Why does my hair always go a coppery brown?

[Chickenandegg8]

Hi,
Looking for some advice.
Every time I ask my hairdresser to dye my hair brown no matter what colour she shows me on the colour chart it always goes the same coppery brown. My hair before the dye is always highlighted blonde is this what’s causing the coppery tone?
I’d love an ashy brown colour, but this always happens. I then give up with the brown as it fades so fast (one of the school mums actually asked me if I’d had my hair coloured again, it had faded so much)and go back to blonde highlights. Then repeat....
my little girl even said to me out in the garden the other day oh mummy your hair looks orange ☹️
Can anyone give me advice on what is causing this orangey tint?
I know I probably need to change hairdressers.....
Thanks!

[MrsSugar]

No real advice here I just want to say I have the same issue. No matter what shade of brown I have went for it always turns out reddish. Even at hairdressers. My natural hair isn’t highlighted at all ! I’ve been told it’s because my hair is warm toned. Right now I’m just trying to stick to my natural colour until I start to go grey !

[Chickenandegg8]

It drives me mad! I think maybe I need to ask for an ash brown or something cool rather than a warm brown and see what happens!

[Strawberrysaxifrage]

I've never tried it on brown hair but wonder if a purple shampoo or toner would cool down the orange shades? Fanola which you can get on Amazon is about the best I've tried on blonde hair. It is a bit on the drying side so you'll want a good conditioner if you do try it

[DobbyTheHouseElk]

My hair naturally is very dark brown, almost black. I have highlights purple, brown and violet. It always ends up as a copper mush. Not colouring now. It’s such an ugly colour.

I don’t have red colours because they are known to turn copper. But the violet and purple shouldn’t...but they do.

[mymymy0]

Fanola blue shampoo. Like purple shampoo, but it removes orange from brown hair whereas purple shampoo removes yellow from blonde hair

[Ohpulltheotherone]

Well this is weird because you’re going to the hairdressers and they should be able to sort this.

But effectively if you’re blonde and you want to go dark then you need to fill the hair first with a red / orange then colour it with the dark dye otherwise you end up with a brown that just lets the blonde show through again.

Have you explained to your hairdresser that you’re looking for cool & ashy tones not warm tone?

You could use semi permanent colour / toner between salon visits. I use one to tone my ashy blonde to warm copper funnily enough
Semi permanent cool brown shade - if you hate it then it will wash out in no time anyway!

[autumnpie]

I have the same problem and tried lots of different hairdressers. My original hairdresser used to use a colour that didn't seem to go coppery but I can't remember what brand she used. She then switched brands and I found it always went orange.

After several years of trying different places I finally found a place where the dyes didn't turn copper (unless wanted). They use L'Oreal products. The hairdresser was also an amazing colourist and won awards though so definitely knew what he was doing. Unfortunately he has left and is too far for me to travel to now (was already a crazy distance). The replacement person was a not very good hairdresser and so I am back on my quest again for non-orange hair.

I am definitely watching with interest to see what solutions might be out there.

[julieandertoninthewarehouse]

I had the sane issue for years. I would always ask for cool tones browns but my hair always turned much warmer a few weeks later. I used tk use Provoke blue shampoo & conditioner which really helped. Then I gave up & went blonde 👱‍♂️

[DoodleLovin]

Same thing happened to me and I only just dyed my virgin hair 2 months ago! So it’s defs not going copper from previous dyes.

Sephora has this amazing purple shampoo for brown hair. It’s by Christophe Robin. It’ll take the coppery hues out.

[BigusBumus]

I am dark brown and have my roots coloured every 5 weeks. But I have to have a toner put though the ends as they are always orange by the time I go to the hairdressers. In my case it's from every day straightening.

[Girlintheframe]

I've been using aveda black malva shampoo/conditioner. It really neutralizes them brassy tones in dark hair.

[Gingerodgers]

I asked for caramel tones once. My hairdresser told me it took several very expensive appointments to get what I was looking for, and was the most difficult and expensive to maintain. Maybe it’s something to do with that

[PlayItCool]

Blue shampoo! And leave it on for 2-5mins before rinsing. It acts as a toner. I like Matrix brass off

[PlayItCool]

@Girlintheframe

I've been using aveda black malva shampoo/conditioner. It really neutralizes them brassy tones in dark hair.

I used to love this shampoo but thought it was discontinued last time I tried to purchase. Do you mind if I ask, have you managed to buy any recently?

[YellowColour]

I had the same issue. Couple of hairdressers said it is because ultimately underneath all the dye etc I have red tones to my hair which makes sense as all four of my grandparents had ginger hair and my natural colour is dark brown

[Oblomov21]

Isn't it because the red is so dominant that it gradually comes through and dominates more, leaving you with a colour you don't want.

[BouncyMonk]

I’ve had this issue. I tried the fanola no orange but it was quite messy and didn’t do anything for me. I found a youtube video where someone used a tiny (and I mean smaller than a pea) amount of blue black dye in conditioner. This works really well and gives my hair a cooler tone. Doesn’t last long but I just top it up regularly.

[nancywhitehead]

I have the same issue. I've been ok with blonde highlights in the past but in the past year I've been putting brown on it and it just fades to a warmer/ orangey tone. It's frustrating as I always ask for cool/ash tones but my hair just doesn't seem to like brown dye!

My hair is naturally a light ash/ mousey colour and has no obvious warm tones in it, so I think it's just something to do with the dye and how my hair is reacting to it.

I use a purple conditioner on it - a high quality one - don't buy cheap ones off Amazon because they are watered down and don't work. I can see the difference in the pigment and quality out of the bottle. The one I get is £18-20, you leave on for 5 mins and rinse. It does help a bit. Salon recommended the conditioner rather than shampoo for some reason.

[nancywhitehead]

I also wonder if it's to do with over-dyeing your hair? Like putting brown on after blonde or on top of other colours, maybe it all just gets a bit mixed up and comes out orange?

I don't know but I've never had this issue when I have just had colour on top of my natural hair. It only happens to me when it goes on hair that is already dyed another colour.

[MorrisZapp]

My life! I want to stop bleaching and have a much more natural 'bronde' colour. Recent lengthy colour appointment to achieve this has left me coppery af.

How does Jennifer Aniston do it? All the gazillion people on insta? It must be achievable? I asked for caramel hair once about ten years ago and was given a baffled look and shown the bleach blonde tones they have available.

In a world of beauty technology, are blonde and burgundy truly the only options? I keep trying...

[Girlintheframe]

I got it from Look fantastic .
Just had a look and it's still available.

[Chickenandegg8]

Wow thanks for all your replies!
I’ll definitely try a blue shampoo/conditioner and hopefully it will make it less orange!
It doesn’t seem to matter what colour brown I ask for, ash, light, mid, it always comes out a coppery brown!

My natural hair colour is mousey brown, what I’d really like is that sort of ashy brown. But it just seems impossible with my hair!
I may go and see another hairdresser and see what they can recommend....

[Housewife2010]

Charles Worthington make a good blue shampoo. I use it in the summer when the sun makes my dark brown hair a bit coppery.

[bleughhh]

This is exactly what happens to me. Every time... I really want a balayage look with footy ashy brown and ashy blonder ends. I am a 'summer' in terms of colouring and look dreadful with coppery hair but it always goes that way. Trying a new hairdresser tomorrow... I think, if bleaching, you need to bleach it enough to get the red tones out - all hair has red tones, even the ashiest brunettes (you can't make brown without a red). So if you only lighten it 'a bit' you leave quite a lot of red in. Will see what the hairdresser does tomorrow!

[bleughhh]

Rooty not 'footy'?!