Calling all at-home budget hair colorists - need help! FIXED - thanks!

[Irin997]

So for the past 8+ months I've been going to the salon and having my naturally darkish/mediumish brown hair highlighted with blonde, a caramel blonde/brown, and my natural brown. Well in order to save some money, plus I was tired of trying to deal with the brassiness, I wanted to go back to my natural or as close to my natural brown as I could. I've done it before without problems.

Well last night, I found a box of L'Oreal Preference in Medium Ash Brown and dyed my hair. The color came out pretty good BUT if you look at it really closely, it seems to have a greenish/grayish tint to it. Kind of flat and blah looking. After some Google research, I found that this tends to happen quite often when going from blonde to brown and if I had researched how to do this before actually doing it, I would have known to dye my hair red first and then use a neutral color brown.

I need help. I am not a fan of this greenish/grayish tint and I absolutely cannot afford to go the stylist right now. I need an at-home budget fix. My hair before I colored it had a good 2 inches of roots. I know that I need to replace some of the red tones in my hair but I do not want red roots!

Should I use a permanent or semi-permanent?

What tone should I use...neutral or warm?

Thanks so much....I will forever be grateful!

 

[StephMK]

I don't know about re-dying but I have red tones in my hair & always use warm tone colors. I usually use Light or Med. Golden Brown & it gives reddish tones to the brown. If I choose a reddish color, it comes out too red. The golden part seems to give me the best color results.

I'd be tempted to just re-dye with a golden tone and only leave it on a few minutes to tone out the tint but that is probably not the approved method for fixing color.

 

[dizneygib]

You may laugh at this but try tomato sauce. Leave on the hair for about 15 mins and then wash and condition as normal. Tomato sauce acts as an anti-oxident. It won't turn your hair any colour but it will remove the green. If you wrap your hair in cling film after you add the sauce it will speed up the process. Hope this helps.

 

[tracycd2]

What you can try is called a shampoo cocktail.
Mix one part hair peroxide with 2 parts shampoo. Shampoo in hair leaving it in for 5 to 10 min. This should help with the ashy tone. It can also lighten your color slightly. Then you can apply a semi permanent haircolor with a golden base. I hope this helps.

 

[onyx8]

There should be a phone # on the box of dye you used, I would start by calling them to see what they suggest.

 

[Irin997]

You may laugh at this but try tomato sauce. Leave on the hair for about 15 mins and then wash and condition as normal. Tomato sauce acts as an anti-oxident. It won't turn your hair any colour but it will remove the green. If you wrap your hair in cling film after you add the sauce it will speed up the process. Hope this helps.

I was just reading about this tip right before your posted this!

What you can try is called a shampoo cocktail.
Mix one part hair peroxide with 2 parts shampoo. Shampoo in hair leaving it in for 5 to 10 min. This should help with the ashy tone. It can also lighten your color slightly. Then you can apply a semi permanent haircolor with a golden base. I hope this helps.

I do happen to have developer at home. I'm just terrified of winding up with a super reddish brown head of hair. That's why I'm curious if a neutral or warm base would work best.

 

[tracycd2]

I suggest a golden base because their might be some ashy undertones left in the hair that may need to be neutralized.

 

[msmayor]

I second the phone call to the company whose color you used. If you have a good relationship with your stylist, I would also consult him/her. I know my stylist has been a HUGE help with my home coloring; she knows how expensive the salon is and is more than happy to advise me about products to use and methods/techniques to get the desired result.

Coloring your hair is a science, and as you've already discovered one that can have unintended consequences if you are not absolutely sure about what you are doing. You can end up with an even worse outcome by 'experimenting' with fixes and in a situation where you have no choice but to go to the salon and get it fixed.

 

[mrsboz]

I've messed up on my hair before. Basically trying colors that were way too dark or too reddish for me. I have two friends that are hair dressers and when I have consulted them before they both said absolutely do not color your hair again right away. You will damage it. I've used Prell shampoo as that seems to strip some of the color out. I don't know if that would work for you but when I did my hair too dark i left it in for awhile. It maybe lightened it a little but not too obvious. I dont' know if that would work for you. The other thing - maybe a clarifying shampoo would work? Good luck. I know how horrible it feels. it probably doesn't look as bad as you think. When I thought that my hair was horrible was when i received the most compliments.

 

[CathrynRose]

I went to Cosmetology School - so take this for what it's worth.

Go to Sally's and get a 10 Volume peroxide.

Also pick up a beige toner.

Equal parts - 10-15 minutes on your head and you should be fine.


ETA - Looks like they have a honey, too. That might work out well: http://www.sallybeauty.com/Born-Blonde-Toner/SBS-320426,default,pd.html

Do NOT pick up anything ash or even neutral at this point. No no.

 

[pezheadmeg]

Dawn, as in the dish soap. Just make sure to deep condition afterwards. I've had my share of dye mishaps. It's at least a quick at home fix.

 

[scrdofbugs]

I go back and forth from coloring at home and having my salon do it. I have found that if I get an "Ash" color it always has the greenish tint. I learned it the wrong way a couple times. I am no way a professional but my color has turned out WRONG before and I applied another semi pernm color on (one that washes out in 28 days). I don't recommend this but it did work for me. My hair didn't fall out and turned out the nice shade of brown that I wanted.

 

[Inigo]

My college freshman DD has enjoyed changing her hair color several times over the fall semester. In December, she decided to try blonde.

Since she's a novice at dying her hair, it took three dye jobs by her friends before she got a blonde she liked, but once her brown roots started to show, she called mom to make the Marilyn Monroe color go away.

My hair has been just about every color imaginable in the last 27 years, so I guess DD figured I'm an expert. My hair has never fallen out nor has it broken off.

My best solution would be for you to call the 800 help number on the side of the hair color box. When I called them about DD's blonde hair, they were able to give me advice about mixing two different colors of hair dye together to get the desired results. Her hair right now is close to the color mine was dyed to when I married her daddy 23 1/2 years ago.

DD still thinks I know everything, her hair is healthy (and no longer blonde), and in a few weeks, it will be ready to become a new color again.

 

[Irin997]

Good news, I fixed the problem. However I missed quite a few great responses before doing what I did, but it all worked out in the end.

So I decided to go to Target last night and just try to find a warm colored medium brown to dye over top of the existing dye. In my research yesterday, the optimal solution to my problem would have been to first dye my hair red, and then a second time with a neutral brown.

I found Nice & Easy was on sale for $4.99 and I've used it before and have always had great results - it was Natural Medium Golden Brown 117. I couldn't got with a color with red in it because I knew I would have firey red roots and the rest, not so much. I was terrified of red, lol. BUT, I tried to golden brown and wow, I actually really LOVE the color. It has a hint of red to it and it seems a bit darker than a medium brown, but that's cause of the fact that my hair was dyed before. Most importantly, no more GREEN! And I've gotten compliments on my hair today.

Thanks for all of the help and I think I've found my new color!

 

[wvjules]

This is precisely why some things should only be left to professionals...hair color/cut/etc, surgery, teaching, etc.

Some things are worth paying money for.

 

[Irin997]

This is precisely why some things should only be left to professionals...hair color/cut/etc, surgery, teaching, etc.

Some things are worth paying money for.

Haha, very true but my budget does not have an extra $192 in it right now and luckily I fixed the problem for $5!

 

[Evi]

your safe coloring your hair at home so long as your not trying anything funky. So if you just got 2 shades lighter or darker then your own hair color or covering grey its pretty safe but as previous poster said honestly if you doing highlights or any drastic changes leave it to the professionals in the salon or your friend whos going to beauty school at the very least lol

 

[smokeyblue]

This is precisely why some things should only be left to professionals...hair color/cut/etc, surgery, teaching, etc.

Some things are worth paying money for.

This is not necessarily true. I am a person that home coloring works better for. I've tried multiple times to get my hair colored professionally. I have never had a professional color job last more than two weeks; I have about 10% wirey, color resistant grey.

I resorted to touching up with home color after the two weeks and lo and behold it would actually took! Now I exclusively home color and I'm able to go 6-8 weeks between colors. I do neutral medium brown in the winter and neutral light in the summer and people always compliment me on my healthy shiny hair.

 

[Pigeon]

This is precisely why some things should only be left to professionals...hair color/cut/etc, surgery, teaching, etc.

Some things are worth paying money for.

Hair color isn't exactly in the same class as surgery.

I've been dying my own hair for 25 years, and the only horrible dye job I've ever had was when I went through a short "I need to pamper myself" phase and had it done by an expensive professional stylist. Safety orange. I could have stood on the Mass Pike and directed traffic by nodding.

 

[dizneechic]

Safety orange. I could have stood on the Mass Pike and directed traffic by nodding.