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Hair disaster!! Black box dye

101 replies

wanttokickoffbutcant · 02/01/2026 22:46

I thought I had already posted about this but seems not....

My DD15 managed to dye her lovely natural blonde hair completely black with box dye. She meant to do a dip dye (??) so kind of the under bits of the ends dark and it went wrong. Any ideas to get the stuff out would be welcome before I have to get a second mortgage at a salon.......

OP posts:
WestSussexWitch · 04/01/2026 15:24

It is fixable but will be pricey. Until June this year I was a heavily highlighted blonde, I decided I wanted to be brunette so slapped 2 dark reddish brown box dyes on, it went black and while it looked good while I was tanned it completely drained me once my tan faded.
I did 3 sessions of fairy liquid mixed with crushed vitamin c tablets, clingfilm and warm towel wrapped round my head for an hour. It went a muddy brown but was light enough for my amazing stylist to highlight me to a honey blonde, my next session will take me back to baby blonde. I’ve had to have 3 inches trimmed off and have spent a fortune on Olaplex and K18.
My stylists advice was to alternate bond building products alongside deeply moisturising products.

PluckyChancer · 04/01/2026 15:38

Dollos · 04/01/2026 15:21

My hairdresser messed my colour up, she ended up scrubbing me with washing up liquid in the sink to get the worst out and then dying it again

Sounds like an unqualified or inexperienced hairdresser! 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️

I wouldn’t trust any hairdresser who suggested this as a serious option to already having fucked up the colour, as the damage it will do to your hair is immense!

I hope you never went back?

ChaosDreamV2 · 04/01/2026 15:48

My daughter has done this too 😳 unfortunately it took a few trips to a hairdresser and a short time with gingery hair while it recovered from the bleaching. Sorry I can’t offer any pearls of wisdom - I’d advise speaking to a hairdresser

OnePearlOtter · 04/01/2026 17:56

Hairdresser here. It is extremely difficult to get black box colour out in one sitting at a salon and very expensive. Also not a DIY job. Keep washing with head and shoulders or washing up liquid and then conditioner to keep the condition. Look at the possibility of caramel/toffee colour lights around the face or top to give a lighter look.Maybe have some cut off. I'm sorry It's not an easy fix.

OnePearlOtter · 04/01/2026 17:57

Hairdresser here. It is extremely difficult to get black box colour out in one sitting at a salon and very expensive. Also not a DIY job. Keep washing with head and shoulders or washing up liquid and then conditioner to keep the condition. Look at the possibility of caramel/toffee colour lights around the face or top to give a lighter look.Maybe have some cut off. I'm sorry It's not an easy fix.

doglover90 · 04/01/2026 18:00

Go to a specialist hairdresser (not just the local salon) that has a good track record for colour correction. It will need bleaching and it will damage the hair significantly, but there are ways to do it that are less harmful. It will then need regular toning as it will probably come out as gingery. Cutting as short as possible e.g. a bob will make the regrowth progress less painful. Use high quality products like Olaplex and K18 to help mitigate damage.

fatphalange · 04/01/2026 18:03

I used to dye my hair all the time (makes me wince what I put it through). I’ve used boxes of ‘colour B4’ in the past with successful results. The stuff effing stinks, mind. Depending on the condition of hair previously, be prepared to put an ashy light brown dye on the resulting job, to counteract brassy tones.

Dollos · 04/01/2026 18:30

PluckyChancer · 04/01/2026 15:38

Sounds like an unqualified or inexperienced hairdresser! 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️

I wouldn’t trust any hairdresser who suggested this as a serious option to already having fucked up the colour, as the damage it will do to your hair is immense!

I hope you never went back?

Ironically, this was to fix another messed up colour!

They’d done a wonderful job and I had a red/copper colour. Went to have it done again and it went purple…I hated it, they said they’d fix it for free but when I said just dye to back to brunette (natural colour) as I’d lost faith, they charged me!

The brunette went almost black and patchy, they did manage to fix it after another colour but I never went back and it closed shortly after.

tara66 · 04/01/2026 18:30

Unless she has very strong hair - she'll end up cutting it off as it will be in very poor condition.

MrsLizzieDarcy · 04/01/2026 18:34

I dyed my hair black aged 15. Ruined the bath, several towels and the worst part was that my scalp really took the dye so I looked like a corpse. It was horrific. My Mum took weeks to come down off the ceiling, she was so mad at me. I got a letter home from school and Mum wrote back asking for any bright ideas as she was even more annoyed than they were! I ended up having to grow it out, which was punishment enough as it looked awful for about a year until I gave up and had it cut off.

Arran2024 · 04/01/2026 18:51

My daughter did something daft with her hair just before a big family event and she was so upset, I got her an emergency appointment at my hairdressers with one of the stylists who had completed the l'oreal colour course. I think it's a 2 week course - my own hairdresser, who is a senior stylist there, said he wasn't qualified enough to fix it and put me onto this other woman.

It cost a fortune but she knew her stuff and got it fixed.

Just be aware that there are levels of ability when it comes to colour and don't through more money at it just to get someone completely out of their depth.

TaterTots68 · 04/01/2026 18:53

I used to dye my hair (permanent) black. I did manage to remove it using a colour remover (you have to follow the instructions to the letter). It left my hair a reddish brown. My daughter tried using the same product on her dyed black hair and it didn't work at all. Fingers crossed for her

ChersHandbag · 04/01/2026 19:01

I did this at sixteen, dyed my lovely blonde hair unreflective, matte black, the black of coal. Then had to have a passport for ten years with me looking like a very miserable male German raver. I tried all the tricks and it went, as alluded to by pp, orange-ish and then green. In the end I had it cut into that kind of indie mushroom thing that was sort of 'in' with geeks in the 90s. Sad times. If I could go back I'd have a pixie cut, or, if it had suited me, styled it out.

wanttokickoffbutcant · 04/01/2026 19:19

She didn't surface until very late in the day today and she now has the remover on her head and wrapped in clingfilm.....she seems to think it is working.

Her hair is in good condition and she has lots of deep conditioners and has commandered my Olaplex so will also focus on that after.

Will update at end of process and thank you all for your help/advice/solidarity!!

OP posts:
Cluckycluck · 04/01/2026 20:46

Her hair wont go back to natural colour and it will likely be ginger/orange when the colour remover is done. It is important that she wants a few days after doing it to redye it as otherwise the dye will be much darker than shown on the box. A direct dye will work well after this though.

I've done colour removers lots of times on box dyed black hair. I frequently change from black to something fun like blue or purple and then go back to black again.

deste · 04/01/2026 21:20

I remember my DD had asked for a light pale blush pink on her highlights. Unfortunately it was barbie pink. On a search to remove it i found a youtube video using bicarbonato of soda. Mix it to a paste and cover with a plastic bag and leave for a while. Its worth a try.

wanttokickoffbutcant · 04/01/2026 21:44

Seem to be heading to reddish at the moment.....

OP posts:
Lunar2020 · 04/01/2026 22:32

Ex-salon owner here.

Try to avoid colour stripping products as they will destroy the condition of the hair.

Try this instead:
Get as much as possible out using Fairy Liquid, Head & Shoulders and Vosene (alternate/experiment with each),
Rinse hair well first with warm water to warm it up and soften and open the hair follicles.
Apply the chosen option from above and work into the hair well but gently, ensure you don’t stretch or pull the hair. Don’t forget the ends.
Rinse out well using warm (but not hot) water, don’t use cool or cold water as this will close the hair follicles.
On the second application leave on, wrap hair in cling film and a towel, then add gentle heat, either from natural warmth or warm setting with hairdryer.
Leave second application on for 30 mins - 1 hour.
Rinse out well with warm water (warm not cold or hot as above).

When all is rinsed out apply a good deep conditioning treatment. This is where it would be worth investing in a good salon quality product. Work gently but well into the hair especially the ends.
Leave for 1 hour.
Rinse out well with warm water (warm not cold or hot as above). Repeat rinse with cool water.

Blot/ press dry with a towel - don’t rub or pull the wet hair.
Use a good quality leave in conditioner and comb through gentle with a wide tooth comb working from ends to roots until hair combs through easily.

AVOID drying with heat if possible and allow to dry naturally. If you mist dry with heat blot/press dry as much as possible first, apply leave in conditioner and a good heat protector product. Dry slowly and gentle with a hairdryer on the lowest setting.

AVOID using any other heated appliances especially hair straighteners as the hair will be fragile for some time and this is the most sure way of creating more damage.

Repeat the process above every 3 days (max every 2 days), anymore often will be too drying on the hair. Once you feel you’ve got out as much of the colour as possible then revert back to shampoo and conditioning 1-2 per week. At this point you can also look at possible toning options.

Colours with a purple base are more likely to neutralise orangey tonnes, Osmo super silver is good for this, you can leave it on a bit longer than it says too. Colours with a red base are more likely to neutralise green tones. An old hairdresser trick is to apply tomato ketchup to help neutralise green tones.

Look at Bleach London products. BUT ALWAYS do a strand test first before applying any kind of colour so you can be more certain of what it will come out like.

Another option is to consider a bleach bath process but I absolutely do not recommend you try doing this yourself, this needs to be done by a professional. This is also best done once you’ve got as much colour out as possible yourself through the process above.

Lillibee4 · 04/01/2026 23:10

wanttokickoffbutcant · 02/01/2026 23:15

Thank you - she won't go for the pixie. I may have to bite the bullet and call the salon tomorrow.....just what I need after Christmas and her 16th is and the end of the month. I messed around with my hair a lot when I was young and I box colour mine now but I am brown/brunette so maybe she thought it would be ok?

I did this years ago. The salon stripped out the colour and put a blond colour in which quickly absorbed. It was fine

Leftsidefacing · 04/01/2026 23:16

Dollos · 04/01/2026 15:21

My hairdresser messed my colour up, she ended up scrubbing me with washing up liquid in the sink to get the worst out and then dying it again

I hope that by ‘hairdresser’ you meant ‘friend who isn’t actually a hairdresser’ - if not I hope that at the very least you complained, were compensated and never went back to that salon.

ThanksForAllTheFish · 05/01/2026 09:25

My DD dyed her hair with black box dye for 2 years and then decided she wanted to be blonde. We done two rounds of colour remover. A week later we done a bleaching treatment with 40 vol developer. At this stage it’s was a reddish brown. 2 week break and hair masks. Then done two more rounds of 20 vol developer and bleach. It lifted to a pinky blonde. Left for a month or so with a various conditioning treatments.

Done another round of 20vol bleach and also done her roots that had grown in. Most of her hair is blonde, a few stubborn bits at the front that still have a pink tone. It’s been a couple of months since so she’s due another round of bleach on the areas that haven’t lifted completely and roots to be done. I’m hoping this time will be the last and we can put a toner in to even it all up. We started this process back in August for a timescale. Your daughter’s hair might not take as long as it’s only one round of black dye. I’m fighting through multiple layers of the stuff.

Gossipisgood · 05/01/2026 10:51

Try washing her hair in washing powder. Make sure its all rinsed out properly & condition it afterwards. It won't get it out completely but will ift it.

millymollyminging · 05/01/2026 11:23

Leftsidefacing · 02/01/2026 23:10

Right of Passage. I’m sure most of us have done this, I’d play it down for her sake.

I did this as a young woman, attempts to remove it just made it go khaki. I went for a pixie cut in the end and it was gone in a couple of months. I think that’s all you can do really without resorting to an expensive colour correction at a really good salon, even then there will still be that and the damage to grow out.

Edited

This.

I wanted auburn. Forgot that a year earlier I’d used Sun In ( who remembers that?) and went day glo orange.

i ended up with a pixie cut!

cornflakecrunchie · 06/01/2026 20:04

It's a rite of passage, isn't it?
Mine's been green, tortoiseshell, purple.. none of them intended!

FavouritePJs · 06/01/2026 23:56

My daughter box dyed her dark blonde hair black, several times over the course of a few months. Eventually she came to her senses and tried to strip it back herself which didn’t work. My hairdresser ended up sorting it for her, she did two strand tests, one to strip and the other with bleach, she ended up going with bleach which worked really well but left her hair a bit too warm. A few weeks later she went for round two which was a balayage with highlights and it finished it off really nicely. I’ve attached photos but they’re not brilliant. Her hair is in nice condition and you would never know that a few months back it was black. I should add I also box dyed my hair black as a teenager and ended up with a pixie cut as I couldn’t face growing it out!

Hair disaster!! Black box dye
Hair disaster!! Black box dye
Hair disaster!! Black box dye
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