Hair change too drastic. Wtf have I done?

[MissMuffot]

I know it's just hair and it will grow back. That was my reasoning for doing it in the first place. I have a lot going on and I was just not washing my hair or taking care of it properly.

It was about 6 to 8 inches past my shoulders and dyed red. I couldn't keep up with the maintenance of it
And I felt like I had too much going on in my life to deal with such long hair.

After watching too many youtube videos, I decided to give myself a bob which obviously went very wrong and I ended up at the hairdresses. He decided that a pixie (between a bob and pixie) would be god for me and low maintenance, but he's basically just giving me a pixie with a fringe.

With my red hair, I was getting Sharon Osbourne vibes. So I try to put a brown dye over the top but it didn't take at all! so I ended up using a black dye I had in my bathroom.

So now I have Kris Kardashian vibes.

I just hate it so much. It's too dark for me.And I feel like all my femininity has gone.

I feel Ive aged myself 15 years.

I have a schwarzkopf colour remover on the way to try and get the black out.

I feel so stupid, my confidence has dropped. My kids were shocked.

DH keeps saying it looks 'cute'but I know he loved my long hair and I can just tell he doesn't really like it but he is absolutely teying to reassure me 🤣

Oh lord. Why did I do it??? 🤣😭😭

(Using dictation if nay mistakes)

I was just hoping to strip back the colour to put a medium brown over it.

I laughed at the Sharon Osbourne/Kris K descriptions. You have a way with words! Hold on to this - you haven't lost your sense of humour and you are still you.

How about some vintagey hair bands or scarves (not covering your whole head, but just tied round) if you usually have a distinct style? It would bring colour back around your face (and also hide whatever is going on with your roots in a few weeks). It will be ok. Take care.

Op please be kind to yourself.

Stop with the hair. Just leave it now for at least a month. The only thing to add is to use something like anti dandruff shampoo (nothing listed as colour kind!) as that should fade the dark colour slightly.

In a month you’ll have about an inch extra growth, you can use non- permanent colour to blend in roots while it grows out. By Easter you’ll have around about 3 or 4 inches extra growth, which should be enough to then look at changing again, give a hairdresser something to work with. It’s ok. And I bet it looks better than you think. It’s just a dramatic change and you’re going to need a bit of time to get used to it.

It’s probably not as bad as you think. Just a complete change from what you are used to. Try to leave it be for a while. Don’t use anything else on it.

Try not to worry. We’ve all done it and looked in the mirror and thought wtf! It’ll grow. It’ll soon be back to how you prefer it xx

Use head and shoulders and wash your hair regularly, it will fade faster than you think, it won’t look black for long.

You’ll get a better result from letting it fade on its own than trying to strip it. Think about it logically, you don’t have the money to do anything about it if the colour corrector goes wrong and you’ll end up damaging your hair if you keep putting chemicals on it.

Focus on saving anything you can towards a professional colour at some point.

It's probably worth waiting a week before doing anything further. It'll give you time to get used to the change and for the dyes/chemicals to settle. If you still hate the colour, look into best options to fix it.

Look upAmanda the hair and now get done fun wigs. Red is really difficult to cover so the brown dye would never be up to the job. The colour removed will destroy your hair.

@MissMuffot as others have said. Be kind to yourself. At least you have got rid of the snaggly, tangled lengths of hair. So thats progress. ✔️

Im a low maintenance kinda gal but count on my hair, making me feel good. Id be crushed if I felt bad about my hair. I feel for you.

The dye really will fade a bit.

Wear some lippy to balance the bolder look or big earrings, to make it feel an intentional “look”.

Primark is budget friendly or ask friends if they can lend you chunky earrings until you find something that you like?

You’ve done good. It will be easier to manage and is probably nicer than you think. ❤️

Oh bless you, you've had a really hard time. This is kind of a symptom of your mental distress - I know that a sure sign for me that a depressive episode is starting is when I stop showering, washing my hair, brushing my teeth, all that.

I also went from very long hair to a boy crop. I think I cried for a week solid. I did get used to it, and colour grows out fast when your hair is shorter.

I'm sorry you're going through this. Drastic changes in your appearance can be very hard to deal with, please just give yourself time to adjust and let your hair settle.

Take a minute to get your breath back, OP, you've had a lot going on. Now your hair is short any colour mistakes are a lot less disastrous, when I had a pixie cut I dyed mine loads of different colours. Quite often unsuccessfully!

Definitely lean into the earrings and lippy look on those days you're feeling a bit lacking in confidence about it.

In a similar situation once, I just stuck a hat (beanie) on whenever I went out until it grew a bit.

Use Head & Shoulders shampoo to strip colour, it's what we used at hairdressing college.

Please don’t do any more diy hair colouring as it’s not as simple as stripping out colour and then re-colouring over it. You could end up with a lot of damaged hair.

That’s also why salons charge a lot of money for a professional colour correction as it’s a very advanced skill and not many hairdressers are fully trained in this area of work.

Do you have a hairdressing training academy or college nearby? You can use Google to look it up. Give the college salon a call and explain what you’ve done so far and what you’re looking for and they’ll let you know if they have any suitable students who they can book you in with.

Students who are already qualified hairdressers studying advanced hairdressing courses do colour correction as part of their training so will be looking for suitable candidates to work on. Usually the charge is minimal and sometimes free if they’re struggling to find suitable candidates. Plus they’ll be supervised by a college lecturer !!

Head and shoulders shampoo, or a supermarket own brand version is your friend for fading the black out. Hopefully that’ll go to dark brown and after that it’s a waiting game for your hair to grow. It will soften very quickly and you will get used to how you look.

Christ, what sort of college tutor has recommended doing that? 😳

I’m guessing you’re level 2 and not doing colour correction training?

Yes ,I was going to suggest this,it will fade quickly plus you'll get used to it. DON'T use the colour stripper .

I would avoid the dye remover.
Get some coconut oil - basic stuff you cook with. Do a hair mask with it... it strips colour but will also add moisture.
Do that a few times.. also, use clarifying shampoo and pop a drop of fairy liquid on your head when you shampoo. It will remove the dye. Condition you hair after doing this because it might be overly clean.

Try not to worry.

Best wishes OP. It will fade and grow. At least it is winter so you can cover it up when out and about.

Really it will get better day by day. Go easy on it and yourself.

Im no expert but I have read that if you strip it you shouldn't dye straight away. Why not get a really good clarifying shampoo and give yourself a wee break. Hugs xx

Standing with you in solidarity op. During a breakdown I did multiple things with my hair that I came to regret (including shaving the sides!). I wore headbands for a year during the grow out phase. I bet you look so much better than I did because at least your hair is a style. I home dyed mine so much that I lost the natural curl and just had bits of dried straw for a barnet ha ha!

It will grow before you know it and you might even get used to it.

Sending love xx

Ah don’t stress. The colour will fade then grow out and you can start again. If you gave a local beauty college they’ll do cheap colours if you really want it removed.

I’m sure you look beautiful. Treat it as a start of the new you. Feeling better and taking control. Take care of yourself

I’m sure you look lovely it’s the change op. Just don’t do anything more for at least a week, just sit with it and adjust, also don’t use the colour stripper, your hair will go orange, and then the next dye maybe make it worse, just let it be, for a min if a week whilst you adjust.x

Have a look to see if there are any beauty colleges near you that are looking for models. They generally have good supervision- you may not have the luxury salon treatment but it could help x

Ohhh nooooo, we’ve all done it! I was told (by a hairdresser friend) to wash mine a few times with Head & Shoulders shampoo when I did mine too dark….honestly, it’s so strong it will lift at least some of the colour out of it . 🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼