A blonde disaster - please help!

[JockTamsonsBairns]

Ok, about six weeks ago I had what can only be described as a sudden rush of blood to the head - and went and had my dark brown hair dyed blonde. Please don't ask why, I've asked myself this since and drawn a blank.

It really is absolutely awful looking - think yellow and orange stripes and, worse, the inevitable start of root regrowth. I really didn't think this through properly, as I can't afford to maintain it by going for root touch ups etc. It cost me an arm and a leg to get it done in the first place, but I considered it a 'treat' to myself as I'm approaching 40 and wanted to give myself a bit of an image makeover. I seriously can't afford to get it dyed back to its original colour, so am feeling a bit stuck.

I've got a close friend's wedding to go to a week on Saturday but, tbh, this bad do is making me dread going out the house.

What are my options here? I've (almost seriously) considered an all-over number 4, and starting again. It's tempting!

What would happen if I were to dye it at home? Is six weeks too soon to try? And do I run the risk of it going green, or baby pink?

I knew it was time for action when ds(4) said to me this morning that my hair was "all lovely and yellow with brown stripy bits"

Please help!

Go to boots and buy colour before, it will get rid of the red dye. It's not a dye it sorts of cancels out the colour. Then get a packet dye that suits you, I'd go for a more natural dark blonde so you don't go orange

www.boots.com/en/Colour-B4-Hair-colour-remover-extra-strength-by-Scott-Cornwall-hair-expert-_1000976/

And redoing it so close together shouldn't be to much of an issue, although after you have done it, the next wash I'd buy a really good conditioner. Wash and rise. Put on the conditioner and wrap a plastic bag over your hair, leave for 30 mins and rinise, the heat from your head will get trapped in the bag and open up the pours in your hair leaving it really soft.

You may need to get your ends cut, but if you do dry cut with a trainiee it should only be about £12-£15

ThePrisoner - thankyou so much for that, that's encouraging. Could you (or anyone) recommend a brand of DIY hair dye? In the past, I've usually just gone for whatever is on offer, but I don't want to take any chances.

Thanks very much again.

If you just had bleached high lights/ full head then there is no red to remove, if it is orange that because of the red in your natural brown and the B4 will have no effect.

Six weeks is plenty of time to try a home re dye - do agree re the conditioner !!!

Read the pack really well some aren't recommended over bleach.

Tattydevine is the queen of this type of advice

Oh shit! Confused now

I don't think there is red to remove. My hair went straight from dark brown to blonde, so presumably it's been bleached (sorry, really ignorant about these processes!). Just googled the colour b4 stuff, and it looks like that might not be effective for me. Incidentally, the orangey tone has developed over the past few weeks, it wasn't like that initially.

So, is it ok then to put the home DIY kit straight on to my hair with no intermediate step?

Thanks in advance for all this

don't choose something that is plain brown like a 6, get something which has a slight red to it ie . 5.3 or something, because plain brown over blonde = green tinge. I did this once and ended up with green hair. This was only recitfied by slathering it with tomato ketchup, i kid thee not!!

Thanks piratecat. Do these numbers pertain to a particular brand of dye, or are they generic?

Im a colour technician - I would recommend going back to the salon, but im not completely against home diy jobs as iv been there done that, and if done well they can actually be very well done! Here is what you need to do.

You need to assess the condition of your hair. When its wet how does it feel? Soft and smooth or wet and sticky??
If it has a gummy texture this indicates a loss of protein from the bleaching, so before any dye touches your head you will need to replenish the proteins to help balance the porosity of your hair, something like Joico KPAK Reconstructor. If it is just dry from the bleach then a deep conditioner such as Aussie 3 Min Miracle will suffice. (if you do have bleach damage and need protein treatment then condition well afterwards with normal conditioner)

Next you need to buy a red hair dye - semi permanent - L'oreal casting creme gloss berry red for example.
You need this to pre pigment your hair before returning to brown. Applying a brown straight over may cause a khaki like color and the color will fade enormously.
When applying the red, try to target the blonde only, leave your base colour untouched.

Next step is to apply a brown hair dye. I would recommend one of the L'oreal sublime mousse shades - these are excellent home kits as the mousse allows easy application and an almost invisible colour difference between dyed hair and virgin regrowth.

The final step is to simply look after your hair, use a colour specific shampoo and conditioner to help lock in the colour :))

Good luck, and if you need any more help let me know :) xx

Oh forgot to add - the first step of replenishing moisture/protein is realy important to help ensure that the final colour result is as even as possible!!!

Agree with the red dye then brown. When I had my then dark blonde, highlighted hair professionally coloured brown they sponged my hair with red pigment and then applied the colour over the top.

It did fade quite quickly though so you'll probably find you need to dye it again after about 4 weeks.

Mummyto - thankyou so much for your helpful and detailed advice - it's exactly what I need, like a Ladybird book of 'How to sort a colour disaster'! Thanks also for your recommendations of specific colours to buy, I need that too. I might just take you up on your offer of getting back to you - I think I may just need another idiot's guide to take me through this step by step.

I really appreciate everyone's help - thank god it seems to be salvageable!

You are very welcome :)) and yes if you do need anymore advice let me know :)) doublestandard you are correct it will fade quickly - tint never seems to like bleached bases! But 3-4 weeks later if you re apply a full head again it should fade at a normal rate afterwards :)

An ash blonde should cover the red and tone it out. Use an ash blonde with purple shampoo and conditioner (currently on 3 for 2 at Boots) and it should tone out the red tones and turn your yellow to blonde.

I'd buy a toner (Superdrug have one for 97p in a little silver tube or La Riche Directions do a pot of white toner you have to use about once a month for £3) and it'll tone it all out.