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Home Hair Color Boo Boo's

Most women have tried home hair color! Sometimes it turns out great, but sometimes it’s a fiasco. Trying to fix home hair color can be challenging too, but there may be hope. Most of all, don't panic. There are some options to help with your hair color mistakes.



Many women try a new color or cut when they get frustrated with life. You may think that blondes have more fun, but if you end up with orange hair instead, you may not be having too much fun! Few people can actually wear orange hair and look good! If you're one of them, try not to sweat too hard. Breathe and remember that life is full of blunders. Most hair color mistakes are fixable! It may take a few more colors to reverse your color disaster, but have patience. After all, good things come to those who wait!

orange hair image

You can fix home hair color boo boos with more color, but to do that you’ve got to understand the color wheel. There are some other options for special circumstances, so keep your options open.




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If you can afford to go to a professional, that may be the safest route! However, you’ll need to do this in the first 48-72 hours. After that, color locks into your hair and is much harder to remove. If you can’t afford to go to a hairdresser, you might consider calling your hair color manufacturer for assistance. (i.e. Clairol, L’Oreal, etc.) Most of the major companies have toll free consumer help lines printed on color labels. Sometimes they're helpful, sometimes they're not. It largely depends on the problem you have.

Aside from those things, there are a few other things you can do. There are color removers on the market but these shouldn't be used very often.

The best way to remove really dark permanent home hair color is with a color removal product or bleach. Depending on the color that you selected, you may be able to cover permanent color temporarily with a semi-permanent color. This is especially true if the color you used is a lighter color. Its much easier to cover mistakes quickly on lighter colors where it is virtually impossible to do so on most darker colors.

Home Hair Color Fixes



Chlorine Removal

Blonde hair that has turned green from too much time in the pool responds well to the ketchup treatment. It is easy as 1, 2, 3!

Directions - Apply a generous amount of ketchup directly onto your hair. Work it into your hair with your fingers. Cover your hair with a shower or plastic cap and leave it on your hair for 20-30 minutes. Shampoo, rinse and dry your hair.

* Depending on the amount of green this treatment may need to be done twice.

* The down side to this treatment is that the smell can be a little, er, well, smelly! Or, you may have a mysterious desire for a plate of French Fries when you finish! This method is also be a bit messy, but hey! It works great!

Hair Color is Too Dark

If your home hair color turned out too dark, you might be able to remove some of the color using crème peroxide. This refers to the peroxide you use when you color your hair, not the peroxide you use to clean wounds or brighten teeth! Liquid peroxide is too unstable so don't use it. Crème peroxide can be purchased at any Beauty Supply Store and is very inexpensive.

Directions - Use a mixture of three ounces of shampoo, 3 ounces of 20 Volume peroxide and 1 oz. water. Blend well and apply it with a color bottle where hair color is at its darkest. (If you need more you can mix it) Use platex gloves and blend the mixture into your hair with your fingertips. Cover your hair with a shower cap. Sit out in the sun or use your blow dryer with a diffuser to help heat your hair up. If both of these options are inconvenient, the heat from your head should work very well too. Just be sure to stay warm while you are waiting. About every five minutes, check the color until you are satisfied, then shampoo and condition hair as you normally would. Do not leave the peroxide on for more than 10-15 minutes though. You don't want to damage your hair too!

* You can repeat procedure more than once if your color is too dark. However if you do this more than two or three times, it can start to hurt your hair.

Henna Removal

Many people have home hair color disasters with henna. Not only does henna coat the hair, it can be highly unpredictable. If a horrid shade of henna is haunting you, reach for good old fashioned alcohol and mineral oil.

Directions - Saturate hair strands with a mixture of 70% alcohol applied with a spray bottle. Avoid your scalp.Wait five or ten minutes then saturate your hair with mineral oil. Apply it on top of the 70% alcohol. Do not apply to your scalp. Cover your head with a plastic cap. Sit under a hooded dryer for 30-45 minutes, sit in the sun, use your hair dryer, or simply stay warm.

To remove the oily mixture, apply a little shampoo to the palms of your hands and then pat onto your hair BEFORE you rinse with water. Wait a few minutes, then rinse with water. Wash your hair again with a clarifying shampoo. You may need to shampoo more than once to remove all the oil.

* If necessary, repeat as needed.

* Once you have removed the henna, be sure to perform deep conditioning treatments to restore moisture to the hair.

* Do not use hair color removal products on henna. Henna is unpredictable and can leave you with unusual results!

* When in doubt about henna, don't do it. Take your time and do lots of research to be sure you are on the right track for the desired color results.

Color Removers

Jheri Redding Color Fix

Clairol The Uncolor System Haircolor Remover – A semi-permanent hair color remover that Clairol says is gentle, quick, and easy.

Tone Refiner Balancing Toning Gloss

Getting Rid of Reds

Try L'Oreal Tone Refiner to remove red home hair color. This brand new product and so far has good reviews. You can buy one of two types. (see above)

So far they only have two colors for blonde or brown hair. This product seems to be a minimally invasive way to tone down the red colors you have.

The only way to completely remove unwanted dark red colors is to bleach your, then add another color or a toner. You can do this yourself at home, if you have the right information.

Brassiness

Try Clairol Shimmer Lights for Blonde or White/Gray hair. Shimmer Lights is a purple shampoo that is specially formulated to eliminate brassiness or orange hues.

* I've used this shampoo for medium brown colors with some fairly good success, so don't dismiss silver shampoos just because they are formulated for blonde and gray/white hair only! One size does not fit all!

Fade Colors

Hot water is notorious for fading chemically colored hair but is my least favorite option. Hot water is alright once or twice. Longer than that can really damage hair though, not to mention what it does to your sebaceous glands and skin! More than that and you are asking for damage. Damage plus a bad home hair color is double trouble!

Some root lifters and volumizing shampoos by Matrix Amplify may also help fade color faster because it is designed to blow open the hair cuticle which sometimes helps remove colors. Heated extra virgin olive oil and some hot oil treatments will also help to slowly eliminate colors.

These methods won’t remove the all your home hair color mistakes, but they can help fade them, which may or may not be a good thing. Fading colors can sometimes actually accentuate a bad color shade. This happens less often but is something worth considering.

Give it Time

Although you may hate your new color, if neither home or professional correction are an option, consider cutting your hair and starting over. There are a lot of cute short hairstyles! I had to cut mine when I got out of beauty school. (We experimented on each other to learn. I guess I should have been flattered cause everyone wanted to practice on my hair!) (Or maybe I was just an idiot! lol)

If cutting your hair is not an option, remember that most colors fade in time. Give yourself some time to let the color fade. Once it's faded, you can apply another color to help correct your color faux-pas.

Personally, I like to use more permanent color to correct bad hair colors. Why? Because they work! It may take a few times of coloring to get the desired result but it’s usually doable at home. Home hair color is a lot easier if you have a guide to follow that makes sense! (The exceptions are henna colors or strong mahogany/burgundy colors in your hair, which is the hardest to correct!)

In order to be successful coloring your own hair, you need to understand about hair color. That’s why I suggest that everyone should grab a copy of my inexpensive hair color ebook. Its written in layman’s terms so it’s easy to understand. Read more about it here. You might actually learn a few things about color that you didn't know before and be able to make better decisions about the hair colors you choose to try!

As an extra bonus, (there are more than one:o) you have direct communication with me. I’ve been a hair care and hair color expert for over 18 years. You can ask me whatever questions you like 365/24/7. I will do my best to ensure that you get the help that you need. If your hair color mistake is impossible to fix at home, I’ll tell you that too. How much would you pay for a service like that? This service is a free service just for buying my inexpensive ebook. How much better can life get?

Benefits of Coloring Your Own Hair

Learn how to Do it Yourself!

No More Box Colors!

Easy to understand instructions!

Ask Any Questions!

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    If you want to try and color your own hair, you really should know how the color chart system works, what the levels really mean, and some examples of the results you'll get by using different ones, etc. You can get all the answers you'll need by simply investing in my 'how to' ebook. It will answer a lot of questions you have! Special Offer!(for a limited time only!)

    These home hair color tips should help you with many of your home hair color mistakes. Life is too short to worry too much. Most home hair color boo boos are fixable! It may take some time to get your hair the right color, but in the end, it'll be worth it! You'll also have a greater understanding of what NOT to do the next time!

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    To go to the next Hair Tips page, here's the link: Essential Hair Vitamins You May Need

    To view the previous Hair Tips page, here's the link: Thick Hair Challenges and Triumphs




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