Going blonde to dark

by Sandra
(merced, Ca. US)

So I recently colored a girl's hair who had highlights... I used a 6N with a little 5G, and where the highlights were turned out somewhat green! How do I go about fixing that and what should I use next time someone blonde wants to go dark?

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Going blonde to dark

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Nov 16, 2007

Overporous hair...
by: Michelle

A blue/grey/green cast is a common outcome with a color-back process. The blonde hair is over-porous and will absorb the blue pigments in the color moreso than the red and yellow. There are two things you can/should do in this situation...

1) Use a porosity equalizer before coloring to make the highlighted pieces less likely to absorb the blue pigments.

2) Fill the highlighted hair before coloring with a warm pigment (i.e., orange/yellow), which will in turn neutralize the blue pigments absorbed by the color when it is applied, and even everything out. Semi permanent colors or stains are best to use as fillers. A permanent color still contains those blue pigments (even a copper orange) and will give you muddy results.

If you're filling the hair (which is the best solution), the porosity equalizer isn't necessary. I hope this helps you fix this client's hair and avoid the same result in the future.

All the best,
Michelle
Editor, SHM.com

Nov 19, 2007

How to avoid green hair...
by: samantha

Hi there,
Ive heard this happens all the time to stylists.. Basically, how the color blonde is even created is by pulling out most, if not all color pigments from the hair. Each color that is desired has some extra underlying color in it. This is how colors in everything even exist. If this wasnt true, all we would have is black and white on the color wheels. For example, ashy colors tend to have green underlying tones...

Anyway,
to help you fix this particular time or next time that you try turning blonde to dark (depending what "dark" your trying to achieve), I suggest that you use something level 5 or 6 depending on
the color brand your using, with a little red in it. Blonde hair is missing red pigmentation, so it loves to pull green tones unless you add a little red back into it. Plus this is one of the only ways to achieve a great chocolate brown, that so many of our blonde to brunette customers love. :)

I hope this helps! Feel free to ask me if you need any other help! Good Luck!!