Will semi-permanent dark brown dye wash out before my salon appointment?

[JengaCupboard]

I have potentially made a mess of my hair!!! I don't know what I was thinking really.

It's (dyed) mid/dark brown root and highlights. It's quite grey. I decided to use a semi-permanent dark brown hair dye to do my own roots between appointments as it was really scruffy after holiday. Except I am not a hairdresser, made a total mess and ended up having to colour all my hair.

To be fair, it doesn't look that bad, it's dark, but even, and I don't hate it. It supposed to last 28 washes.

Ideally I would like it out before my appointment in two weeks so I can resume normal maintenance... is this even remotely likely?? Will it wash out?? Are hair dye removers safe to use?? I have washed it 3 times already and nothing is really happening... good grey coverage though!

My hairdresser is probably not going to be impressed.. I think I'm too old to be this dark.. what to do??? I've read about crushed Vit C tablets mixed with head and shoulders?

Thanks in advance...

My hairdresser friend used to chastise me for using head and shoulders as apparently it strips hair faster, so could try that for your daily washes?

I have never known a semi-permanent to last more than ten washes

use head and shoulders original or Johnson's baby shampoo (original golden orange one) which is also surprisingly good at getting rid of hair dye, it leaves my hair very dry though

yours might be different op as you’ve gone darker, but I used a medium brown semi once on my medium brown hair, it bleached the hair permanently (only a shade lighter so not a disaster) so could not wash out, had to grow out. I don’t trust semi since then

Sorry, I know it's beside the point, but could you tell me what brand and shade it is? I am looking for a dark brown that covers grey and doesn't wash out immediately.

Nice and Easy Medium Ash Brown - Tone and Gloss Semi Perm.

I'm hoping it won't hang on to my highlights for dear life. Usually everything home-dye comes off my grey super quick but seemingly not this!! Also I wouldn't call it 'medium', it looks pretty bloody dark to me!

I don't even know how my hairdresser would work around it as I don't think I can stay this dark...what an idiot!!

If it's applied properly and is a good quality semi permament, it won't wash out 100% completely anyway. if that was true, using semi permanent, when it "washes out" I'd be grey all over. It just fades a bit.

If you actually want to be lighter, that is harder and your hairdresser might need to make alternative suggestions or skip colour this time an dbook that in for a separate session in a couple of weeks.

@PembeGreyfurt I am very grey now - abot 80% on the top and probably 50% overall - and I use L'oreal casting creme gloss semi permanent colour. the trick to properly covering the grey is really ensuring that the colour is massaged in and absorbed. so in my case, it's on top and at my roots I have to really focus so I use the colour there, then masage it in, then do it again, massage, then again. Basically, I do it over my roots about four times these days (used to be one, then two, then three.... ) before i actually put the colour on the rest of my hair. It needs to be visible and gloopy on the grey bits before I move on. And I have thick hair, but it's quite short - chin length - and if it was any longer, I would use two boxes, not just one. It's basically about putting enough dye on.

Buy some hair dye remover, it works, you have to rinse, rinse and rinse more, the rinsing is getting the colour molecules out of the hair shaft. It smells unpleasant but it works. Or wash your hair everyday, spend all your spare time swimming! Good luck

Semi permanent never washes out of my hair! Especially dark colours

I used colour remover on my hair once and my hairdresser really told me off about it 😁

Thanks everyone... I'm going to get some H&S and see if that drags it out a bit.

I'll message her at the weekend and giver her the heads up.. hopefully aside from a telling off she will have the week to come up with something. If I can lighten it a bit I maybe will have to have an all-over colour for a bit. I don't know..

Yeah I'm not keen on colour remover if at all possible but we'll see..

Colour remover doesn’t work on semi permanent. It breaks down the molecules that have penetrated the hair shaft. Semi permanent doesn’t penetrate the hair shaft.

There are two types of colour remover, a colour stripper and a colour reducer.

A colour reducer only works on permanent colour. Permanent colour is where tiny molecules enter the hair shaft then expand when they react with the hydrogen peroxide. The reducer shatters the molecules into tiny parts again to enable them to be washed out. That’s why you have to rinse it thoroughly for about 10 minutes.

A true Semi colour is applied directly from the tube and is never mixed with a developer. It has large molecules that attach to the outside of the hair shaft that steadily wash out.

If your longer lasting semi product required mixing with a developer, it’s a blend of the two types of colour molecules.

From memory, the L’Oréal one is a colour stripper which is a bleach based product and that will lighten all your hair, but it’s very drying so you’ll need to use a deep conditioner afterwards.

In your shoes, I’d be inclined to leave it to fade naturally and postpone your colour appointment for at least another a couple of weeks. That way, your hair will be less damaged.

Re-applying colour chemicals onto the same section of hair will gradually damage the outer cuticle layer and you cannot repair that. You’ll know it’s damaged if it still feels straw like even after conditioning.

Head and shoulders applied thickly to dry hair. Put a shower cap over it and leave it for a couple of hours. Do that 2 or 3 times a week. You'll need an intensive conditioner afterwards though because it's really drying.

I’ve used washing up liquid, head and shoulders and crushed vitamin C tablets in the past. They all work but the head and shoulders is the easiest, washing up liquid has faster results but dried out my hair.