Q) - I am wanting a change. I am 54 and think if I had some dark lowlights it would look good. Do you think getting my hair lowlighted with my natural color would be good and then I could just highlight it blonde?
My hair is naturally about a level 8 dark blonde. I have a color on it Loreal Les Blondissimes (not sure if I spelled it right, but it is a high lift natural blonde shade.) Also my mother in law is a hair dresser & for some reason she always told me to use ash blonde, but all I got with it was a brassy mess & one time I even got a green mess. Is natural or a neutral blonde the best color for me to use? How about a golden blonde? Thanks for any help you give me on dark lowlights Does your ebook cover doing home highlighting & lowlighting?
Professional Hair Care Tips - Dark lowlights are great and I use them all the time to add depth and dimension to my hair. My hair is a color level 8 dark blonde with many lowlights and highlights in it too. I use my level 8 dark blonde (with 20 volume developer) for root touch ups and add whatever other colors (as lowlights or highlights) I like (that blend well) to it. Of course, my hair is naturally very dark to begin with, close to a level 5.
The best way to handle this is to go to a Sally's beauty store. Look at the swatches and find (as close to) the colors you are already using. Then choose colors that go well with them for your dark lowlights. Think of it as looking for paint swatches at the paint store. Of course there is a lot more to coloring your hair because we all start at different base levels and we all have our own genetic imprints on our hair.
The only way to get a green hue or color is to mix a blue base color with a yellow base color. The blonde hair color you used must have had a yellow base and the ash color you used was a blue base.
Because the present color base you've got in your hair is yellow, don't put any more ash colors in your hair. You will have to use colors that have yellow as a base, not to make a color mess. Choose colors that enhance the yellow that you already have. That means you should stick to yellow base colors if possible, which would be golden colors. You can always use red bases for dark lowlights too, such as auburn although you may end up with an orangish color.
If you want some lowlight colors in your hair, try a .3 color. (like 7.3 or 8.3). These colors are advertised as 'golden' and add a little bit of red to your hair but are yellow base most of the time. Or try a beige color (.13) as these have even less red as the golden and are still typically yellow base. Use 20 or 10 volume peroxide to deposit the color. Add lowlights underneath your blonde hair to create depth. Add a few around your face to create more shine from the blonde you already have in your hair.
I don't know which color dark lowlights you want. Anytime you use a natural color, you may still get some red. It depends on what base you start with and if the color is a true color. Thats one reason to always choose professional hair colors like L'Oreal or other name brands because they usually identify the base! Neutral colors should be OK to use too, but can be bland.
Brassiness can occur when you've not lifted color past the orange stage of lightening. Brassiness may be eliminated by using Clairol Shimmer Lights shampoo, which is a purple shampoo that helps eliminate brassiness. Also, L'Oreal has a tone refiner product for light and dark hair. These may help eliminate brassiness too.
Other things can also contribute to brassiness such as the water you use at home and the sun. My ebook covers home lowlighting and highlighting and if you ever need my help, I offer it to you for free. You can see all the details on my ebook.
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