Mistake when Dyeing Hair

Q: Hello. I dyed my hair dark brown over winter and now I want to go back to blonde for summer. I made a mistake and used box dye and now I can't get the blonde back. My roots will take it, but nothing else will. What can I do to get the hair to take the blonde?

A: First you must make certain that you are using the right kind of color for the results you desire.

While you can use a deposit-only color formula to go from light to dark in hair color, you MUST have some lifting action in the color in order to lighten a darker color to a lighter shade. When you are dealing with the darker end of the spectrum of colors, you will usually require pre-lightening before the hair is light enough to get a blonde shade.

I assume from the mention of box dye that you used a permanent color kit to darken your hair, and then tried to lighten the hair using another kit. While these blonde kits are generally good for hair that isn’t previously colored or is colored with a lighter shade, they generally aren’t meant to do more than lighten the hair’s natural color 1 or 2 levels. This means that they simply cannot lift darker color sufficiently to give you the results you want.

You will need to either pre-lighten your hair sufficiently so that the blonde color you want will apply truly or adjust the desired color choice to work with what you currently have. If you really want to lighten your hair significantly (more than 2-3 levels). I HIGHLY recommend that you see a professional stylist to help you achieve the color you want safely.

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See also:

Hair coloring

The hair color levels

What can go wrong when coloring hair