Fading into ginger - how not to....?

[Helplesshair]

I need advice. So I have naturally dark brown hair I have always loved the colour and never dyed my hair before (I'm 42) but now it's peppered with a few greys. My hairdresser suggested that one of the colourists at the salon do a brown semi-permanent to cover the grey and add shine and so I went for it. It wasn't cheap. The first time it was quite a warm colour (which I hadn't expected) so the next time I asked her to make it more dark brown and less warm, it was better at first but quite quickly over the summer it faded to a gingery colour on top. Underneath the top layer of hair it's still my original dark brown, with bits of grey but now it looks like the ginger needs to grow out, and it looks dry. I take good care of my hair and am told it's in good condition but to my eye it looks frizzier maybe because of the colour.

So what to do? The colour is driving me mad, but if I get it dyed again will it do this again? It will take ages to grow out as my hair is shoulder length. Or, is there a dye out there that will give me shiny dark brown locks without unnecessary warmth? Like I said, I need advice.

[Haffiana]

I use Aveda Black Malva conditioner to sort out the post (permanent in my case) dyeing fade-to-ginger in my hair. I only leave it on for 3 minutes as my hair is dyed a mid to light brown - if yours is dark you can leave it for longer. It totally removes the red tones from dyed hair. If I leave it too long on mine I can see it even develops a slight green tone. But used correctly it is fantastic. If you have lighter hairs where the grey is poking through it may make them look highlighted - it does on mine. Looks like I have spent £££.

Black Malva is essentially a gentle semi permanent dye but it has a really ashy tone. Don't bother with the shampoo which has no dyeing effect at all, just the conditioner. I don't find it conditions btw, but it doesn't dry at all. I use it about once a week-10days or so once the ginger sets in.

Alternatively, and more cheaply, you could try a purple shampoo.

[ProjectGainsborough]

Or you could use shu uemara colour gloss which is also awesome.

[trainedopossum]

Washing with cold water (or at least as cool as you can manage) will help reduce colour fade. My personal preference is to wash hair in the sink to avoid standing under a cold shower. Use shampoo for coloured hair, just a little bit on your scalp and rinse it quickly.