I've turned my hair from fab to drab. Please help me banish the mouse 🐭

[LazyMareofEastown]

Please don't tell me to go to a salon as I can't afford it!

Hair-story - Originally naturally a very dark brunette but went almost fully grey in early thirties. Embraced it for a while but ultimately got fed up of it and started doing pastel pink/purple then teal with dark roots, magenta with dark roots, all at home (so not afraid to have a go at hair stuff). Loved them all but an absolute nightmare to upkeep. I also had a brief stint as an all over redhead last year but got bored of that pretty quickly.

I want a more natural colour for a change (age and job related). What I want is a colour that my greys blend more easily into. Blonde is not an option as its too difficult to maintain at home and my hair is damaged. Plus I look shit as a blonde. Don't want too too dark (level 4-5) like my original natural colour) as the greys are too obvious against the dark colour.

Bleached my hair to get a blank canvas and then panic-applied a dark rose gold semi mixed with a light brown semi and its turned out to be gingery mouse with a green tinge. I hate it.

I want something rich and flattering (I'm pale and cool toned with blue eyes and freckles) without being too dark.

Can anyone advise on what might work? Has to be something I can apply over this colour as not willing to damage my hair further with colour remover or more bleach.

Have attached a pic of my current hair and of a colour I really like. Any advice would be very much appreciated.

Help 🙏

I prefer your 'mouse' shade.

I like both colours. The paler colour isn’t mousey at all. My natural hair colour is true mouse colour, I would be very happy if it looked like that instead. Maybe give it a few days and see how you feel. I find a big change to our hair can sometimes take a bit of time to get used to

Tbh I'm not sure which is your current shade and which one is your aim but I like them both!

Quite intrigued by your top in the second picture. Could you give details on that please?

Sorry, ahem, S&B rules, 'all funky clothing details must be shared, especially when sharing photos', Rule no. 273b

Essex I agree but it's been like this for two weeks and I genuinely hate it 😩. The photo makes it look nicer than it does irl.

TeaAddict it's a vintage mens shirt so not very useful info I'm afraid!

Bobby I cocked up the photos. Mine is the lighter gingery colour.

I'm currently looking at Josh Wood colours. Pricey but the results look good.

The mouse colour looks fabulous, Kiev dark brown, incredibly glossy, and healthy.

What is Kiev dark brown Oblomov.

What about using those shampoos/conditioners that have colour deposits in them so you don’t have to actually do any dying/upkeep other than normal hair washing? Should hopefully allow your greys to still grow out.

Maybe a coppery one?

I’ve used the “Infuse My Colour” shampoo in Copper before to maintain a semi between hair appointments.

You could also try the Fanola No Orange toning shampoo on what you’ve got and see if it knocks enough of the warmth out to let your greys grow through?

I think your current colour looks really nice and can imagine it goes great with freckles and blue eyes.

So the two dark brown photos are the shade you like, and the light brown gingery one is what you currently have? I agree the darker ones look lovely.
I use Castings semi - permanent, which leaves my hair shiny and in great condition and costs £6. On the advice of several hairdressers, I only apply it to the roots and skip the stage of applying some to the whole length, because this can lead to colour block. This allows some natural tonal variation to develop down the length of its hair as the cour fades at slightly different rates depending on the amount of underlying grey.
In between, when grey roots are showing, I use a Superdrug wash in - wash-out colour which is quick and easy. It takes well on grey roots and just blends in the grey so I don't have a harsh line.

Sorry, complete mis-type. Not Kiev. Dark brown.

Thanks for all the tips. I really don't want to be copper/red/gingery brown though. It just doesn't suit me and makes me feel so bleh. I need more contrast between my skin and my hair I think.

Have ordered Josh Wood in shade 6. Pic from website below. Would be very happy with that colour.

Let us know how the colour comes out, OP! I also love the darker brown colour you are after. I have used a Tresemme colour mask in brown before and I found it really good, and teamed with the John Freida brunette shampoo it really did give me a nice darker colour without any redness.

Ooh looks good. Hope it turns out OK for you. I like the lighter colour but know what it's like when it doesn't feel like you.

I like the lighter colour, but I know what you mean, if you don't love it after 2 weeks then you never will.

I have similar colouring to and and coloured my hair similar to the darker shade. My hair doesn't hold colour very well so I went darker thinking it would fade. It just didn't and I felt it was just a bit too dark for me. Imo it made me look washed out as it was just too much of a contrast. I'm naturally a redhead. Of course if I get a colour I really love then it fades, but one I don't, just blimming sticks.

I read online that the green tinge is something to do with dying hair brown again after bleach/lightening, it happened to me when dyeing over highlights. And left me with a blah mousey greeny shade. There is an explanation to do with molecules but I'm not going to attempt it as will get it wrong probably

I'm in the exact same boat as you, same colouring and the same dilemma!
I've worked out I'm cool toned, and it sounds like you are too, so I've been looking into what will suit me and what to avoid. Need to stay away from warm tones, honey, orange and coppers etc. This could be why you don't like your current colour as it's too warm? Mine is currently brassy and it completely washes me out. I'm about to try a L'Oréal professional colour at home, I've ordered a dark ash blonde, which I'm hoping will come out light brown that will neutralise the brass.
I hope the colour you've ordered looks nice, please update when you've done it!

@Blossomandbee let us know how yours goes please. I'm yet to find a cool brunette dye.

Is the photo of the colour you like a photo of you?

@timeforteaforyouandme

The issue with going blonde straight to dark again causing a green tinge is not putting a red pigment back into the hair in between the two steps. So you need to go blonde to a red shade and then the brown on top. This will stop the green tinge.

OP and everyone else looking for a cool toned brown, you need Matrix Dark Envy toning shampoo/mask. It knocks the warmth out of brunettes.

My very favourite Pippa doll in the 70s had the hair colour your considered 'mouse'. She was cool!

Thanks all!

For whoever asked, no it ain't me in either of the pics of women with nice hair 🤣

The Matrix Dark Envy stuff sounds intriguing. I will check it out.

Am hoping that the Josh Wood colour doesn't come out too dark as it's a level 6. When I was doing my dark to magenta colour before I used a level 5 for the roots and it always came out much darker than on the box. I think bog standard box dyes always do tbh. Am hoping for better quality from JW!

Another thing I've learned from this whole debacle is that this stuff from amazon (pictured) is an absolute bloody lifesaver. It has transformed my damaged ends and is much cheaper than Olaplex (I got it on offer last week for £15).

I know you said you dont want to use a colour remover but I'll post a couple of (absolutely 100% genuine , untouched ) photos from a couple of years ago .
It will only work on a semi perm colour , not permenant .

My hair was mid/dark brown. I decided ( God knows why) to use a Mahogany S/P dye (I'd veen using a 7.3 previosly)
It went purple , my greys were pink
Even after a couple of weeks it hadn't washed out .

Vit C tablets crushed ( use a food processor . I used a plastic bag and roling pin, it was still a bit gritty) mixed with a dandruff shampoo ( I used a Superdrug H&S type)
Left ot on about 4 hours IIRC
When I rinsed it , no colour in the water , I thought well that was a waste of time
But after the next wash , I noticed the colour lifted .
It can leave it dry (mine was ok) , so contion it well.

But from my experience , worth a try .

If you do use a colour remover they advice to wait before dye again
And check the JW reviews . Some of the reviews for the Gloss Shots said it was a bit green which you don't want . The dye might not be .

Thanks 70s. That's a good result! I've never fared well with the vit c method (and I nearly broke my blender 🤣) but have had great results from the ColorB4 extra strength stuff.

As part of this recent hair process I've done two full head bleaches so am definitely not doing anything else that might damage it for a while!

Am a bit wary of there still being some dreaded green after the JW colour so am tempted to do a light pinky red fill before I do the darker brown. Really want it to look rich and not flat/ashy.

What. A. Palaver.