? Do I buy Clairon Shimmerlights at Sallys which is a shampoo and conditioner that uses lavender or somehting to neutralize the gold like a toner? There are 2 other brands that sell similar toning type product. Aveda and another one. Evidently they dont have peroxide and ammonia I think.

Also someone mentioned vegetable dyes or semi perm hair color which she mixed in with her shampoo.

I did see 2 stylists today adn both were much nicer than the chick I saw yesterday. They were professional and seemed knowledgable. Both seemed to think it is okay for me to fix this problem now and not wait but neither pushed me to make an appt nor buy product. One said she would use toner level 8 and later on i could come back for demi brown color that is ash only as neutral can have some red in it she said. Don;t know about beige brown. and the other said toner and demi color in one visit I think... my hair would be 1-2 shades darker but that is fine at this point. Not sure why they do it the way they do and if toner alone is enough. But the 2nd one said the toner she woud use would be ammonia free with a low peroxide level as I need a little peroxide to lift just a little she said...

I did order the book you guys mentioned, thanks for the advice!

Is anyone able to read the refund letter I wrote to my stylist? I would so appreciate some suggestions! I need to shorten it but am bad at that as you guys can tell! I cant get to the point without being wordy. Let me know and I will send it. Thanks again, I am so greateful to you all for your empathy and useful suggestions!

Kimberly, who makes Colorfix and waht is in it that makes it work? I am super confused as usual. Called Sallys and asked about their Clairol blue or lavendar shimmerlights or wahtever it was and after explaning my story she seemed to think it would nto work on me.

Also consulted with a salon that does Aveda and she did not offer the blue mulva (also another shampoo/conditioner) that suppose to take the brassy out. But I forgot to ask why she not recommened it.  I began with copper brassy hair, still have it along with gold brassy on top thanks to the stylist.

I had 3 consultations about my brassy copper hair that is also gold brassy on top. Damaged, fried from bleaching and coloring my already dry naturally curly hair.

One uses Loreal pro and would do demi color to fix the prob. the other would use Lanza deca something demi color along with toner and the other would use Aveda demi with toner.

I do not know who to see. I know I have to go darker which I hate but need to in order to remove the brassy. The Q is who will add the least amount of damage to my hair and yet make it as little dark as possible.

I read in my "dont go shopping for hair products without me" that plant derived and all natural is not necessarily all that great. And that is what Aveda advertises. At Aveda she told me the toner has no peroxide and ammonia but I thought there has to be a little peroxide at least for it to work? Or is that only referring to the actual hair color?

I am so confused and nto sure what to do. Any ideas? Thanks!

wow i thought i had processed hair

relaxed  3 times + colored 2 times + highlight bleached + colored again+ relaxed = mushy hair at the highlights + overall dryness.

the solution = get the shortest cut that you can lived with, keep using moisturing treatment and protein treament at dry ends. smile and laugh with other people who makes fun of your hair. learn more about hair and survey the places you want to go. soon you will out grow your damaged hair and become more knowledgeble and even more cautiuos about the place you go.

i wish your hair and you good luck.