Beauty

[AngelPuppy1]

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@Good4u wrote:

Funny this topic came up today, I just had a friend post pictures of her hair salon colorist do a reverse process because she can no longer use hair color on her scalp.  It is a two-appointment process with six-weeks between each appointment.  She was a dark auburn and had to have hair foils in her hair which took many hours to do, but was necessary.  So she went from dark hair to a far lighter shade and will eventually go to the natural white and it will stay that way and no longer wear color.  

It is expensive, but you for sure want to do it right and only a licensed hair colorist should do this kind of procedure.  It turned out well, but this is only the first step.

Good luck!

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@Good4u

Ugh.  Now that I think of it --- I believe I had something similar done years and years ago.  It was a really length and tedious thing and was very expensive.  I don't want to go this route.  Thanks.!

[AngelPuppy1]

Thanks, everyone!  I hope I did not miss answering anyone -- if I did, I am sorry and I appreciate all of the help.

After reading all of your posts and getting so much information, I decided I am going to keep on coloring!  Until I am ready for a really drastic change in my hair length, and then I may decide to let the real hair grow out or have a somewhat darker shade applied!

[Shanus]

@AngelPuppy1. Good idea to think about it. She had things to go to while going grey & wore hats, temp. rinses...it's not a short process.

[jackthebear]

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@AngelPuppy1 wrote:

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@jackthebear wrote:

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@AngelPuppy1 wrote:

I have very long hair that I have been coloring myself for years.  A blonde shade --- very light that has become my trademark and I get a lot of compliments on!  I used to be a blonde as a child and am very fair with blue eyes so this suits my coloring.  However, at age 64, of course I have a lot of natural gray.  I haven't colored my hair for a bit because I want to try and see what my real color situation is.  It appears to be salt and pepper --- a lot of gray but still a lot of kind of a dirty blonde or light brown color.  I have been toying with the idea of trying to go natural again, but not sure how to go about it or even if I will like it.

Is there a way for a hair pro to remove the color on my hair without damaging it so that I can see what my natural color would look like?  I know a couple of times when I decided to use a different color on my hair and the results were not good, I went to a salon and they were able to remove the offensive color --- but this was mainly just on the re-growth.

Or would another solution be to try to use a tempoary rinse of some sort to apply all over that is darker until my real color grows out -- which would take forever since my hair is so long???

I would appreciate any advice that the hair pros here could give me before I consult a sylist!  Thank you!!!! 

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I think the best thing to do, is to get a consultation with a good colorist.

 I am all for do as much as you can yourself but coloring my hair is hard to do on yr own head.  I do mine but miss spots.

Attempting something like you want to do needs more input

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@jackthebear

I've colored my hair for years.  I liked the results better than when I've gone to salons! But now I am at a point where I am uncertain what to do.  Thanks! 

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I know what you mean, sounds like you need a 2nd opinion

[Irshgrl31201]

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@AngelPuppy1 wrote:

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@SaRina wrote:

Not a pro, but I think the biggest factor in how you would handle this depends on the type of color you have used -- permanent, demi, semi....

From my limited knowledge of hair color, usually, in order to go very blonde from a darker color, your own hair color would need to be lifted (that is, removed) before the lighter color is deposited... because lighter color cannot be deposited directly over your own darker, natural color as far as I know.

So, if your own natural color has been lifted, it's gone. Therefore, there wouldn't be a product you could use to take off the blond to reveal your own darker, natural color.

@As @Katcat1 mentioned, there is a product that will take color out.... but that will remove a darker color because darker colors can be deposited directly over one's own color without one's own color having to be lifted.

In any event, I think your second suggestion would be the better and more doable choice -- to put a color back into your hair that most closely resembles your own natural color and wait for your hair to grow out.

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@SaRina

I hadn't thought of that.  i think you are right.  I have used permanent color and since I am going from dark to pretty light, the color is obviously being removed.  So I am pretty sure my real color is not there to recover!  Oh, sheesh.  I am going to have to do some more serious thought here.  Thanks!!  

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Hey @AngelPuppy1 I just saw that @feline groovy had paged me to this. I was a corrective colorist for years and @SaRina is correct. You lifted your hair color to get it to that level of blond so you cannot use a color remover to get it back to see what it looks like. Even if you didn't lift it, using a color remover wouldn't show you the natural color because while it does remove color it doesn't take you back to your natural color. 

[AngelPuppy1]

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@Irshgrl31201 wrote:

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@AngelPuppy1 wrote:

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@SaRina wrote:

Not a pro, but I think the biggest factor in how you would handle this depends on the type of color you have used -- permanent, demi, semi....

From my limited knowledge of hair color, usually, in order to go very blonde from a darker color, your own hair color would need to be lifted (that is, removed) before the lighter color is deposited... because lighter color cannot be deposited directly over your own darker, natural color as far as I know.

So, if your own natural color has been lifted, it's gone. Therefore, there wouldn't be a product you could use to take off the blond to reveal your own darker, natural color.

@As @Katcat1 mentioned, there is a product that will take color out.... but that will remove a darker color because darker colors can be deposited directly over one's own color without one's own color having to be lifted.

In any event, I think your second suggestion would be the better and more doable choice -- to put a color back into your hair that most closely resembles your own natural color and wait for your hair to grow out.

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@SaRina

I hadn't thought of that.  i think you are right.  I have used permanent color and since I am going from dark to pretty light, the color is obviously being removed.  So I am pretty sure my real color is not there to recover!  Oh, sheesh.  I am going to have to do some more serious thought here.  Thanks!!  

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Hey @AngelPuppy1 I just saw that @feline groovy had paged me to this. I was a corrective colorist for years and @SaRina is correct. You lifted your hair color to get it to that level of blond so you cannot use a color remover to get it back to see what it looks like. Even if you didn't lift it, using a color remover wouldn't show you the natural color because while it does remove color it doesn't take you back to your natural color. 

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@Irshgrl31201

Thank you!!!  I appreciate you responding.  I think for now I just decided to keep coloring.  When I decide to drastically cut, I may opt to either stop coloring or go with another process, but for now -- I guess I will keep doing what I'm doing!!!  

[feline groovy]

@Sweet_Serenity

If your hair was blonde, did your hairdresser just add lowlights?

Seems like this is a cut that could air dry into place - always a healthy plus.