Oh dear. Why did I try regaining my natural hair colour on my own?
Well. My hair hasn't turned out quite as I wanted - but I'm not /that/ unhappy with the results. It is too blonde-orange at the roots up the top, and too dark in splotches.
What I did was left half of my hair the auburn-dark-brown-black at the nape of my neck (etc.) and section the other two quarters of my hair, twice trying to revert to my natural colour in this area using Jo-Baz Hair Colour Remover (dark shades). It removed the hair colour a couple of shades, enough so that my hair was a medium brown instead of dark brown, removing a lot of the orange, but leaving the yellow in the auburn-brown. I kept the dark hair in two plaits for two weeks - replaiting daily, and I can tell you that the back of my hair got super healthy by this method. Strange!
Anyway, I split the rest of my hair into four plaits - unplaiting the parts I was working with, which after "removing colour pigment" was trying to lighten the top-thin layer of my hair to make it look as my natural colour always did, but with a twist. Turns out in distraction I picked up the wrong hair colour, which only had developer strong enough to lighten my ash-blonde roots to a strawberry blonde which I'm still stuck with. Even removing colour didn't remove the pink tone from my bloody roots. Anyway, I then went out and bought some Hi-Lite lifting cream and 20 and 30 developer. I was too scared to use the 30 developer the first time, and I didn't leave the bleach on for more than 15 minutes. Since you cannot bleach already bleached hair, in case it breaks out and falls out, I didn't "foil" near the roots, which has meant that the foils fell out a bit, and the areas where the hair was not warmed by my scalp are a bit splotchy, so when my hair condition improves (and I get more water in - the hours spent in the shower due to the two weeks of stripping my hair colour and recolouring took its toll on my hair AND on my water. I just had to turn my pump off because it was straining), I will re-lift the top thin-layer of my hair.
I put a Live Colour Intense through my hair, which was "unreal blonde" or something (which is actually more like my natural colour - no white tones, but quite a dark blonde with a silver edge without having silver hair. Hard to explain.) through my hair and that increased shine and reduced the pink-blonde of my scalp. Unfortunately, that only took three washes to wash out, but I do have another pack. My scalp also is not quite as pinky-orange as it was.
The resultant colour is quite a natural grading of light streaks, through mid brown to dark-auburn brown at the base. It is a good change. I just cannot wait to be able to fix the highlights.
The moral to this story is - no matter how experienced with darkening your hair you are, don't expect you're just as good lightening your hair. And never underestimate how much you need someone to help you streak your hair. On the first day, I spent two and a half hours JUST trying to get my ridiculously thin-fine hair to part properly. I wish I was joking. I also have a twice-reconstructed shoulder/upper humerus, so my muscles and nerves which were cut off the shattered bone are not formed as well as they once were, and are certainly not as strong. So, my hand behind my head for hours is exhausting.
1. Always have a partner in hair crime - I have some serious "strawberry blonde" regrowth on hair that I didn't mean to paint!
2. Never become distracted when shopping for hair lightening products;
3. Don't let foils slip out of your hair, as the warmth is what lifts your hair colour with the bleach;
4. Don't run out your tank water.
5. Go to a hair dresser. :-P
6. Make sure the room you're in is warm.
7. Don't run two hundred metres at 3am and wake up your parents by trying to find a shower cap. Have a shower cap handy.
8. Like me, make sure you have 5 different deep conditioning conditioners and oils on hand, such as Evo Mane Prescription, Matrix Hydralite dry thin hair detangling condtioner, Clear Scalp and Hair Treatment, Redken Colour EnWella Salon Professional 30 Second Hair Repair (purchased under duress: it was $9.95 on sale, and my hair needed it. I fucking hate Proctor & Gamble with a passion, due to their mindless animal torture),
Labels: bleach, colour lifting, Evo Mane Prescription, hair colour, Jo Baz Hair Colour Remover, Jo-Baz, Matrix Hydralite, Napro Live Colour Intense
