parias1126 Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 (edited) I have very dark hair. My natural color is dark brown, but about a year ago I dyed it darkest brown (pretty much black). I liked it for awhile, but I have premature gray. I started going golden brown in my roots because I wanted to go lighter and was going to just let it happen overtime. My hair is very long so this is not working out to well. I don't want to give my hairdresser $215 to bleach my hair out and go lighter. Can anyone give me some advice on how to do this myself? I like the lighter color because it shows my gray roots much less. I got my dads awesome genes and started going gray at 19. :( Edited January 4, 2012 by parias1126 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catwoman Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 If your hair was still its natural color, I might have some ideas for you, but since you've already colored it, I would suggest you find a good colorist to lighten it for you. (If you had super-short hair that grew fast, I might tell you to take a shot at it, but because your hair is long, it would be terrible to see it possibly get damaged!) If you are absolutely determined to color it yourself, call the Clairol hotline (and possibly the hotlines for a few other home hair color companies, as well,) and they will probably be able to tell you what to do, and what colors to choose. Whatever you do, if your hair is thick, make sure you prepare at least one or two extra boxes of color, just in case you run out midway through the process. If you're lightening your hair, you don't want skunk stripes where you missed a spot! :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myeightkiddies Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Have you considered just doing highlights? It isn't as much constant maintenance as touch-ups can go a lot longer than with all over color. Highlights should blend the gray in with the non-gray hair. If your hair is really long and thick, you'll definitely need more than one box and possibly up to three boxes (as mentioned above). To skimp on boxes could result in patches of uncolored hair. If your hair is really dark and you are trying to lighten it, there are some shades that often don't mesh. Ash colors can look green on some people. Golden can result in red hair. To make it less stressful, I would get it done professionally. Ask the stylist which store purchased brand would work well for touch-ups. You can do the touch-ups at home and save money that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bang!Zoom! Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 You really want a colorist the first time...it's just root control coloring (grocery store stuff) and conditioning after that. I'm a platinum blond and it costs about 175 or so to get it redone once a year. Your hair is going to absorb color more dense in some places than others, ya'll end up looking like a calico cat if you try it yourself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raceNzanesmom Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 My natural hair is very dark, almost black, with tons of gray. I had been keeping it pretty dark (not as dark as natural, but still dark) for about 7-8 years, but the upkeep on the roots was killing me. My stylist suggested going lighter gradually. So I stepped back a color for a couple times, then another step back for a couple times. This last time I used a no ammonia type and it was enough to color the roots but gentler on my hair. I only pull the dye through to the ends just before rinsing. And, I would caution using anything that will pull the color. You'll end up orange. Sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parias1126 Posted January 4, 2012 Author Share Posted January 4, 2012 You really want a colorist the first time...it's just root control coloring (grocery store stuff) and conditioning after that. I'm a platinum blond and it costs about 175 or so to get it redone once a year. Your hair is going to absorb color more dense in some places than others, ya'll end up looking like a calico cat if you try it yourself. Oh my goodness! Your scaring me! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catwoman Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 WendyK, I love your avatar!!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitten18 Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 I was going to highlight my hair myself a couple months ago so I was doing a lot of research (I haven't gotten around to doing it yet :tongue_smilie:). I would not try to use something from the drugstore. I would do a bunch or research and then head to Sally's for supplies. There are forums at makeupally.com that have a bunch of info. I think if you have a darker hair color on your hair now that you have to use bleach to get it to go lighter (I thought I read that somewhere :tongue_smilie:). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parias1126 Posted January 5, 2012 Author Share Posted January 5, 2012 I was going to highlight my hair myself a couple months ago so I was doing a lot of research (I haven't gotten around to doing it yet :tongue_smilie:). I would not try to use something from the drugstore. I would do a bunch or research and then head to Sally's for supplies. There are forums at makeupally.com that have a bunch of info. I think if you have a darker hair color on your hair now that you have to use bleach to get it to go lighter (I thought I read that somewhere :tongue_smilie:). I had planned on going to Sally's. I don't ever use drugstore products anymore. The difference in my hair since I have used the Sally's products over the last year is huge. I just need to know what to buy, but I'm also scared of ruining my hair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbkaren Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 Has something changed in hair coloring technology? Or does the hair still need to be stripped before it can be lightened? If so, that's something I would not touch with a 10 foot pole on my own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KidsHappen Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 My dd was a towhead as a child. At the age of 15 her hair has darkened to a light brown or dark blond. She frequently wants to lighten it to the color it was when she was younger and this is pretty hard to do. We are only going about four shades lighter and yet it ends up brassy everytime. I pretty much have to strip the color and then cover with the color she wants. She has very thick, healthy hair so it works ok but over time it would definitely damage the hair. If you have put on a color that you want to remove there is a product called Color Oops that will remove it. It won't help if you have lightened your hair though. It is extremely common for women with very dark hair going lighter to end up with orange hair. I would recommend doing it yourself as it is a pretty complicated process and easy to mess up. Highlightening seems like it would be a better option for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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