Happy Halloween hair color fans! To celebrate the scariest night of the year join the HairColorCode team as we face our fears and reveal our hair dye nightmares… be afraid, be very afraid.
Nightmare # 1: Coloring your hair too dark
Hopefully by now you know our golden rule – if you want to go more than three shades either side of your natural hair color, then get your butt to the salon. Its not that it can’t be done, but as far as we are concerned it isn’t worth the risk.
And how do we know? Just ask the nameless HCC team member who dyed her dark blonde hair (and her bathroom, and her Egyptian cotton towels) jet black. She was aiming for Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction, but somewhat missed the target and ended up closer to Morticia Addams. What’s so bad about that, you might ask, we love Morticia’s fabulous gothic style? Well what didn’t work so well was the spot she missed at the back of her head. From a distance the blonde against the jet black looked like a bald patch. Scary!
Nightmare # 2: Coloring your hair without shampooing it first.
It is a widely held myth that color comes out beautifully when applied to dry, unwashed (i.e. greasy, dirty, product laden) hair. Wrong! This is one of the biggest hair dye mistakes, take it from us that your hair needs to be squeaky clean before you apply your chosen color.
To avoid this bad dream becoming a reality, shampoo your hair well without scrubbing your scalp too much (it might get scraped and you will feel a sting when the hair color is applied) then dry as normal. Also, do not use conditioner on hair about to be colored as it must be free of oily substances, otherwise you may get patchy, inconsistent color. Arghhhhhhhhh!
Nightmare # 3: Coloring treated hair.
Noooooooooooooo!!! Sorry to be so dramatic, but if your hair has been treated (straightened or permed), you really must wait for at least six months before coloring it. During that time you should condition your hair and ideally use a keratin hardener solution to make the bonds of your hair resilient.
You have to pamper your hair and be kind to it – we would recommend cream treatments at least once a week. Also, avoid using hair irons if possible (no-one said this was going to be easy!) as they can damage your hair even more. If in any doubt always consult a qualified professional, perhaps then you can avoid the fate of the HCC’er who had to shave her head as her hair was damaged beyond repair…
Nightmare # 4: Failure to do a strand test
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, always do a strand test at least 24 (preferably 48) hours before application. The best place to do a strand test is just below the nape, that gives you a good idea of whether or not the color is right for you but its easy to hide a mistake. Also, doing a strand test will check if you are allergic to the hair color or not so it’s killing two birds with one stone.
We confess that here at HCC we don’t always follow our own advice (what can we say, sometimes it’s too exciting to wait) – most memorably when the Ed introduced her dark hair to a bottle of bleach and immediately followed with a bright red dye. Not only did it destroy her hair, even an elementary class could tell you that white plus red equals pink… The result? Well, let’s say it would have made a troll doll jealous.
So there you have it, our most hair raising moments laid bare so that you can avoid a fate worse than death…. bad hair!
We would love to hear about your hair dye disasters (we can’t be the only ones who have ever got it wrong?) – let us know in the comments below.
my hair was dark brown,and i put a hair colour in it,platium blonde ,and now its bright orange ,wat do i do
Hey Lisa, really sorry to hear your hair color went wrong. One of our resident Colorists wrote this article http://haircolorcode.com/hair-color-removal which is worth checking out.
I hope you are able to get it sorted, I have been in the same position myself and luckily a very talented Colorist managed to fix it (and it didn’t cost the world)
Good luck. Susie x
I dyed my hair brown from bleached blonde, putting a red dye over it before the brown to add red tones, it looked gorgeous..until i washed it. Now each time i was my hair more and more brown dye is coming out and patches of blonde are showing through. Why is this happening and what can i do about it?? Please help, thanks
Hey Melanie,
This will most probably be happening because bleach was originally used on your hair. It can take a while for a dark color to cover bleached blonde hair. Do not fret, in time this will eventually set.
For maintenance in between dying your hair, try to use color enhancing shampoos and conditioners for brunette hair.
I hope this helps.
Susie x
I do my daughters hair. She likes trendy colors (pink,red and so on). It always says to bleach her hair first.. each time I have done this, the bleach doesn’t bleach it all evenly. It seems some spots just gont like to cover. Specifically at yhe crown and the front of her head. Its not awful but its definitly not EVEN. Could this be because she is a teen or am i missing something?
Hey Christine,
First of all, you are brave doing this alone and your daughter is lucky to have a mamma that dyes her hair for her, lovely!
So, the rules when using bleach are to apply evenly and with speed as it dries very quickly. Make sure the mixture is thick enough (so it doesn’t run off the brush), avoid the scalp as the heat from her scalp will speed up the process (this could prevent it from becoming uneven) and dye in sections. Keep checking the color whilst it is developing and before removing so that if you need to add any more before washing then you can.
I hope this answers your questions and let us know how you get on!
Susie x