My home dye is far too dark. How to fix?

Question

I dyed my hair today using Clairol's Colour me Vibrant hair dye, with the intention of getting rid of my highlights while maintaining my natural medium brown hair colour. Turns out, the product ended up making my hair black, and it looks horrible.

Is there anything that I could do to fix this? Also, will the colour eventually fade, possibly to a brown that won't look as severe as black? If possible, I would like to lighten it a bit at home, just to the point where it won't look horrible while I'm growing out the die, as in doing zero root touch-ups.

For reference, I used the Colour me Vibrant by Herbal Essences (clairol) and the shade #62, Foxy Brown.

Answer 1

How to Remove Hair Dye That Is Too Dark

Step One
If you decided to try on a darker shade of hair color only to have it turn into a nightmare, rest assured that steps can be taken to correct this blunder. The key is to act as quickly as possible for best results. It is much easier to remove dye from your hair if the color is just a few days old.

Step Two
Try L’Oreal’s Color Zap for a quick at-home reversal of your color blunder. This easy-to-use kit works after one application, gently removing dye from your hair while leaving your natural hair color intact and ready to re-color. This product works even on permanent hair dye.

Step Three
If your new hair dye is only marginally darker than desired, you may want to try prematurely fading it. If the color you used was a semi-permanent color, rest assured that these colors fade quickly on their own and the process can be sped up by simply washing your hair more often.

Step Four
If your too-dark hair dye is permanent, it can sometimes be faded by washing with a clarifying shampoo. Use one that is designed to remove product build-up or chlorine build-up from swimmer’s hair. These shampoos remove anything coating the hair shaft, including excess pigment.

Step Five
Clarifying shampoos not doing it for you? Try using Head and Shoulders dandruff shampoo. This shampoo has long been known for its ability to strip color from hair. If you really need to fade your too-dark hair quickly, try shampooing with Head and Shoulders until your hair fades to the desired shade.
http://www.ehow.com/how_2003229_remove-hair-dye.html

BTW - Neutrogena Anti-Residue Shampoo = the best clarifying shampoo I've used.

More links with tips for correcting the color: http://beauty.ivillage.com/hair/color/0,,81vk,00.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_117026_fix-hair-disasters.html

Answer 2

Neutrogena Clarifying Shampoo

Answer 3

Here's what I did when that happened to me: Go to a store (beauty supply, walgreens, rite aid, walmart)and buy Color Oops. It is a hair color REMOVER. People will say it won't work cuz its been a few days, but I waited 3 days before I did it and it worked fine on my hair. It works GREAT!! It will take out the color but the good thing is if you don't want to take all of it out, you can rinse it out sooner. It is supposed to stay on your hair for 20 minutes. I checked my hair every few minutes, and at about 15 minutes, i rinsed an area and it was the color i liked (a nice honey brown). I rinsed my hair, shampooed,conditioned and got a lot of compliments on it. It does not have bleach or any harsh chemicals in it, and actually has aloe extract. It is really good for pulling color out. The cool thing is that you can pull all the color that was put in out and then re-color your hair to your desired color. Best of Luck!

Answer 4

Hair Color Correction Too Dark

Answer 5

your first mistake was to use box color to fill in highlights you needed a professional to repigment your hair. now you have to let it fade dish washing detergent baby shampoo baking soda will all work to fade it. by fade i mean lighten. if, you decide to make mistake number 2 you ll get one of those "stripping kits" and lift the color out of you hair to different levels of orange the put another box color over that. the the different levels of orange will turn ugly colors of (brown?) then there is no fixing it because fading that. you ll get orange. So my answer to you is let it fade,it will. although going to a professional is your best bet if you cant wait that long. i would say at least a week,you ll be fine.

Answer 6

if you are going to fix right away, use this before so you dont have damage.
Girl you need to try this NOW.
I think you should check out www.biolustreflorida.com
Instantly repairs your hair, increase tensile strength=staying power=retaining what you have, so no flyaways in tub or brush=longer hair in a month.
I just went to their launch party and had my hair done, free as a demo. Its amazing, my hair was breaking off and flying away. I will always always buy this stuff. Its awesome, I saw a difference as soon as she rinsed my hair. I have no damage anymore, its unbelievable! No more split-ends, its like my hair is NEW! I love it!
www.biolustreflorida.com
Make sure you watch their video on the site,
its amazing. Lady changes her hair color 3 times in 30 minutes with NO DAMAGE
Instant Hair Repair for REAL

Answer 7

I did this, I called a professional and she said to mix baking soda with my shampoo and make a paste. and wash my hair 4-5 times in a row. It helped me ALOT. It should help take out some of the color.

Answer 8

try washing your hair with regular dish detergent, like palmolive, joy, whatever......that usually lightens it.........or try baking soda and water.......it helped for me.......if that doesn't work, hats do! plus, there's usually a phone number on the stuff just in case ya goof up. the pro's can help ya out if all else fails. good luck, sweetie. been there, done that, too many times.

Answer 9

This happened to me too and i used baby shampoo. baby shampoos are excellent at removing hair dye. Wash your hair a few times with it and be amazed.

Answer 10

honestly, i dont think you should do anything that drastic. get some honey brown highlights or something. because if you want platinum blonde hair, you are usually going to have to bleach the actual heck out of it.