Jul 25 2011
Prevent a Colour Disaster – When Lightening a Dyed Darker Colour
(this is in answer to an email from Tyra – Thanks for your question Tyra… hope you don’t mind me answering this way but this question comes up alot. Hope it helps many others)
Do you think this is going to be ok? will it lighten quite easily.. the last time i had my hair coloured was about 8weeks ago.Hope you can help
Thankyou
Tyra W*****
Hi Tyra,
Hair Lightening is not an exact science.
I’m not trying to put you off but you must
be aware that its not often a single visit
process. There are many variables with
the lightening process. For want of a better
description – its a bit like a captain steering
a ship in a storm. He has a fixed destination (target colour),
he knows where he wants to
go, he’s set all the navigation systems to
get there but sometimes you can get blown
off course en-route. Sometimes
the winds are a bit kinder and you’ll go more or
less straight there (achieve target colour on first attempt).
This is often the case with colour correction*.
(*proper description for altering your colour)
The biggest obstacles for achieving lighter
effects on previously tinted (dark) hair is
what clients want to achieve and actually
what is achievable without compromising
the final condition of the hair. The second
biggest problem is the presence of red in
the existing dyed hair and the red in your
natural hair. This is the big hindrance when
chemically lifting the hair. The lifting or
lightening products need to remain on the
hair long enough to achieve a shade which is
pleasing but without brassy tones – or a semi
permanent colour which is strong enough to
mask the brassy tones at the end of the treatment.
In that last point lies the problems of
lifting a darker tint. That is the part
that is unpredictable. Its near on impossible
to just look at hair and say with accuracy
how much lift can be achieved.
Factors like:
Different manufactures of colour have
different levels of colour intensity - this affects
the lifting process.
You may have various layers of colour along
the length of your hair – often more layers
of colour from mid length to ends.
Different levels of damage or porosity
along the hair – due to competence
and skill of previous applications.
I could go on and on but I won’t bore you
with it. You basically get where I’m coming
from I hope.
In my experience, I’ve had mega successes
and a few disasters – I wont lie to you but
nonetheless I know this procedure better
than most and I’m always striving to
perfect this process as much as it can be.
No hairdresser can tell me this is an easy
procedure – they’re liars if they do!
Even celebrity hairdressers get this very
wrong. Sharon Osborne’s hairdresser got it
wrong when she asked to change from red
to blonde and lost all her hair in the process!!
This was clearly displayed on national TV
when one week she came on to the Xfactor
with hair and the next week it was gone!
They had to painstakingly spend about 8 hours
attaching micro extensions just to give her
enough hair for a short hairstyle.
The next thing you should do is come in and
let us see your hair for a proper analysis.
See you soon.
Andy