Botched home hair dye job

[KimchiLaLa]

In an attempt to save £50-60 each time I needed it (every 8 weeks which I stretch to 12) I used L'Oréal casting creme gloss in dark brown on my dark brown hair. It has come out looking almost black. I think I've used the wrong dye, which is fine, my mistake.

I asked my hairdresser what I could do to fix it and she said she could bleach the colour out, but in reality it's only a few shades darker than my natural colour so that feels extreme, and my hair is already going through post partum fall out so I don't want to treat it too harshly ATM. I'm happy to pay her for what she needs to do though, that's not the issue. We agreed she would let me see if it faded, then would help me correct it.

It says on the box the colour will fade after 28 washes - so my question is, has anyone used this type of L'Oréal dye before, and will it?

In my experience, these dyes on my hair fade completely in about a week, though I do wash my hair every day. I wouldnt try bleaching it, it would wreck it and may go orangey. Maybe use Vosene or Head and Shoulders every day for a week and see what it is like then.

Home dyes always seem to come out much much darker than you expect. I had mid-brown hair and ended up using dark blond colouring as anything else was far too dark.

As the pp advised try washing with head and shoulders - knocks out the colour more quickly than other shampoos. Personally I think you're right not to try and strip the colour out - it will fade.. Good luck with it.

I used home dye kits for years - decided to go grey a few years back - has been v liberating.

It will fade out, like pp have said head & shoulders or vosene will speed up the prosess. If you can't wait, try the Vitamin c shampoo method, google it for method. Use a good conditioner afterwards as it's a little drying but much much kinder to hair than bleach & very very cheap!

Yes - home dyes always come out darker (as Wobbly says). Not what you want to hear - but I ended up having colour correction after repeated use of Loreal Casting Creme Gloss sent my hair near black and witch like (particularly the ends).

Some people though swear by 'colour off' or something which apparently removes colour and returns your hair to its natural colour. Sounds like the holy grail! Maybe other posteres will mention this product, sorry can't remember its name

Hi OP - I'm a hairdresser and I see this problem a lot - the thing is, people look in the mirror and think they have 'dark brown' hair, but if you compared it on a colour chart, it is probably classed as light brown, or even dark blonde - the standard colour chart is actually much darker than people think, hence getting a shock when you use 'dark brown' dye...

If it says it fades after 28 washes, it must only be semi or demi permanent, rather than permanent, so you're not stuck with it until it grows out, which is a bonus obviously!

There are a few things you can do to speed up the process - the first and least harmful is to get some clarifying shampoo - this strips down any 'product' from the hair shaft so should at least tone it down a bit - and wash it well, ie lather up, leave it on a few minutes then repeat. Wash it every day or every other day if you can.

If you want to see more drastic results you can do a 'bleach bath' wash (it's really diluted so not as damaging as it sounds, but is a bit stinky) or use a hair colour remover treatment - but both methods can be unpredictable re the colour you'll end up with so I would try the first method and see how it goes...

The colours from a box always come out darker, I do this regularly and I'm a hairdresser.
We recommend people use head and shoulders shampoo to fade colour, I use it every time I wash my hair if I want colour to fade. I would not be recommending you to get it bleached

I found the argan oil shampoo and conditioner seemed to strip colour out of my hair pretty quick.
I found that poly tint in dark blond is best for my mid/dark brown hair, any of the brown shades seem to end up too dark.

Keratin also removes hair colour (I can't remember the science behind it) so you could use H and S shampoo followed by a keratin conditioner.

Thanks all! This is all really helpful. Will give one of the shampoos suggested a go. Will let you know how it goes...

My hair is fairly dark and i used to use a number 5 which is medium brown. At least you used a semi permanent colour so it should fade

as others have said, definitely dont bleach in this instance. it will fade.

i've seen on here a lot about mixing vitamin c with shampoo to fade hair dye.

head and shoulders or baby shampoo will do. Ive used washing powder before as well which helped but id only do that as a one off.

I use box dyes, I think most people would say I have dark brown hair, I use the same product you do but in the light brown. They are always darker than you think they will be.

As others said though, they fade fast. Quite shocked your hairdresser suggested bleaching it.

Don’t bleach for a semi-perm colour!! Alternate head and shoulders and fairy liquid.

Vosene gets rid of a dark colour quickly

I find using a deep conditioning treatment fades colour too. Plus you'll have lovely hair after!

Another vote for head and shoulders here!

I've done this before, it usually washes out to a bit more of a natural shade after a few washes.

Another vote for head and shoulders shampoo.

As others said though, they fade fast. Quite shocked your hairdresser suggested bleaching it.

She does amazing blow dries but I've never been to her for my colour (I usually go somewhere else for that), I didn't send her pics though.

By the way, I will buy some head and shoulders tomorrow! Would have done today but couldn't get out with DD.