Another hairedresser avoidance related disaster! And it's all migraine's fault.

Yes I hate going to the hairdressers because of the smell and the lights and having to make an apointment in advance, neither of which suit a migraine brain.

So my latest disaster?

Trying to get dark red out of my hair. I now look like my head is on fire, as bits have come out and other bits havn't, revealing my actual colour ( a bit strawbery blonde) in places.

I knew I should have gone to a professional, but what do I do now? I can't very well wear a hat all day everywhere.

Yes this has a funy side and I am still laughing about it, but I have to go somewhere important next week.

Di

That makes me remember my worst hair disaster. I like my hair a little red and I used a dye that was a little to bright and came out with PURPLE hair! I had to go to work for one day like that til I could call Clairol and ask what to do. My kids thought it was hilarious. I put it back in a french braid and just let my bosses goggle.

Clairol told me to put a brown hue over the red and that worked really well. I came out with normal color hair. I would try that. Pick a color that is a bit darker than you want and it should even it out. You can call Clairol on a 800 number on the box and they can help with these little disasters.

Now I don't do anything to it. Luckily no gray yet, so no more dyeing until the gray arrives.

Di - one question, did you do it on clean or dirty hair?

I did this to myself once and I didn't wash my hair first and I had Carrot-top red in places and oh it was so uneven (wore a hat that first day and the bf at the time wanted to go to dinner...ugh). I called the dye company and they told me how to fix it. Well wasn't about to start processing again - can't remember why at the moment. But I washed my hair and it evened out. Granted I had to use old towels for a while as the excess dye kept coming out and leaving red streaks on the towels. But it looked great.

Alli thanks for the idea about the brown shade. You are very lucky not to have any grey, I have a white patch above my right ear which is what started this hair dye adventure in the first place. I thought I was buying a different packet to hide it, and ended up with a drk red,

My dilemma now is my hair is naturally light coloured, so I havn't got much leverage to hide the orangy red. If I go darker I will have a big line with the roots again in a few weeks and it looks like I have a bald patch from a distance because my real colour is so light in comparison.

I could wait three weeks and lighten the rest of the red and work it from there but I don't know what I would put on it.

In the meantime tying it up and putting a silk scarf in it to disguise the weird colour seems to make me almost normal looking. If it is normal to have bright blond roots and darker red and orange hair.

I think the problem is that I put Garnier nutrisse watermellon red on strawberry blonde in the first place. It did look good till it started to fade, but just won't go in a dignified manner.

I did wonder about putting one of those hairdyes that last 28 washes on it to hide it for now, and let it grow out. It would take a year wouldn't it though?

many thanks

Di

My hair was clean but washed the day before which I was told would be better. It didn't have any spray or mousse in it so it should have worked.

Di

I started having gray hair when I was 18years old. I look at gray hair like my eyes - I wore glasses and got Lasik surgery to repair ailing vision as I aged ... why not do the same with hair that aged? So I dyed my hair for years.

Then one day in my 40's I looked in the mirror and saw my father. Oh No! So I came up with a solution that have worked well for me ever since. That is me on the left in the photo with Steve. Try my solution! Let's start a trend! (huge grin)

Di - try washing it a few times. When I said clean hair, I meant did you wash it right before you dyed it. Sorry I wasn't clearer...I wash my hair every other day but it's the natural oils that are the problem. If those are still in there it messes with the dye. On a side note - my Carrot Top was with a Garnier product, don't remember the color but wow I didn't think it would come out that color (i'm a definite brunette).

Not sure about shaving it off for some reason. Don't think it would suit the size of my ears! Plus I wouldn't have anything to balance out the size of my nose and would probably get big head comments.

Am confused by packet which says not to wash hair on same day before using it.

I have a fantastic blonde streak at the back of my head and above my right ear. Perhaps I might start a trend?

Di

Yeah - I followed the instructions too. Hence the horrible outcome. My ex's mother was a hair dresser and when ever they'd dye the kids hair she always made them wash it first. Always came out right then. Not sure why they tell you not to, but it's a definite do.

Hope it evens out for you.

There is a product which removes hair coloring. It's usually on the bottom shelf of the aisle with the hair coloring products. If you use it, be prepared to be terrified. Your hair will look like straw.

Just use the correct color you want after using the remover (follow directions) and your hair will have been returned to its healthy texture.

Good luck!
£eslie

If the color you chose is the one you like, I would try dyeing again.
Usually changing different colors doesn't turns out the first time well, but the second time around it should cover all the missed spots.
If not then it's still better to go to the professional because even if you do remove the color
the hair will still may not be receptive to the next coloring.
And by then you are digging financial hole that ends up costing about as much as the salon visit...

Risa

This reminds me of the time when one of my best friends growing up used the "temporary" wash-out dye to dye her strawberry blonde hair bright blue for a joke. The joke turned on her when she ended up with green hair! She could never get it out, so she just had to wait for her hair to grow out!

I met a lady in the shop who said she ended up with bluish green hair when she went swimming. Her hair was right down her back and she came out of the pool looking like a mermaid.

I had used the stuff that is supposed to remove the dye which is why my hair is so many colours. The problem is it didn't take it all out.

The official solution is to put a temporary dye over it to blend the crazy things together for a bit. Then after at least three weeks I can try to remove the permanent dye again.

The irony is all the compliments I got for my hair whilst it was in what i thought was a strange state.

Di

To get rid of that blue-green color some of us blondies get from swimming,(it is actually caused by copper in the water, not chlorine or algae!) use nexxus' hair product called Aloe Rid. It is a small bottle of shampoo, but beware of the price if you get it certain places. The 'net has it pretty cheap but walmart does too.

Apply to your hair without lathering. Let it sit for 5 minutes and rinse. Re-apply but this time smoosh it around and lather it as you would any other shampoo and let it sit for 3-5 minutes. Do that again. Rinse well. Apply once more without lathering and let it sit for another five minutes. Rinse and your done. All green/blue should be gone.

I worked in a salon that saw this problem often and this little trick worked wonders EVERY TIME! It happens a lot in little blond girls that go swimming all summer long. They come in with bright green hair! I have never seen this not work, I swear by this trick for myself and everyone that came in! It is like a miracle. Even google says it is

After the Aloe Rid treatment you want to use a really nice thick moisturizing conditioner on your hair because even though Nexxus swears that it doesn't mess with the pH balances of your hair, I swear that the stuff dries it out..not like chemical dyes do by any means but still, a nice conditioner will work wonders.

My secret trick to finding a good conditioner is opening the bottle and feeling the thickness of it. If it is sloppy and thin, it won't do the job. If it is nice and thick it will work wonders..but beware, don't use it every day or it will cause build-up. Hope this helps!

I thought that onece it went blue you had to put up with it and was scared I'd be doing that by mistake!!

Have nearly got my hair to the real colour it grows in, but don't like it now because it makes me look older. Someone said to me yesterday I reminded me of his mother. He was only about 5 years younger than me!!!!!

Di

In the long run it may be cheaper to go to a professional. Instead of coloring my hair all over I have it highlighted so I get the color I want without having to have it done very often. Looks very natural also. I just went 2 years! I have a great hairdresser that will color only what you want colored also (if you have some gray coming in, she will do just the gray, etc.). For me this is cheaper than doing my own hair which would have to be done a lot more often.