My home dyed hair is too dark... sob

[jemjelly]

I can't afford the hairdressers so dyed my hair a few weeks ago, I didn't like the colour and wanted it to look a bit warmer so I coloured it again with another permanent colour and it has gone a really dark brown which does not suit me, my natural colour is light mousey brown.

Any ideas what I can do, do those hair colour stripper things work?

colour B4 colour stripper works but is a faff.
I have used head and shoulders shampoo for lightening mine before, takes a while but better for your hair I'd guess?

I have tried Head and Shoulders and its not working. Does Colour B4 really damage your hair, I don't mind messing with it but my hair is not in perfect condition as it is. I actually picked the box up today to get it but chickened out before I got to the tills, I'm scared my hair will fall out.

quite a harsh shampoo like T Gel might help to strip it. good luck x

Vosene, and lots of hair washes?

I used Colour b4. Didn't damage my hair at all. If there is a lot of peroxide in the dye you've used then your hair will end up lighter than your natural colour. I hadn't realised this and mine ended up quite orangery in some places.
You can use a semi perm straight after to get the colour you want.

Be warned, it stinks.

Thanks .... I need to be more patient don't I and stick with the strong shampoo. Wish I could go to the hairdressers and get it sorted.

Red - Was your hair in great condition to start with? Before this I always coloured my hair a light brown so don't think there is any peroxide in my hair, my hair does not feel dry but it does feel quite over processed and dull, maybe that is just all the hair washing I have been doing.

I had a lot of colour build up, mainly from using colour xxxl on it. Apart from that condition was pretty good.

Have a look on Youtube..... there's a girl on there who lightens her hair from black to dark brown by using Lloreal Preference in 10.1 Light Ash Blonde (Helsinki) by putting it on then covering with a plastic bag and blow drying for 10 minutes through the bag. It looks loads better after and noticeably lighter.

Disclaimer: have not tried this myself so not sure if it definately works but I'd give it a go.

Apple - that sounds really brave but I don't think I would have the balls to try it. Colour B4 sounds scary enough to me.

I've used Colour b4 in the past and the Scott Cornwall De-stripper which I thought was better. I made the mistake of re-colouring too soon and it went dark again.. My hair is quite dark atm so I think I will try the Youtube method....If you like I'll report back when I've done it in next few days.

Olive oil to draw out the colour? Heard that somewhere, google it and see.

I have done colour b4, I recommend it if you can't stand it and don't want to wait for the colour to fade after washing every day and using hot as you can stand water.

Have an 8 wash hair colour you like handy and read the instructions 3x ... and wear ear plugs during rinsing.

OP I know this may sound daft but have you tried wearing different make-up since you dyed your hair a lot darker?

Reason I say this is because, same as you, I dyed mine at home (a lot darker, block colour, cos I couldn't afford going to salon all the time). Anyway I thought my colour was way too dark at first but then I realised I could wear bolder lip colour which looked fantastic with darker hair. Oh-kay, maybe not ideal solution for you but it helped me until hair colour faded a bit

ColourB4 will work fine, I've used it loads. It will turn your hair ginger though so get another dye that is the same colour as you're natural hair colour. It also smells like rotten egg which lingers but its a fab product, it will definitely get rid of the dark colour. Also contains no ammonia or peroxide so won't damage your hair at all - as I said I've used it loads :)

That should be *your

Just remembered, after colour b4 your hair will 'grab' any new permanent or demi colour, so don't go too dark again. I'd suggest a dark blonde if you want to go back to your old colour.

I've used ColourB4 Extra Strength to get from permanent black (which I'd been doing and re-doing for years) to a strawberry blonde-ish colour. It's not damaging at all, at worst it's a little drying but nothing a good conditioner or some coconut oil won't fix. It does smell awful but the smell doesn't normally linger too long.

You can use a true semi permanent dye immediately after using it. Have a look at the Adore dyes. They're completely non-damaging and they do a range of natural colours in amongst the bright ones.

Give it a few days. Mine always lightens up once the excess dye is washed out.

No matter what colour you use after stripping it will be grabbed by your hair and it will start to darken up again. So recolour with the 8 wash ones rather than even a blonde semi permanent.

Thank you for all the replies, I am going to try Colour B4 tonight, just can't stand this colour on my hair. I have tried different make-up but I just look drained and tired no matter wht I do. I will report back.

Vosene and wash, wash, wash.