Has anyone dramatically changed hair colour, did it go well?

[3luckystars]

I have red curly hair, people admire it but I am thinking of a dramatic colour change. Has anyone here done something similar? A big cut or colour change, was it a shock the next day.

Was it a gradual thing or did you just go for it? How did you know if the new colour would suit you. Any advice appreciated. I have a hair appointment tomorrow.

I usually just go for it, to be honest. I get bored with hair really quickly.

Currently I'm purple. Before I was very blonde, it was also long and I had it cut to a bob. So yea, big change.

I never think about what if. If I hate it when it's done, I just change it.

God I've been every colour you can think of! I'm naturally ash blond but it's very ashy so I always had blond highlights (nice and safe!)

My most drastic have been blond to dark brown, blond to red, dark brown to platinum and vice verse. I love it! I love glancing at myself in the mirror and getting a shock for the first couple of days. I like change. The thing to remember is that you might need to alter your make up to suit.

When I went from blond to chocolate brown, I used darker makeup. Not base but I needed bronzer, darker blusher and obviously darker brows. I suit my hair dark - I look completely washed out when I'm blond. It's like my face 'disappears'

So there is no way to know, just go for it!

I have been googling photos and think maybe I might go for a nicer red with auburn highlights tomorrow and see if I still hate it.

I would love a go at being a blonde though. It might be too much of a jump tomorrow.
I have chickened out already!!

It's mad that they just show you this tiny sliver of coloured hair on a piece of cardboard and you have to hope for the best.
I think I need to try a wig : )

I was told by my hairdresser that you can have any colour you want as long as you keep to the correct tone. I'm cool toned and I've been blue/black, dark ash brown, cool toned purple/red, ash blonde and silver/white (what I am now).The opposite can be said for warm toned people. I think a good hairdresser will advise you on the best shade for you, if you want to go blonde then there will be a shade/tone for you.

Lets see if I kill this thread......I have a great skill for that

I would love to know what tone I am. That would be so handy for clothes too.

Oh oh! Look what I found!

m.wikihow.com/Determine-Skin-Tone

I am cool!

I'm a natural brunette and I would have given anything to be blonde. I had blonde highlights and loved them, so when they grew out I got it done again. Then when I was 16 I wanted to go completely bleached blonde. My mum had to give permission for it to be done. And it was- the full roots everything. It was the day before I went to pick up my GCSE results from school, hardly anyone recognised me. I loved it. But the upkeep got too much and I was at college and couldn't keep affording the roots to be redone, I had them redone a few times but in the end I just couldn't keep it up. So I decided to let it grow out naturally, it took 2 years.
If I could have maintained it properly I wouldn't have got rid of it

That I think is half the battle. If you look on YouTube for someone called ElleBangs, she's a hairdresser and talks you through which hair colours you can have for your tone. I'm a cool too and have had every colour possible, tone allowing.

Come back and report on your new drastically changed colour.

I went from brunette to blonde. Went half way first tho. With a half head of high lights. Then a few months later did the the whole lot.
Hadn't seen some people for a while as I was away so it was funny when I saw them again as they all did a double take. I was used to it by then so just shrugged off their shock!!

That is interesting, the Elle Bangs hairdresser recommended above says the same thing, you just need to find the right tone of blonde and anyone can change colour if they are willing to look after it!
It's a pity I can't try on a few wigs! I would love to try blonde out.

I think I am going to do it, maybe not tomorrow because I am not getting paid at the moment and I imagine the upkeep for blonde hair is very expensive, but I am definitely going to do it this year after being encouraged on this thread. Cool!!

There are loads of apps online where you can upload a photo and try out different hair colours and styles.

I have gone from dark brown to very light blonde and back again a few times. Going from dark to light was much more difficult to do (in terms of the process), but I found going back the other way was more of a 'shock' despite the fact that my natural hair colour is dark brown.

I'm lucky in that I suit both colours pretty equally but the blonde is more upkeep so it's natural for now. Go for it, it's only hair and if you don't like it then it can usually be fixed (with a bit of money!).

Hi I just wanted to update (not because anyone is interested in my hair but in case anyone else is thinking of doing a big change too.)

I went to the hairdresser yesterday and told her I wanted a dramatic change, and showed her photos of "ash blonde" hair after reading on this thread about cool undertones etc. Well she said I will probably never have that colour because red hair is nearly impossible to get rid of, she said it will take a long time to change the colour of my hair, that you can't just do it in one go. (Awwwww!)

She put a brown in (a flat brown if anyone understands this, I don't ) and then put caramel highlights. Then next time I can go a shade up and add more highlights and so on but it will take AGES. First step was to get rid of the red.

I told her that I was clueless because you see famous people going from one colour to another really quickly and she said its all fake and probably not even their real hair. It's just not possible to do that on normal people because it would look yellowy and you have to get the base colour right? Do you think that sounds right? If so then I will stick with her for a while and hopefully she knows what she is doing.

Anyway, it looks really far too dark to me, and I can barely see highlights, it is a bit shocking when I see it in the mirror, but I accept it's a gradual thing then hopefully by the end of the year it will be nice and very different.

Thanks very much for all the help and advice, I learned a lot from you, thank you.

Aaahhhh. I'm trying to look on the bright side but its horrible!

I keep catching myself in the mirror and it looks nearly black its way too dark for me.
Work in progress.work in progress. Repeat.
It made sense earlier that have I to go dark to go light.

Can u post a pic? It probably looks worse to you than anyone else?

I think red is hard to get rid of. I have gone the other way to you, brown to red! Love it so much. Took about 3 goes to get the colour exactly right for me and I do have it done every 6 or 7 weeks. My colourist is amazing and I love my hair now. It wasn't perfect straight off the bat though but it was worth the effort!

Is your brown colour a permanent?

Well done for taking that step even if it hasn't gone exactly as planned! It sounds like your hairdresser is being realistic about what can be done. I know what you mean about celebs though - they seem to change their style/colour every week!

You will get a shock each time you catch sight of yourself but the colour will fade over time. Just in time for you to get used to it!

I'm well jel of your red curls - we're never happy with what we were given are we?!

It's probably just the change and isn't too dark on you. You're prob still getting used to it, a photo would be good.

I tried to take a photo but it looks so dark I am like a ghost. I can't post it!

I feel vain being upset but its miserable looking, I hope it can go much brighter next time or I will have to go back to red. Obviously red hair runs deep!

Thanks for being so kind though. Anyone see any nice hats in the sale?

If it makes you feel better when I went from dark brown to ash blonde I had to go through a terrible patchy orange stage first. I had all the dark brown dye stripped out of my hair and then bleached (I think that was the process). My hairdresser informed me right at the beginning that I would need to have it done in stages to minimise the damage. It took 3 appointments, 6 weeks apart to get me to the colour I wanted.

I don't have experience or knowledge of changing red hair but I do know that if change is possible then it could be worth the 'horrible stages'.

Dandruff shampoo can strip some of the darkness out if you really hate it. Don't use a proper hair colour stripper though or you'll go orange. It probably looks really dark because it's a flat colour rather than one with another tone to it like red for example. Also I think ashy tones do tend to be flat.

I sympathise. It's shit when you build up to having your hair changed and then it doesn't come out like you expect. I know it's only hair but it can really effect your confidence.

I've been trying to get a true cool brown colour for years without it being too dark for my pale skin. I have it a chesnutty brown now as that's the closest to my natural colour but I'd prefer it more ashy.

I'd say go back and ask for the stages to be explained to you again as you really don't like it how it is atm. She might have a master plan and you should grit your teeth through this stage. Go and ask

I have gone from natural darkest brown to almost white in 4 weeks.
It's taken more bleach than I care to admit and an ash dye at the end.
My hair is in very good condition as I used olaplex throughout.

It's the best decision I've made. I never thought I would get this colour as my hair never seems to go past brassy but I kept going.

Sorry about crappy lighting. It's much lighter irl