Hairstyles Hair

I used Loreal Superior Preference "Les True Brunettes". The top part of my head came out extremely lighter than the bottom. How can I correct my hair color after a home hair coloring disaster? Can I redye straight away?

I get so many emails from readers who are having home hair coloring disaster. My opinion is DO NOT TRY IT AT HOME unless you are experienced.

A common mistake people make is thinking their hair color is foolproof and will turn out like the picture on the box.

The reason hairstylists have years of training and experience is because dyeing hair is not as simple as just painting on a new color!

There are many brands of home lightening kits on the market, but if you attempt to lighten your hair at home, you are taking a big gamble. If you have no previous hair coloring experience, then don't risk it! If you get terrible results, it will be expensive and potentially damaging to your hair to fix.

Hair color is not like paint that can just be removed with paint remover. Nor can it always be painted over.... Like a white wall, sometimes you cannot paint over the mistake with corrective white paint. First, you have to remove the wrong color, which can take a few sessions.

Here are some hair color tips which will help you if you insist on dyeing your hair yourself. By no means is this all the information you need to know, I suggest reading as much as you can on hair coloring and I aim to expand our section on hair color in the near future.

• Hair color is a reflection of light off the colored pigment of the hair shaft. Different colors add or subtract from the hair color giving it various hues and shades.
• Hair dye is not like paint. It doesn't just "paint" the color onto the hair. Permanent hair color permanently changes the color pigment in the hair shaft - it does not wash out although certain colors may fade over time.
• If you end up with a horrible hair color, it cannot wash out or be reversed. It can, however, be correctively colored back to a color similar to the original color. This should be left to the professionals only and can take a couple of visits!
• IMPORTANT - Always do a strand test on a few strands of uncolored hair to get an idea of the color you are ultimately going to obtain. You can do a little bit of mathematical juggling by adding more or less of a particular color to get the desired color. For drastic changes in hair color do get professional help.
• Apply the hair color on small, thin sections of hair, bit by bit, 1/2 to 1/4 of an inch in width. This may be awkward to do alone, so get a friend to help.
• The ends of long hair are usually more porous than the rest, so apply the color to the middle section of your hair first, about one inch from the scalp down to about two inches from the ends. We do this because the body heat from the scalp causes bleach and hair dyes to develop quicker.
• If your color ends up a disaster and you can afford a corrective stylist, contact them immediately. There is usually a 48-72 hour window before the color has a chance to lock into the cuticle.

Some temporary fixes for your hair color disaster:

Colored shampoos which can sometimes help soften the bad coloring.
Cut your hair short to minimise the effect of the bad color.
Try to accelerate color fading - hot water is known to fade chemically colored hair, some volume shampoos and gels may help fade color (they are designed to open the hair cuticle which speeds up color loss)

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