topic Re: Hair Color Question in Beauty

Hair Color Question

sparklestar — Thu, 07 Aug 2014 21:36:11 GMT

I've been coloring my own hair with products from Sally Beauty Supply. I've generally stuck with my own color and mixed according to instructions. I'd like to lighten my hair so I'm asking (if you have experience or knowledge in this area) how to go about it. I know I can't just use a lighter color, so do I increase the developer or use a different #? The instructions aren't much help and the person I've been seeking help from at Sally's is so snotty and not much help.

Anyone have any advice? I have a lighter reddish brown and I'd like to go lighter but would like to stay away from red ... more like a dark blonde with a more ash tone. I just don't want golden or red. Does that make any sense???

Re: Hair Color Question

Sister Golden Hair — Thu, 07 Aug 2014 21:41:24 GMT

Hello sparklestar, I can't be any help because I get my hair done at the beauty shop. Is there a phone number on the box you are using now? Maybe you could call the company and they might be able to help you. Good to see you.

Re: Hair Color Question

sparklestar — Thu, 07 Aug 2014 22:46:27 GMT

On 8/7/2014 Sister Golden Hair said:
Hello sparklestar, I can't be any help because I get my hair done at the beauty shop. Is there a phone number on the box you are using now? Maybe you could call the company and they might be able to help you. Good to see you.

I'll have to look. Thanks for the suggestion. I don't know why that guy is so mean and rude to me. I thought they were there to help. I've been there a few times when he's working and now I won't go there anymore if I see him inside. He's so grouchy.

Re: Hair Color Question

Goldengate8361 — Thu, 07 Aug 2014 22:57:52 GMT

Sparklestar--It's hard to give good advice without really seeing your hair. I color my own hair, too, using hair color from Sally Beauty Supply. It sounds like you want to move away from your present "warm" colors toward a neutral or ash shade of dark blonde. Most folks would tell you that you simply need to use an "ash" shade of color--with blue/violate/green undertones. From experience, I can tell you that it's not that easy.....I would suggest transitioning to a more neutral color first. You'll still want to use the same level of develoer (20 is standard). Good luck!!!

Re: Hair Color Question

NAL35 — Thu, 07 Aug 2014 23:44:01 GMT

I just bought Red/Gold Corrector Plus from Sally. It comes in powder and liquid form. I use the liquid version. It's a violet base so your toner/developer combo might have a violet tinge to it. I also use 30 volume developer which I like much more than 20 volume. Yes, the dye comes out lighter than 20 volume but I like the color lift I get. Directions are on the box but it's 15 drops per 1 oz. of toner - without the developer included in the total amount. If you use 2 oz. of toner, then it's 30 drops of the corrector. You do not need to compensate with using more developer. I hope this helps and it works for you.

Re: Hair Color Question

Fabilola — Thu, 07 Aug 2014 23:51:07 GMT

Pick out the color you want to move toward and mix some of it in with your present color, reduced by what ever amount of the new color you add. So say you add in 1/4 of the new color with 3/4s of your present color. Then slowly increase the amount of new color until you are only using it. By the time you are using 3/4s of the new color you will be able to tell if thats the color you want. Good luck!

Re: Hair Color Question

MarenSeattle — Thu, 07 Aug 2014 23:55:46 GMT

I've found the staff (most of them) at Sally's to be very helpful. They've helped me when I was ""blonde"" and recently talked me out of trying to make my already naturally white hair ""Gwen Stefani white"". They can help you because I know it's daunting! :-)

Re: Hair Color Question

Sister Golden Hair — Fri, 08 Aug 2014 01:36:08 GMT

sparkle, go in there and ask him if he is having a bad day. I have done this sometimes when a clerk is acting that way towards me. Or if he is rude, just ask to see the manager.

Re: Hair Color Question

sparklestar — Fri, 08 Aug 2014 01:46:28 GMT

On 8/7/2014 Goldengate8361 said:
Sparklestar--It's hard to give good advice without really seeing your hair. I color my own hair, too, using hair color from Sally Beauty Supply. It sounds like you want to move away from your present "warm" colors toward a neutral or ash shade of dark blonde. Most folks would tell you that you simply need to use an "ash" shade of color--with blue/violate/green undertones. From experience, I can tell you that it's not that easy.....I would suggest transitioning to a more neutral color first. You'll still want to use the same level of develoer (20 is standard). Good luck!!!

You're right, it is difficult but I think you hit the nail on the head. That's exactly what I am trying to do -- move away from warm to a more neutral lighter shade. How do you know what undertones a color has?

Re: Hair Color Question

F1wild — Fri, 08 Aug 2014 01:58:09 GMT

On 8/7/2014 sparklestar said:
I've been coloring my own hair with products from Sally Beauty Supply. I've generally stuck with my own color and mixed according to instructions. I'd like to lighten my hair so I'm asking (if you have experience or knowledge in this area) how to go about it. I know I can't just use a lighter color, so do I increase the developer or use a different #? The instructions aren't much help and the person I've been seeking help from at Sally's is so snotty and not much help.

Anyone have any advice? I have a lighter reddish brown and I'd like to go lighter but would like to stay away from red ... more like a dark blonde with a more ash tone. I just don't want golden or red. Does that make any sense???

I get mine done at a salon, but why would you want to be a dark ash blonde? I only ask this because it's been my natural color since immunotherapy. My pre-CA hair was a stick straight very, very light blonde. Now I do everything humanly possible to get back to near the original...light blonde...with fuchsia peekaboos.

I'm only joking. You can obviously do whatever color you want, but that sounds drastic. I wish you all the luck and hope your hair turns out beautiful!

Re: Hair Color Question

dsky — Fri, 08 Aug 2014 03:28:40 GMT

I would go to a good colorist, then maintain it yourself. This is not something you can do yourself without alot of color knowledge.

Re: Hair Color Question

Goldengate8361 — Fri, 08 Aug 2014 03:48:44 GMT

On 8/7/2014 sparklestar said:
On 8/7/2014 Goldengate8361 said:
Sparklestar--It's hard to give good advice without really seeing your hair. I color my own hair, too, using hair color from Sally Beauty Supply. It sounds like you want to move away from your present "warm" colors toward a neutral or ash shade of dark blonde. Most folks would tell you that you simply need to use an "ash" shade of color--with blue/violate/green undertones. From experience, I can tell you that it's not that easy.....I would suggest transitioning to a more neutral color first. You'll still want to use the same level of develoer (20 is standard). Good luck!!!

You're right, it is difficult but I think you hit the nail on the head. That's exactly what I am trying to do -- move away from warm to a more neutral lighter shade. How do you know what undertones a color has?

Several hair color brands at Sally's list the undertone colors on the bottle boxes. For others, you can look at the large fold-out booklets they provide that have the hair color samples (I hope you know what I'm talking about; I don't know what they're called). I always have good results with the L'Oreal brand for resistant grays. Most all of Sally's hair color brands are very good, IMHO. Good luck!

Re: Hair Color Question

sparklestar — Fri, 08 Aug 2014 04:26:40 GMT

Thanks for all the great info. I feel like I know what to look for. I'm making a trip this weekend and I'll let you know how it turns out (yikes!!!) I previously used Clairol and had good luck with that. Thanks for explaining the different color undertones Goldengate. That helps.

Re: Hair Color Question

moonstone dunes — Fri, 08 Aug 2014 05:41:57 GMT

I have to agree with dsky and see a colorist. If you use an ash tone on colored reddish brown hair you may get a muddy result. Color is tricky. Even box color is not fool-proof if you have colored hair. Another thought is your shade level. Light brown is about a 6; dark ash blonde is maybe a 6.5 to a 7. So shade wise your in the same range, just more warm level 6 and a cool level 7.

I've lightened my hair doing ombre and some bayalage highlights. My hair pulls red - it is naturally in my hair's cuticle. I know basics about color but I still got orange from the 20v and bleach. The 30v worked better and lifted to maybe level 8 but the result was very dry ends. I toned using a demi-perm level 8 color after lightening. Toning helps balance any reds or oranges.

Re: Hair Color Question

okiebug — Fri, 08 Aug 2014 10:45:01 GMT

On 8/7/2014 sparklestar said:
On 8/7/2014 Goldengate8361 said:
Sparklestar--It's hard to give good advice without really seeing your hair. I color my own hair, too, using hair color from Sally Beauty Supply. It sounds like you want to move away from your present "warm" colors toward a neutral or ash shade of dark blonde. Most folks would tell you that you simply need to use an "ash" shade of color--with blue/violate/green undertones. From experience, I can tell you that it's not that easy.....I would suggest transitioning to a more neutral color first. You'll still want to use the same level of develoer (20 is standard). Good luck!!!

You're right, it is difficult but I think you hit the nail on the head. That's exactly what I am trying to do -- move away from warm to a more neutral lighter shade. How do you know what undertones a color has?

I have been coloring my own hair using professional products for over 20 years. I don't have the knowledge of a stylist, but I've learned quite a lot in that time.

All hair color brands have numbers and letters - the lighter the color the higher the number - a #4 color is a dark brown, a #8 is a very light blonde. The letter designates the undertones - W =warm, gold undertones, R = red, N = neutral, A = ash.

If you are now coloring your hair red, you don't want to put ash on top of it, red and ash colors don't work well together and you could end up with a real mess. I agree with Moonstone dunes, mixing red with any other color can be dicey. When I decided to stop coloring my hair red, the owner of the beauty supply store advised me to go to a neutral shade of brown and go lighter, but not more than 2 shades lighter. Also, use 30V developer - it's a little harder on your hair but you're not going to get a color change without it.

You may decide you want to stay in the neutral tones - ash can lean toward grey or even a green undertone, depending on how your hair grabs color.

Re: Hair Color Question

Susan25 — Sat, 09 Aug 2014 01:25:29 GMT

On 8/7/2014 Sister Golden Hair said:
sparkle, go in there and ask him if he is having a bad day. I have done this sometimes when a clerk is acting that way towards me. Or if he is rude, just ask to see the manager.

I don't buy hair coloring products from Sally but have gone with a friend to Sally before to purchase hair coloring products. My experience is that some of the staff isn't really trained in this area and wouldn't want to give you the wrong advice. I remember the sales associate at Sally telling us that she didn't have much knowledge in the hair color and we would have to come back, (gave us a time when the more knowledgeable staff would be working). Just my take on the situation that I experienced.

Re: Hair Color Question

PurpleCow — Sat, 09 Aug 2014 02:21:20 GMT

If you want to lighten your color, and there's already dye on your hair- you'll have to bleach that 1st color off, get the red out, and then dye it the lighter color you want. I always use 20vol developer and a 50/50 ratio with bleach.

Or you can use something called "Color Oops" (if Sally doesn't have it then Walmart/Walgreens does) which is a little more gentle. It will strip most of the color and leave you orangish- then you bleach once or twice to get the orange out. Then use Sally Generic Shimmerlights shampoo, let it sit on your hair maybe 45minutes to tone it to a neutral/ash blonde. Then you can dye over it if you want.

dye colors with the word "beige" = ash tones, "golden" = red tones