Color turned out very uneven. Need help on how to fix that.

[Jayke]

Hello!

I really hope someone can give me advice on how to correct this problem.

My natural hair color is medium brown, and I wanted a copper-red. What did I do? I bought some color in a box and dyed my hair.

The result: Very uneven, patchy color. Some parts are very good, some are noticably darker, and some are completely unaffected. I assume this is in part because I did it myself, and I basically just lathered the dye onto my head like shampoo, when I should've applied it carefully in order to cover everything.

It may also not entirely be my fault. Not sure if I'm allowed to post the name of the product according to forum rules, but reading some of the reviews on the net seem to indicate that this unevenness is pretty common with this particular product.

In any case, I'm thinking about a couple of possible solutions:

1.) I buy exactly the same color, and have a friend apply it to all the parts of the hair which didn't change, as well as to those parts that are noticably darker.

2.) I buy another color which is a bit darker, and apply to all the hair.

3.) I bleach my hair, and then apply pure henna.

I've seen beautiful results on the net with pure henna being applied to natural brown hair that's been somewhat bleached beforehand. I absolutely love it, but the problem is: I'm not sure how bleach would affect this uneven color that I have on my head right now. For example, my roots have been most affected from this dye and they're very light. Would I have to avoid the roots with bleach? I'm really frustrated.

I probably should've bleached my original brown hair, and then use henna. I'm not sure if it's too late to try that, since I now have this uneven mess.

What do you guys think would be best? I really appreciate any help I can get.

Thank you very much in advance.

Regards,
Jayke

[z0mbiemurder]

I'm pretty new here but for all I know, the first step it to get as much as the dye out, wash out as much as you can, freshly dyed hair fades quickly. And I find it really weird and it came out all patchy for you, I dyed my hair red since I was pretty young and I sure didn't know how to apply it correctly

I would wait a few weeks because box dyes are somewhat damaging, and dye it with a more vivid/darker version of what you wait it to turn out (using a different brand, you could check reviews online too) and have someone help you too

Oh and I have zero experience using henna, can't really help you with that but someone will surely plus I wouldn't mess around with bleach, if permanent dye went all patchy, it seems it would take a lot of time to get it all even and it's quite damaging, plus reds and coppers are obtainable without bleaching, it's just what I would do in your position

Also condition the hell out if it

[Janineb]

Tell us the dye you used, that's fine. We need to know really, but please don't use that same dye again now. My most likely suggestion would be to get a direct/veggie dye to cover. But it'll help to know the dye used and a photo of the result would be good too.

[Jayke]

Alright, I managed to make it about 50% better. What I did was, I went to a beauty store and bought 30 volume developer plus a similar color. Then I dyed everything except the roots. After 20 minutes I also dyed the roots and waited 10 more minutes. Total: 30 minutes.

The result: As I said, it's about 50% better. Unfortunately the darkest parts of the hair did not really absorb the color that much. It seems my roots are extremely sensitive to color, but the rest of the hair is very resistant. I'm surprised that the 30 volume developer wasn't able to penetrate through the dark hair and make it noticably lighter. Maybe I should've waited 10 more minutes, or perhaps I should've used 40 volume developer. Any thoughts?

In any case, now I'm not ashamed to go outside, but it still isn't what I wanted. The roots are noticably lighter compared to the rest of the hair, but it's much more even than it was before.

Regarding the original product I used, it was "Garnier Olia Permanent Hair Colour 7.40 Intense Copper" (without ammonia). It has mixed reviews on the net, but I'd say about 80% of the reviews are bad. I personally would not recommend it to anyone.

Thank you all for your input. If anyone has advice whether or not I should make some kind of third attempt, please let me know. I thought maybe I should just try to lighten the darker parts somehow, and it could blend in nicely with the roots? My hair is very healthy, and now that I've colored it twice within a few days it doesn't seem to have damaged it at all.

[Wicked Pixie]

Tint can't lift tint no matter what developer you use. You can't get dark permanent  dye lighter with more dye.
If you could post a pic we can advise further.

[Jayke]

Tint can't lift tint no matter what developer you use. You can't get dark permanent  dye lighter with more dye.
If you could post a pic we can advise further.

Well, I definitely managed to get it lighter. There is no doubt about that. I was hoping to get it much lighter though, but that didn't happen. Either way it looks much more even now. Before that it was basically a disaster, with only the roots having color.

I don't have any pictures of how it was before, but I've attached three pictures how it is right now.

Hope you can advise further. Thank you.

[Wicked Pixie]

It looks good. I would darken the root area with a direct dye rather than attempt any further processing at this point. Roots generally process quicker as the heat from your head accelerates the processing, so I don't think the product was necessarily to blame, although I am not a fan of box dyes generally lol.

[Jayke]

It looks good. I would darken the root area with a direct dye rather than attempt any further processing at this point. Roots generally process quicker as the heat from your head accelerates the processing, so I don't think the product was necessarily to blame, although I am not a fan of box dyes generally lol.

Thank you for your advice. I could definitely put some henna on the roots, and it would darken them noticably. Now, I was hoping I could do something to the dark hair to make it just a tad lighter, so that it blends better with the roots.

What do you think about applying pure developer (20 or 30-volume) to the dark parts, or maybe try some honey lightening? I also have a lightening product from Schwarzkopf that seems to be some milder type of bleach.

I feel tempted to do a strand test with it. What do you think?

[Wicked Pixie]

I don't think those methods will make a dent in a box dye. if you want it lighter use a colour remover then gently bleach the darker areas.

[Jayke]

I don't think those methods will make a dent in a box dye. if you want it lighter use a colour remover then gently bleach the darker areas.

Well, actually it is salon quality hair dye, dyed over the box dye. I'm sure it makes no difference for the point you were making though.

Now I want to make sure I learned something from this whole experience. Please correct me if I'm wrong in any of the following conclusions I've drawn:

1.) With my natural, virgin hair color being medium brown, I should have lightened it prior to applying the box dye, since the color I want is noticably lighter than my natural color. Either that, or I should've gone right to the beauty shop and bought a 30-volume developer plus hair dye.

2.) If I had applied the salon dye (with 30 vol. developer) to my natural medium brown hair, it would've come out much better, if not perfect.

3.) The only reason the salon dye didn't lighten the dark hairs much is because it was practically coloring over the box dye instead of coloring over the natural medium brown hair.

I assume I'm correct on these three points. If not, please tell me where I'm going wrong.

You've been very helpful, and I really appreciate it.

The one thing I'm trying to figure out is why the box dye had such an intense effect on my roots. I'm aware that the heat near the scalp accelerates the process, but the color was somehow way too strong on my roots. One thing I forgot to mention is, when I applied the box dye, I used a hair dryer to add a little heat, perhaps three or four minutes. Could this have been a major factor why the roots came out the way they did?

[Alexia]

I can't really say that you can trust results of box dyes, unless you've used them before.  Even then, depending on many factors, it may still not turn out how you want it to be.

Starting from the beginning, if the colour you were after was lighter than you started out with, then: 1) use a colour remover if you have any residual colouring from past dyes, then 2) bleach or bleach-bathe with caution to get it to the lightness you wanted.  Once it was a more even colour value all over, perhaps a little lighter than you desire, then a gentle semi would have been the best choice to get the actual colour hue you wanted to achieve.

But it is all easier said than done!

At this point, I'd agree with the above advice, to use semis to achieve the copper you are after; I don't do copper myself, but I'm sure others can recommend a direct dye that would help get closer to the colour you want.  Then, if the result is something you can live with, give your hair a rest for a few weeks (or more!), then remove all the colour and see if you can start again.

That's just my opinion, but I also have heard that 20-volume peroxide is high enough, especially if you're not after a light bleach blonde.  Anything above that can be very damaging, and damage unfortunately does not show up immediately, so if your hair seems happy now, please still be gentle with it.

I also agree, it looks quite cool the way it is now, even at "50% better"!

[Jayke]

Starting from the beginning, if the colour you were after was lighter than you started out with, then: 1) use a colour remover if you have any residual colouring from past dyes, then 2) bleach or bleach-bathe with caution to get it to the lightness you wanted.  Once it was a more even colour value all over, perhaps a little lighter than you desire, then a gentle semi would have been the best choice to get the actual colour hue you wanted to achieve.

I just want to understand this a little better. So it's a bad idea to bleach or bleach-bathe permanently dyed hair? The color should first be removed, and then the hair bleached?

I ask this because I recall many years ago when I dyed my hair jet-black with box dye, and then a few days later I hated it and I wanted a reddish color. I went to a salon, and they just bleached my dyed, jet-black hair. It became a very light brown after the bleaching, and then they applied the red dye. The result was completely OK.

Was this a wrong approach?

[Wicked Pixie]

Bleaching out permanent dye isn't recommended for several reasons.
1. Damage, bleaching (even low vol peroxide or bleach bathing) causes some damage, especially on hair that is already processed. Colour removers are non-damaging.
2. Bleaching out colour reveals the base pigments of the dye, usually the hair goes very unnaturally orange. For most people this is a difficult colour to deal with, not a major issue if you want a copper shade.
3. If you have used several box dyes and have layers of build-up bleaching will reveal these bands of colour. Colour removers will give a more even result
4. Taking the old colour out first will make bleaching much easier, so you can get to your goal with more gentle and/or fewer processes. The bleach gets to the natural pigment first instead of having to go through layers of dye.

In answer to your original questions your mistake was using a demi-permanent dye to get several shades lighter. These dyes are designed to only give a small amount of lift. Permanent dyes (with ammonia) and 20/30 vol peroxide will give up to 3 levels of lift. A second application will give less lift as tint doesn't lift tint.

[z0mbiemurder]

1. Damage, bleaching (even low vol peroxide or bleach bathing) causes some damage, especially on hair that is already processed. Colour removers are non-damaging.

Wicked Pixie, is it possible to use a color remover and in the same day, bleach ? or is it recommended to wait a few days in between ?
(Had a bad experience with some bad bleaching powder and got nasty roots, put some purple over it to be able to leave the house but will have to bleach it again by the end of the month)

Sorry to ask this in your post Jayke, your hair looks good btw

[TabithaBlue]

is it possible to use a color remover and in the same day, bleach ? or is it recommended to wait a few days in between

Theoretically it's possible, but in practice it usually doesn't work. You need to rinse and rinse and rinse hair after using a colour remover, to get rid of the residual colour molecules; if there are any remaining, they will re-oxidise and return your hair to the colour that you're trying to get rid of. As you can imagine that's very annoying, not to mention a waste of time and money! It seems to work best if you leave your hair for about a week, washing it as normal, before using bleach or a bleach-containing product (i.e. demi-permanent or permanent hair dye)

[Wicked Pixie]

^^ That, and also because colour removers are really drying it will take at least a week for the natural oils to return to your hair and scalp. You don't want to bleach over clean hair.

[TabithaBlue]

I always forget that bit My scalp is like industrial strength and I forget not everyone else is like me!

[z0mbiemurder]

Very enlightening, thanks girls, I think I'll go straight to the bleaching part then