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Original poster

Help with my hair - looks nothing like I asked

30 replies

Fumblebee8 · 02/03/2023 06:56

Hello all, do you have any advice (apart from going back to the same hairdresser) on what I can do to get my hair closer to the photo I asked for? And am I being unreasonable to be unhappy with this?
I wanted my naturally dark hair to go slightly lighter towards the ends.

the hairdresser is 1 hour away and I did express my concerns at the time but I ended up with 4 staff members crowded around me saying it suited me so well and it was so close to the photo I brought in…it was awkward and I told them twice it was too light and not what I wanted. I won’t be going back there but I don’t know whether to trust another hairdresser to help?

first photo is what I showed them, second is what I got.

Help with my hair - looks nothing like I asked

OP posts:

RudsyFarmer · 02/03/2023 07:00

The colour looks stunning to me. Any other photos?

Junglejane8 · 02/03/2023 07:03

It's clearly not the same shade if that's the exactly colour you were after. The way the colour has been put in is the same in style though.

Junglejane8 · 02/03/2023 07:04

A toner would probably sort it.

teezletangler · 02/03/2023 07:05

Agree it would probably look much better if re-toned

MrsPerfect12 · 02/03/2023 07:06

A hairdresser that's never worked on your hair will never get it exact the first time.
i think it looks great. What are the roots like?

Oblomov23 · 02/03/2023 07:13

Ring, go back and get what you wanted.

Reddahlias · 02/03/2023 07:18

They made it way too light/blonde! I'd go back.

Soontobe60 · 02/03/2023 07:22

It’s hard to say as we cant see what your roots look like. From what we can se, it looks lovely though. The effect you were after is correct.

Cosycover · 02/03/2023 07:23

It is nice though. But not the what you asked for clearly.

I'd get some blue shampoo for the brassiness.

Original poster

Fumblebee8 · 02/03/2023 07:27

Yeah I don’t think the technique is bad. The roots are fine but I asked for light brown / caramel brown ends. To me, this is blonde. I might try to buy a toner myself and see if I can fix it.

OP posts:

starrylights · 02/03/2023 07:27

What was your colour before?
The picture of what you wanted is really hard to achieve, it needed much finer highlights.
I think your hair has lifted to far to achieve this now, but saying that it is lovely.
A toner would help tone it down.

pilates · 02/03/2023 07:27

It’s nothing like the picture but it does look nice. Just go back I’m sure they will be able to do something.

UpToonGirl · 02/03/2023 07:32

The picture you've posted looks really nice but not the same as the picture. I would call them for advice as your so far from them, hopefully they will invite you back.

I will say a lot of the balayage pics on pintrest and Instagram have filters and photoshop over them so your colour is unlikely to be quite the same.

Original poster

Fumblebee8 · 02/03/2023 07:38

I totally agree and I did not go in there with unrealistic expectations that my hair would be the same as photos. But I just didn’t think it would be hard to get brown hair a slightly lighter brown, if anything I thought it would be harder to make my hair warm blonde! Her technique isn’t bad at all because the placement looks alright.
thanks for the help everyone x

OP posts:

k1233 · 02/03/2023 07:49

It's helpful to split the pictures into three equal parts. Top part is the root colour - your hair overall is lighter than this - did you want to go darker?

Part 2 is the mid section - I'd say they're possibly a 5or 6 in your inspo pic. Yours is more a 7

Part 3is the ends. Again inspo pic is darker overall.

A hairdresser could put a semi permanent over it all and it would pick up differently on the lightened bits. I did that last hair cut. Not hard to do. You're not going to get the colour of your inspo pic if you don't darken as well. You could do a darker chocolate foil, your natural colour and the recoloured lighter bits to get close to the pic.

My hairdresser has done that for me before successfully.

k1233 · 02/03/2023 07:51

My hairdresser says to see the shading difference with foils you need at least a two level difference. The darker chocolate foils are a way to achieve this without going dark overall. I find it a better option for me as too dark in the roots makes me look washed out

cosmiccosmos · 02/03/2023 07:51

Were you having your whole hair coloured and then the balayage? The thing is your hair is a completely different colour to the first picture. That one has more red in it, yours is very brown. What they've done looks good but the blond is too brassy. Did they use 2/3 colour? I agree with others that it needs a toner - did they not do that?

Coolblur · 02/03/2023 08:05

It looks lovely, but it isn't like the photo. I have brown hair and if a hairdresser lightened mine that much I wouldn't be happy, even if other people thought it looked nice. Apart from anything else maintaing lightened hair root growth is a total pain.
If you don't want to go back speak to a different hairdresser and ask them to sort it

Reddahlias · 02/03/2023 08:44

Apart from anything else maintaing lightened hair root growth is a total pain.

Yes, that's why I've stopped highlighting my hair and have embraced my natural (light brown) colour. My hair is also much shinier and healthier!

MorrisZapp · 02/03/2023 08:56

My experience of hair colouring is that you can't really point to a photo and ask for 'that', because you don't have the person in the photo's hair.

My hair doesn't go light brown. No colourist on earth can achieve it so I have to have blonde. As others have said, it's a stunning result.

Original poster

Fumblebee8 · 02/03/2023 09:18

I asked her to darken the roots and cover the greys but she said the toner at the end would do that. It didn’t. I’m not too bothered about the roots not being as dark as I’d like but the ends are way too light.

OP posts:

Original poster

Fumblebee8 · 02/03/2023 09:21

MorrisZapp · 02/03/2023 08:56

My experience of hair colouring is that you can't really point to a photo and ask for 'that', because you don't have the person in the photo's hair.

My hair doesn't go light brown. No colourist on earth can achieve it so I have to have blonde. As others have said, it's a stunning result.

i am only mentioning this as I have had every shade of brown and it works fine - this hairdresser has even done it brown before. I just wanted to know if anyone knew a way for me to get it a bit darker.

OP posts:

Daydreamer123456 · 02/03/2023 09:23

Fumblebee8 · 02/03/2023 07:27

Yeah I don’t think the technique is bad. The roots are fine but I asked for light brown / caramel brown ends. To me, this is blonde. I might try to buy a toner myself and see if I can fix it.

What you’ve asked for is not like the picture you’ve shown them though.

I think the technique is exactly as requested in the picture and colour is what you asked for.

And FWIW I think it looks lovely

AthenaPopodopolous · 02/03/2023 09:24

Go back, ask for a toner and it will look lovely. Alternatively get a semi permanent cool dark blond box dye and do it yourself at home. It will look lovely.

SummaLuvin · 02/03/2023 09:28

This happened to me. I wanted super subtle balayage and it was more 'extreme' than I had wanted, not horrible, just not what I wanted. Toner will fix it, but they wash out quickly IME, so you will probably need to go back to a salon for toning appointments even 4-6 weeks to keep the look you want, unless you can tone at home (I was too scared of it going green that I didn't).

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