We’ve all been there — sitting in the salon chair, staring back at your reflection, holding it together, biting the inside of your cheeks. And then you get in the car, flip down the car mirror and it reconfirms your fears — it is a disaster.
Cue the Kim Kardashian ugly crying. The flashes forward into your future, all the major life milestones featuring *this* Hair. Here comes the panic. How am I going to fix this Colour mess?
Before plotting an act of revenge or hitting up a supermarket to find any box that you think will fix the problem, which it will not — only making your list of problems grow, let us be the guiding light through this tunnel of disaster with these easy to follow solutions for the most common reasons we leave the hairdressers in tears.
#1 My Hair Colour is too Dark
Solution: When your Colour is Darker than desired, leave for a few washes and assess again in good light. If it is still overwhelming, Colour Remove it. If you want to Lighten your Colour a smidge, apply Colour Remover over damp Hair for a weaker process. If you want to clean it all out and start again, start by Colour Removing your Hair twice and waiting at least 48 hours before you reColour or Tone.
Keep reading:
How to Colour Remove
What To Do After Colour Removing
#2 My Colour is too Yellow or Brassie
Solution: So you've had your Hair lightened with a fresh Blonde or few highlights, but you've left the salon with straw Hair and horrible Yellow and Orange Colours. Thankfully, it is an easy fix. Your lightened Hair will be porous, using a Toner Kit will gloss over your Hair with a Cooling Blonde pigment to Tone Warmth and refresh sparkling shine, while the Toning formula fills the Hair shaft and conditions Hair leaving it silky smooth.
Keep reading:
How to Tone
#3 You've been left with stripes of Colour
Solution: You dreamed of a few baby lights or a soft balayage and instead you're staring at thick, chunky highlights from the roots like tiger stripes. Soften these chunks of Colour by painting in a base shade at your Regrowth area. Choosing a Natural or Cool shade that sits close to your Natural Hair Colour, paint your Regrowth whilst also overlapping the start of your highlights. Bring the Colour down the Hair, staggering the endpoints so you are not left with a straight Colour line. Your aim is to blend your Regrowth and Highlight line, softening the stripes into a Natural looking Colour.
Keep reading:
How To Fix Your Tiger Stripe Highlights
#4 You wanted a Single Shade
Solution: If the plan was to be leaving with a Marilyn Blonde, or a full head of Colour of any sort and instead you were talked into foils, all is not lost. Choose the Hair Colour shade that you originally wanted, painting your Colour mixture over your entire head and through to your ends. Use a Wide Tooth Comb to softly comb the Colour mixture evenly through your Hair for a smoother blend. Of course, your lighter bits will be lighter and your darker bits darker, but it will add some nice dimension and a smoother consistency to your Hair Colour.
Keep reading:
How to Lighten your Hair
How to Colour your Hair Dark
#5 You hate your Root Stretch or Lowlights
Solution: You may have muttered the words "low maintenance" or "something to break it up" to your Colourist and the next thing you know you have some new Darker editions to your Hair that you are not very fond of.
Lowlights, usually Darker Colours that have been painted through the underneath of your Hair are very effective, but if the Colour is too Dark or too Red or just not to your taste — Colour Removing your problem areas will get rid of them pronto. Once you're happy with the result, follow up with a Tone, using the best Toner Kit style for your Hair to soothe any leftover Warmth. Or continue Colouring with your desired shade.
Root Stretching is a technique where you paint a Darker shade that is similar to your Natural Regrowth Colour and extends or stretches it out to exaggerate your root area. It is a relaxed, low maintenance style that is easy to replicate, but if it's not what you want, a deep cleanse of that darker pigment through your root area using Colour Remover to completely clean it out will get you back to square one. If you plan to reColour your regrowth, choose a Cooler Colour to counteract the leftover Warmth, and apply with a slightly staggered painting style to help blend your Regrowth and the rest of your Coloured Hair.
If you're hitting the panic button and want some more one-on-one advice, email our Colour Consultants with your questions. It's a judgement-free zone, and often a place to vent and find refuge. Let's get chatting: info@myhdhair.com
