Coloring Blonde To Brunette Strategies
If you want to go from blonde to brunette, it may seem simple. Just select a beautiful brunette hue from a box of hair color at the drugstore, apply it and viola...you're no longer blonde.
Sounds like an easy plan, but many times people who go from blonde to brunette wind up with either a flat dull brunette or even worse.....brunette with lots of ashy tones. Some blondes who go brunette in one step will also find their hair pulling yucky green, gray or mauve.
If you're blonde and want to go to that darker more brunette base listed below are general steps for recoloring from light to dark.
When possible, especially if you're a hair color novice, consider working with a hair color expert who understands the subtle issues which can occur when going from blonde to brunette.
Before You Start
1. Before you re-color the blonde to a darker hue, evaluate the integrity of the hair. If the hair is dry or damaged, work on increasing the health of the hair before re-coloring it.
2. Once the integrity of the hair to be re-colored has been accessed or amped up with conditioning treatments check the integrity of the current color.
Has it taken on brassy tones? Or is the color solid? If the color is brassy, this can mean problems moving forward and the brassiness should be addressed.
3. If the color isn't brassy, begin the re-coloring process by adding warmth. You will start with filling the current blonde color.
If hair is brassy, weigh your options to neutralize the brassiness.
Note About Hair Hair Travels From Warm-Cool-Warm
As hair is lifted and lightened it travels through warm orange, golds and yellows before it usually ends in cooler ranges.
To reverse the process of going from cool to warm, you go the opposite direction.
You have to restore the current yellow, gold and orange (or red) layers with warm tones.
As a general rule, hair which has been lifted for lightening is missing the necessary warm hues which make it look naturally beautiful.
Why Hair Needs To Be Gradually Filled
If you simply dump a brunette hue on lifted blonde hair changes are good it won't look as natural, multi-dimensional and healthy as hair which is gradually filled.
Also, in some cases, hair which has been lifted is often porous.
As a rule porous hair tends to grab ash tones and reject gold ones. The result? A yucky green, gray or even strawberry or mauve which may appeared streaky, splotchy or mottled.
Hair color manufacturers deliberately add ash elements for balance and porous hair naturally grabs the ash.
Even if you try to cover up lightened hair with a gold hue first, if the hair is porous, the strands will still grab for the ash.
If not done correctly, another common problem with going from blonde to brunette is pulling red. The goal is to get a soft, natural, shiny brunette.
How To Target Filler Color
Target the filling color to be one to two levels lighter than your end desired brunette result.
Ask yourself what color the hair would be if it was lightened in the sun. That’s the color you want your filler to be.
If you are currently a Level 9 blonde and want to be a Level 4 brunette, use a Level 6 filler color.
Balance, Balance, Balance
When going from blonde to brunette it is all about balance.
The filler is the bridge between blonde and brunette and it must restore enough warmth without appearing brassier than the hair would appear naturally.
Steps To Achieve Best Results From Blonde To Brunette
Listed below are the steps on how you can achieve the most realistic results when going from blonde to brunette:
1. Treat
Color experts who are very conscientious about doing no harm when undertaking a major color project almost always start off every major hair color service with a treatment designed to restore protein and protect hair.
Doing so helps fill the gaps in the many pin holes left in overly-processed hair. It also means that subsequent applications of color will adhere better and last longer.
2. Fill
Use a demi-permanent hair color formula to fill.
Demi colors further equalize porosity, there’s no lift and they’re much gentler on fragile strands. Remember, hair color services can cause long lasting dryness and damage so take as many precautions as possible.
Always combine a red and a gold, in proportions related to your target result. So, if your target is red, use equal parts red and gold. If your target is a warm brown, use 75% gold and 25% red.
Example: If you're existing hair color is 9/10 and heavily highlighted but want a target 4 brunette consider the following formulas:
Formula 1: ¾ Level 6 gold + ¼ Level 6 red/gold demi-permanent. Apply from the roots to the ends. Process approximately 20 minutes but be sure to check processing every 5-8 minutes. Wipe off excess with a towel.
Formula 2: Level 4 golden brown demi-permanent. Apply directly over filler and process 30 minutes.
3. Color.
Now you can apply your desired target shade. Again at this stage, many hair color experts prefer using demi colors because they feel they offer more control.
Your color formula should be gold or neutral toned.
It shouldn’t be necessary to use an ash tone if you have filled the hair properly.
Never fill hair to a blood red and then try to brown it out with ash. The result will be mud.
4. Glaze
Always great insurance. A demi-permanent glaze will enhance hue intensity and prolong color retention—valuable benefits for any color service and particularly when hair is overly-porous.
Ultimately, when transitioning from blonde to brunette it's all about balance.
When you fill you put color on top of color. If you layer too much color, or the wrong combination of tones, your result will be too dark.
If you don’t fill enough, your foundation will be weak and your result will be hollow or muddy.
When in doubt, do a test strand. It’s worth the wait in order to end up with the very best result.
Additional Tips
1. Always pre-test Your Demi. Not every demi-permanent works well as a filler.
To test your formula, squirt a small amount in a bowl, add a few drops of water for viscosity (no developer) and place it on a piece of white cotton.
If it appears grey or ash, skip it. If it looks brown or beige or taupe or tan, it’s a good choice.
2. Be realistic. Never expert an absolute ash result when deepening color. If you try, it will look muddy, green or grey.
The optimum end result will always be warm. To control the warmth, use a neutral or natural color for your final step.
Over time, you can work an ash tone into the regrowth formula, but it should be a gradual process.
3. Be Patient. Going to the desired blonde hue probably didn’t develop overnight, so you probably won’t be able to put it all back to brunette overnight.
Remember, it may take several color treatments and/or professional services to achieve the result you want.
How To Leave Some Blonde Strands Around Face
If going from blonde to brunette is going to be a drastic change, you may want to leave some lighter blonde strands around the face to help ease the transition from blonde to brunette.
1. Select highlighted strands throughout the top of the hair and face framing areas, saturate each section with conditioner and place each section on foil.
Fold the foil three-to-four times until each foil is an inch wide and the hair is tightly locked in.
2. Apply filler formula to remaining strands.
3. Rinse filler completely from hair without removing the foils
4. Shampoo and condition without removing the foils.
5. Apply target color to a test strand and process.
6. Adjust target color if necessary and apply to filled hair.
7. Shampoo, condition and remove foils.
8. Glaze highlighted sections or all strands, depending upon the total number of highlights present and the desired results.
Thoughts?
Please share your secrets, tips and experiences going from blonde to brunette or if you're a professional, any other secrets you have be willing to share.
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