How do I fix my highlights? I'm not sure if I should dye my entire hair or just tone them down.

About 5 months ago I got my hair highlighted at a salon. I wanted a natural looking ash blonde color, but the color came out a brassy blonde instead. The customer before me had bleach blonde hair and had some left over so the hairdresser used what was left on my hair. In an effort to fix my hair I had to go to another salon and have then dye the highlights the color of my roots. Now the brassy/bleach blonde streaks are back. I want to dye my entire hair a light brown color to get rid of them. But since the rest of my hair is already a lt brownish color Im just afraid that-if I dye it-my hair will become much too dark. Any suggestions?

How do I fix my highlights? I'm not sure if I should dye my entire hair or just tone them down.?

Fixing a hair color mistake

No single area of the hairstyling business brought me more heartache than to see the horrible results that occurred from attempts to correct hair coloring mistakes. Never, ever, try to fix or adjust hair color by yourself鈥攖his is the time for a professional colorist. Even as a hairstylist with over 20 years of experience, I always passed these clients on to a professional colorist. I knew that all I would likely do, was make matters worse.

The earlier you get the professional colorist involved, the better chance they will get you back to normal, with little cost or hassle. The more you attempt on your own, the less likely the hair colorist can help, and if the hair colorist can do it, it will be expensive.

To find a professional colorist, just call any hair salon and ask for a referral. Believe me, you are not alone. Hairs salons get several of these type calls a month. When its time for the appointment with the professional colorist, bring everything you can to the appointment, most importantly the product containers and documentation of the hair coloring product you used. It will help a professional colorist greatly if they know what chemical brew went into your hair color attempts. Fess up and be honest and tell the colorist exactly what steps you took, even if they were really, really dumb.

Nothing can lift your looks and your sprit like a new hair color! A sassy new hair color lets you look at yourself in a whole new way. There are many, many ways to add hair coloring:

Hair coloring can add spice and enhance many hair styles. It's fun and rewarding when it comes out dazzling, yet it can be devastating when it works out wrong. A great hair color should look as natural as possible. A good hair color can add shine, drama and fun to your hair style. It can make some hair types easier to style. Although the majority of women color their hair to cover gray hair, many women color for the fun of having a new look, and the pizzazz it can add to your hair style.

If you decide to add hair color your hair it would be wise to first educate yourself. You can save yourself some tears and unwanted disastrous results. (Read some of the hair coloring horror stories) Remember, if your hair is in a damaged condition before hair coloring, it may very well become worse afterward. Make sure you have your hair condition in the best possible shape before adding hair coloring. For the best results, stay within two shades of your natural hair color.

Semi-permanent hair color

Want a gentle boost of color with no "roots"? Semi-permanent hair coloring is great for you. Sometimes called glazing, color stains or washes, these can boost hair shine and texture by coating the hair with a non-peroxide hair color that washes out naturally over 4-6 weeks. Semi-permanent hair color can only darken the hair and it will cover gray hair temporarily. These hair color rinses can help tame hair frizzies and actually may look like you have a healthier hair appearance. I strongly recommend that you use semi-permanent hair coloring for as long as it can produce the results you want, before going on to permanent hair color. It is by far the most gentle on your hair, and a low risk way to "try out" a new hair color.

Permanent hair color

Permanent hair coloring breaks down the hair cuticle and deposits pigment into the hair shaft. Unlike semi-permanent hair color, permanent hair color can lighten your hair. It accomplishes this by bleaching hair and depositing color in a one-step process. Permanent hair color can cover gray hair more extensively. Permanent hair color can be damaging to hair, and long-term usage can result in permanent irreversible harm to your hair. With a permanent hair color you can minimize long-term damage by being extra careful with your daily hair care regimen.

Hair highlighting, streaking, weaving and foiling

Highlights can be added to the hair by any of these methods. Any hair can be highlighted and is usually given more depth and texture by this process. You can add lighter, brighter strands of hair overall or just in specific areas. This is a great process for the timid or first time blondes. I should also mention "hair low lights" here. The same processes are used, however, instead of lightening the hair, this is adding darker shades of blondes or warmer browns. Hair coloring has come a long way recently and a talented hair colorist can weave two, sometimes three different natural looking hair colors into your hair creating beautiful effects

Hair bleaching

Hair bleaching had a big resurgence in popularity after Marilyn Monroe became a cultural icon. Usually this is a two-step process. First the hair is bleached and then a hair toner is applied. This is quite rough on the hair. It is also a time-consuming process. Expect to spend at least an hour in the hair salon every 2-3 weeks for hair color touch-ups. On brunette hair, it is particularly hard to keep up as well as being hard on the hair. If your skin tone is olive or dark it will look very unnatural.

After the process the hair is so fragile that extra care needs to be taken in blow drying or curling with a curling iron. Keeping it short is probably the best way to go, as you can cut off damaged or split ends often.

At home or in the hair salon?

You will get consistently better results leaving hair coloring to professional colorist. A good hair stylist will be able to pick out the hair colors that work best with your skin tones. Application can be tricky also. Your hair porosity will determine how long colors should be left on. Even touching up roots can be tricky. Almost all hair will benefit by using a clarifying shampoo before coloring.

I realize some of you just don't have the time or money to spend at a hair style salon and will decide to hair color at home. If you do decide to color your at home by yourself with a store bought hair product , remember that the actual hair shade you will achieve will vary from the picture on the box. I would recommend following the directions exactly, and taking the time to do a test to determine if you will get the result you expect before any damage is done

The perfect hair color for you

Whatever type of hair color you opt for, choosing the proper range of shades鈥攚arm or cool鈥攊s the key. The right hair color shade will brighten up your hair style . . . and your life.

What is the most basic principle of color theory applied to hair? It's choosing between warm and cool shades鈥攁nd with the dizzying variety of hair colors available, choosing can sometimes be confusing. The best way to make pleasing hair color choices is to determine whether natural coloring鈥攈air, eye, and skin tones鈥攊s in the warm or cool range of colors. Answer these questions, or better yet, have your best friend give you her opinion, which is likely to be more accurate:

My eyes are:

Deep brown or black-brown (Cool)

Golden brown (Warm)

Gray blue or dark blue (Cool)

Green, green blue or turquoise (Warm)

Hazel with gold or brown flecks (Warm)

Hazel with white, gray or blue flecks (Cool)

My skin is:

Very dark brown (Cool)

Brown with pink undertone (Warm)

Brown with golden undertone (Warm)

True olive (most Asians and Latinos) (Cool)

Medium with no color in cheeks (Cool)

Medium with faint pink cheeks (Cool)

Medium with golden undertones (Cool)

Pale with no color in cheeks (Cool)

Pale with pink undertones (Cool)

Pale with peach or gold undertones (Warm)

Freckled (Warm)

Ruddy (Warm)

Brown or bronze when I tan (Cool)

Golden brown, when I tan (Warm)

My hair color is:

Blue black (Cool)

Deepest coffee brown (Cool)

Medium ash brown (Cool)

Deep brown with gold or red highlights (Warm)

Medium golden brown (Cool)

Red (Warm)

Strawberry blond (Warm)

Dishwater blond (Cool)

Golden blond (Cool)

Salt and pepper (Cool)

White (Cool)

Gray with a yellow cast (Warm)

What were your answers

Did you check mostly cools? If so, your natural tones are in the cool spectrum. Mostly warms? Then you're naturally "warm."

Cool

Naturally cool people should avoid gold, yellow, red and bronze tones, which have a tendency to make you look sallow and drawn. The best hair color shades, depending on your skin tone, are shiny raven-wing blacks, cool ash browns, and cool blondes in shades ranging from mink to platinum and icy white. You're fortunate to be able to wear many exciting "unnatural" colors . . . lipstick reds, burgundies, and orchids, for a more daring look.

Warm

Naturally warm people should avoid blue, violet, white and jet-black hair, which will seem to "wash out" your natural high hair color. Depending on your skin tone and your preference, you'll find that deep chocolate, rich golden browns, auburn, warm gold, red highlights, and golden blond shades enhance your "sunny" look. Hair weaving and hair highlighting are great ways to add warm tones to your hair color鈥攁nd natural-looking corals, oranges and reds are dazzling on you!

The bottom line on hair coloring

Go slowly with full head color, and certainly get lots of advice and consultation with a professional before you start. Never, ever, make this decision by yourself. It will almost always be a mistake. This is the time to call on your best friend for advice and counsel.

Easiest, safest and cheapest trick to remove hair color is to try:

Multiple shampooswith, Dawn dish soap and/or Prell shampoo.

Be sure to condition afterwards.

After reading your comments and questions regarding hair color removal, I clearly see that you folks want more on this issue. There Important: These are all more effective if you try them imediately after the hair coloring. The longer the hair color is in, the harder it will be to get out. If there is buildup, color over color, it is much harder to remove hair color.I hope you take me seriously when I say it is a job for a professional hair stylist. It gets very complicated and is a unique process with each individual.

After reading your comments and questions regarding hair color removal, I clearly see that you folks want more on this issue. There I spoke with representatives from the following beauty suppliers and here is what they had to contribute on the subject.

Sally Beauty Supply 鈥?sallybeauty.com They are a local beauty supply store that sells to the public as well as beauty professionals. I鈥檓 sure you have a similar strore in your area.

Salon Care - Color Corrector for $9.99

L鈥橭real - Color Zap for $12.99

Clarifying Mixture Granules for $2.99

All of these will require bleaching out the old hair color evenly and to an exceptable level of hair color shade lightness. That will require you to have that eye to know when to wash the bleach out of the hair. Then tinting the hair back to a hair color shade that you desire. The Sally Beauty Supply representative felt they would be able to talk you through the procedure of how do to this on the phone, but sounds like disaster waiting to happen to me.

L鈥橭real 鈥?lorealparisusa.com

L.H.C. Removal Kit - sells at major retailers, such as : Walmart, Target etc.

They have many restrictions as to what hair types should not use this product. You should not use this product if you have permed hair, relaxed hair or highlighted hair, which should tell you something about the company having the need of being protective about liability issues. I wouldn鈥檛 be surprised if the other kits mentioned above have similar hair type warnings. (Another hint that you should leave these procedures to a professional hair stylist).

I hope you found the following useful. You may email me if you have anymore questions you wish for me to answer. elaina.ann1@yahoo.com

How do I fix my highlights? I'm not sure if I should dye my entire hair or just tone them down.?

Roux Fanci-Full mousse comes in several colors. Or you could get some shampoo/conditioner that will deposit a small amount of color with each use. There are many salon brands that are very good. Also now during and after condition your hair alot. This will help for future hi lights/colors. Good luck

How do I fix my highlights? I'm not sure if I should dye my entire hair or just tone them down.?

that depends on you skin color and the shape of your face. also depends how old you are

How do I fix my highlights? I'm not sure if I should dye my entire hair or just tone them down.?

No matter what your highlights will still stand out through the dark color. That first hairstylist you went to needs her liscence revoked that is so unsanitary!! YUCK. And the bleach only lasts about a half an hour depending on which volume. That is just bad. The only way to fix the highlights is to get some more highlights! You will never achieve a solid color once you have had highlights. Also you could choose to get lowlights which is putting a darker color like a red brown, weaved throughout your hair. Then you can always get those back to your all over brown color after. Or if you want a cheaper resolution get a purple shampoo to tone out your blonde highlights but I'm sure you have plenty of regrowth so it might not look good. Try the lowlights of red brown that would be the best results. Go to a salon that has redken so they don't do a two step process when one step is all that is needed! Else the red will turn into pink. Check out this link to find one near you http://www.redken.com/salon/default.aspx...