Fading Hair Color

Girl with auburn hair — Photo: Koldunov/Shutterstock

Q: I had very dark brown hair, almost black. Well, I dyed it auburn, and now I want to dye it back to its original color. But someone said it would fade my hair going from red back to dark brown. Is this true? Should I just let the color grow off of my hair?

A: I'm not sure why someone would tell you that your hair would fade by going from a red color to a darker brown. Such a statement is counter-intuitive as regards color theory.

Historically, red hair color has had a tendency to "fade" as it is worn and shampooed, but most shades of red are generally lighter in level than the "dark brown" shades of hair color.

You should simply be able to apply the darker brown color that matches your natural color as closely as possible over the red hair color you currently have and proceed from this point. Your hair may be slightly redder than your original color would have been, but this depends largely on precisely how dark of a "dark brown" your natural hair color truly is.

Of course, simply letting the color grow off is one option you can pursue. And in order to make the transition more palatable, you can use a semi-permanent hair color that matches your natural color closely to blend the colored ends in with the new growth until the colored hair has grown sufficiently long to be cut.

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See also:

Hair coloring

Tips for redheads

Questions about red hair

How to make hair color last longer