Colorfix

Dark brown hair cut into an angled bob — Photo: Borysevych/Shutterstock

Q: My hair is naturally a dark blonde but for the past couple of years I have been dyeing it a lighter blonde. Yesterday, I decided to dye it dark brown, and it looks horrible.

I was thinking about getting and using "colorfix" to strip out the color and then re-dye it back to around what my natural blonde color is. Is this safe to do? Can I go ahead and do this today or do I need to wait a while?

A: Whether or not using a color stripping product and re-coloring the hair is safe depends on the condition of your hair. The best way to determine whether this is safe to do at this point is to take a lock of hair from an inconspicuous place on the head and perform a strand test.

Use the color stripper on the lock of hair according to package directions, dry the hair and check the results. If the hair seems to be in reasonable condition afterward, test further with the color you plan to use by mixing a capful of the hair color with the developer and re-coloring the test strand. After dyeing the test strand, dry it and check for damage and color results.

When you know how the hair will respond, you will be able to decide if you want to try to perform the stripping and coloring plan you have, and whether or not your hair will tolerate the chemical processes involved.

I do recommend that you give yourself a deep conditioning treatment before you perform the process on your whole head, regardless of the results of the test. This will make sure that your hair is in the best possible condition, and should offer better result overall.

You can also condition the hair between the stripping and re-coloring steps, for more insurance against damage.

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See also:

Hair coloring

How to do a strand test

After-care for colored or chemically treated hair