Help! Hair highlighted & way too blonde...

[mom2abcd]

I had my hair highlighted at a beauty school. Instead of natural-looking streaks of lighter color, the whole top layer is blonde! This is going to look terrible as it grows out. (My natural color is now a medium-dark brown.)

 

A quick internet search suggests toner, purple shampoo (?), temporary shampoo-in color... get a medium blonde dye and only leave it on for 10 minutes. He said it will make the hightlights darker but leave my regular color alone...

 

Any ideas? What is purple shampoo? What does toner do?

 

http://www.ehow.com/how_5137245_darken-blond-highlights.html

 

I don't know that the beauty school will guarantee their work or anything; I signed papers giving the OK... Besides, I was there for 4 1/2 hours today and would rather fix this myself.

 

To those who would rather spend $28 and a little time for highlights and cut at a beauty school instead of $65 plus at Fantastic Sams or Custom Cuts or a place like that... it might be worth it... (Sigh...)

[Happy]

I have naturally dark brown hair with some natural highlights. When I have more highlights put in they are always too bright the first day or even the first week. Then they mellow to a more honeyed tone and work beautifully. I get mine done at a wonderful salon.

 

Give it some time before you do anything drastic. They may mellow.

[homeschoolally]

I've used the purple shampoo and it really helps to tone down yellow/brassy tones in your hair. You can buy it at a beauty supply store like Sallys.

 

I've had this happen before too--I'd be very careful about doing something too fast because you might damage your hair.

 

They sell a temporary rinse or mousse at Sallys that you could use for a bit until it is 'safe' to do another chemical treatment. The brown shades will look purple when you squirt them out but they do a great job toning down the blonde. You could put in a few lowlights or cover the whole thing.

 

Hope it works out for you! I agree with the PP that what often seems shocking the first day will tone down a bit if you give it a little time.

[creekmom]

Same thing happened to me a few weeks ago. I tried highlighting my own hair at home with foil- huge mistake!!! Husband said I looked like a skunk bc I had one huge, wide bright blond streak on both sides (my hair is medium brown). I wore a baseball hat for a few days then decided to call my hairstylist for help. Apparently, a toner won't do a lot of good to overbleached hair. Best solution is to have a professional add low lights (dark streaks) back into your hair. It will blend in the highlights and look more natural. My stylist was sympathetic and only charged me $45.00. I know if I had tried to fix it myself, I would have regretted it! Good luck! :001_smile:

[Lovedtodeath]

This is what I have done: Get a semi-permanent color that is a two shades lighter than your natural color. Color the parts that are highlighted that you don't want to be highlighted. I would get a cap and pull your hair through... or just paint on the color with a small brush or wand. At the end of the wait time, go ahead and mix it in with the rest of your hair. You can keep some of the highlights, just not have an entire layer that way, and it might tone them down a little.

[Crimson Wife]

Wash with a clarifying shampoo ASAP. Lather, rinse, repeat several times. You know how they always tell you to wait 48 hours after coloring because it helps the color pigment soak in? Well, if you don't, it'll help tone down the shade.

 

If it's still too light, consult a pro.

[LibraryLover]

Well. We will need a photo before we can prescribe the cure. :001_smile:

[mom2abcd]

LOL! That was a lot of responses in a short amount of time! I guess I'm not the only one this has happened to:o)

 

There's not much to post. I have brown hair. Now it looks like I have blonde hair. It was just supposed to be *some* of the strands would be lighter than my natural color... a sun-kissed look. We moved away from the gal at Walmart's SmartStyle or whatever it's called that would highlight for $50 and do a fabulous job in an hour.

 

I'm mainly thinking of when the roots grow out how funny it will look.

 

I think in a few weeks I'll try the Aveda clove shampoo that's supposed to add brown color to your hair. I will probably call over there to see if they have any ideas. And to ask if the color has been bleached out or if a lighter color is on top of my regular color.

 

As far as I can tell, the toners and purple shampoos work to decrease the "brassiness" of blonde and that's not a problem.

 

For now, I guess I will see if blondes have more fun and deal with it later:o)

 

Thanks for the reassurances, everyone!!!

[KidsHappen]

First of all shampoo with a gentle shampoo made for color treated hair and then give it a couple of days before doing anything else. Then buy a semi-permanant hair dye two shade lighter than you natural hair color. It will darken the areas that are too light and will wash out in 6-12 shampoos. At that point, you can decide if you want to do it again. This actually works quite well. Good luck.

 

Oh and really good professional dye jobs are very expensive. My dd just had a multi-tonal hair job done. Several of the hairdressers said it looked so perfect that it looked as if God had done it himself. Absolutely gorgeous. The woman did a beautiful job but it took several hours and cost $200. My dd paid for it herself but I would say she got her money's worth.