Multiple salon hair fails with pics. What to do now?

[jaffacakesaremyfave]

So I hope these pics upload in order.

I got a cheap deal on Groupon for a cut and colour on Groupon and asked for picture 1. I'd not been to this salon before and she said what I wanted would be an extra £30 which sounded fair. Instead of a balayage she put loads of my hair in foils and I ended up with picture 2 (which I hated!!)

Straight away I went to my friends salon (if she's on here and recognises my post, I'm so sorry!!). I asked for picture 3 which is a chocolate brown with lilac/brown highlights which is what I really want my hair to be like now (more on that later). I ended up with pic 3 (plum base with orange ends). My friend realised it didn't really look that good and offered to put more of the base colour running through but no lavender in the lighter bits but couldn't fit me in for another week and a half.

The colours just didn't go and I didn't want to wait that long so put a violet box dye on the ends (pic 4) which is permanent. Although it looks better than before, I still want it to be more of a Smokey purple. Is there anything I can do to salvage this? I really don't want another salon trip but have spent over £100 on my hair and basically ended up with something I hate

I've ordered a grey dye to make the violet look more Smokey and muted but have a feeling it is now to dark for anything other than black to take hold.

Please help!!

I have long brown hair with balayage and wanted something similar to your first picture. My stylist said she simply couldn't do that over night and it would take a number of sessions to get something like that. Also that it would look completely different when I don't have my hair curled (which is true) and the lines might look harsh when my hair was straight (my hair is naturally very straight) and so I'd need a lot of layering and colour underneath rather than on the very top layer.

Personally I think the job your friend did would have been ok once she'd put a toner on it (but not the colour you wanted). From the picture it doesn't look plum and orange at all.

To get mine like that first picture took bleach and two different ashy blonde toners. I didn't have the rose gold bits though.

I liked what your friend did, you could have kept that and put a rose gold tint through it as it would give the lilac effect you're looking for.

Don't do any more to your hair.

The plum box colour may need to be stripped out.

The second picture you have of the groupon deal is a joke. Did you leave the hairdressers with your hair looking like that? I would complain to the hairdresser and groupon. That is appalling.

The only thing I could suggest, if you are really desperate to rid any dye from your hair is to try the vitamin c & shampoo mix, google it for the method. It should remove any dye you've put on, permanent dyes that have been on a while are harder to shift where as semi's that have recently been applied will come out, from what you have said it will or should leave you at the stage where you were after you had your hair done at the salon with your groupon voucher, which was done badly!

Anyway from there you'll need to invest in some good conditioner as the vitamin c mix does dry your hair out but no where near as much as stuff like Colour B4. Then decide whether you want your friend to have another go at sorting something out for you (bearing in mind you've already been here & it didn't work out) or try another salon? Perhaps a local one for advice may be a better option. Perhaps even just a trim & a toning shampoo may just blend it a bit more for now once you get back to that stage?

fanny and you've I realise now I should ha e just waited until next Friday.

Operation hair strip has officially begun. I didn't have any vitamin c tablets (ordered some from amazon now thouvh) so I used washing up liquid followed by baking soda and anti dandruff shampoo. Loads of dye seemed to come out and the water still isn't running clear after all that.

I'm going to sleep with a deep conditioning treatment on and repeat the washing tomorrow.

I'm hoping it will fade to a colour closer to what I originally wanted

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone. I'll upload an after picture this time next week ☺

Oh and the picture after the Groupon isn't how I left the salon. She blow dryed it beautifully but when I washed and dryer it myself, that pic was the end result 😢

Your friend may want to kill you after you have dyed over her good work. Remember to grovel a little.

The groupon one is awful. I tend to think if a hairdresser needs to offer groupon discounts they can't be very good. What your friend did is lovely however I can't believe you dyed over that.

I really do find you get what you pay for with hairdressers. My hair is a longish bob and costs me £105 to have it cut and coloured. I prefer to spend the money on a great cut and colour and go longer in between them then waste money on bad ones.

What is it like now Op? Hope it is more to your liking?
I liked pic 3 & 5. I think you need to back away from the dye for a bit, you don't want to make it brittle.

I like picture 3!

I think you're friend did a good job. I know people who've tried to achieve these looks on the cheap. It never works. You need a high end salon with well trained and experienced staff, and to pay a lot more than you have.

Adding more dye into the mix is not going to help. It'll naturally fade over a few weeks anyway. I'd leave well alone.

Op Iget my hairdone innleeds, pm me if you want salon info. Gone thrre about20 years and don't trust anyone else!

Could I suggest you try Olaplex to help with the condition? (Not saying it looks in bad condition at all, but after lots of dye, it might feel fragile)

Olaplex has 3 stages. First two are done in salon. You can just use stage 3 at home (just like a hair mask) without having stage 1 or 2.

I hope you get your hair how you like it soon xxx

those pictures that you want look like guy tangs work. Google his page. he uses a billion colours to get the results he does and tbh unless u were in somewhere like london with mega bucks i think normal salons would struggle to achieve a look that complex.

Dont dye over the purple. dye doesnt lift dye. i would either try a colour before or get a bleach bath on the ends.

then you want to be looking at a vivid purple and pastelising it i would say. you may be able to buy guy tang dyes from online so could be worth a look.

if not manic panic and directions get great reviews and fade off so u could even mix it uo occassionally. there are some websites that tell you what colour they fade off to as well. you want one that fades to grey by the sounds of it.

I am confused by the photos but could be because I am on a phone too. I really like the photo with the bunny face
If that is how your hair is now it's really nice. I have really long waist length hair and love the first Pinterest photo you posted. I have been considering doing it myself as can't face the over €100 it will cost. But reading this thread realise I might have to bite the bullet!

newtssuitcase would you mind posting a pic of your hair please? Am looking for real life inspiration!

You need to pay your friend. She can't fix the work she's done because you've ruined it by placing a completely different colour on top!

It's like saying to a hair dresser that you didnt quite like the cut but before they have a chance to fix it, taking scissors to your own hair while drunk ... and expecting the hairdresser to spend hours fixing YOUR MISTAKE for free!!!

Guy Tang walks you through the colours and measurements used to achieve the final result. The only thing I would say is that these type of colours do require quite a lot of upkeep. Nearly all of his tutorials involve some type of bleach lightening (highlights/balayage) and then using a demi colour/toner on top to deposit the final effect colour on top. These colours fade very quickly, exposing the bleached colour underneath.

I have my naturally level 7 hair highlighted with very fine sections in a salon to about a level 9/10 and then in order to get the beigey/silverly cold blonde I like, a colour deposit toner is added on top. I then tone it myself at home as getting this done in the salon every two-three weeks would just be unfeasible.

The photos you are showing are really unachievable on the cheap. And probably only look good because the model of masses of hair. Maybe natural, probably extensions.

Lilac and pink take a lot of upkeep. You need to stop faffing with it and trust a salon. Your hair is going to end up having to be cut off because it will be so damaged.

Jaffa, salon is called RMUK, it's on great George street opposite the lgi - martin wing. The different pricing is online if you google them, I went for the director as I was nervous about dying my hair but I'd be confident to use any of the stylists for a colour now.

Oo also I've heard brilliant things about renegade too which is near Rmuk, next to nation is shopkeepers, they have some photos on Facebook. They achieve some amazing hair colours which I think will be more up your street.

tumpy, yes the bunny one is how it looks now. I didn't put the violet dye all over, just on the orange ends which is probably why it doesn't look blended as earlier posts said.

My friend did do a good job, she's a great hairdresser and I realise all of this mess is down to my impatience. and yes *troll, of course I paid her. She's the one that wanted me to go back on Friday as she wasn't happy with the orange ends herself.

I tried la riche silver semi permanent dye on the ends today to try and dull the red toners out but it hasn't worked and the colour isn't budging. I realise to get near to the guy tang photos I'll need to rebleach which I don't want to do at this stage so I guess I'm keeping the violet ombre for now. I'm hoping it'll look better once my friend adds some more darker base pieces running through which was the original plan.

Thanks both for the salon recommendations. I'll look into them if I ever decide to dye my hair again after this fiasco.

I'll still post an update on Friday. Vitamin C tablets come tomorrow so may be able to get some more dye out before then.

So out of everything I tried, the vitamin c worked the best. I'm hoping if I do it one more time it will be light enough to tone over with a smokey lilac shade. Thanks to those who suggested it 😊

Sorry, with picture this time

I liked the purple a lot but it does look good how it is now! Think you should have gone back to thr original place first though once you realised how badly done it was when you had dried it yourself and it genuinely did look awful.

I would quit whilst you're ahead and leave it alone. Pic 4 looks fine. It will fade a bit over the next week or two (and recover) and after that consider your options. I wouldn't try making it "smoky" yourself. It looks perfectly lovely just the way it is now, it really does.