Dyed Hair Too Dark - What to Do


Hair coloring is a risky business. Unless you try a virtual makeover tool, you will never know what the new shade will look like on your head. If you entrust the job to an expert hair stylist, you can minimize the risk to a great extent. You are least likely to encounter unpleasant surprises this way. But what if you refuse to pay an outrageous fee to a stylist and decide to do the job on your own, with the help of a home kit? If you are a pro you will end up with the desired results. However, hair coloring at home is more likely to end in disappointment or even disasters in some cases. If you color your hair lighter, you can at least reapply the color to get the desired shade. But, what if you dyed your hair too dark? What to do in such a case? Well for starters, read this help.

What to Do When You Have Dyed Hair Too Dark

When one dyes hair too dark, lightening is the only way to get the desired shade back. The lightening techniques mainly depend upon the type of hair dye used and your hair growth. Temporary hair color is the easiest to get off your hair as it fades with one or two hair washes. Semi-permanent or demi-permanent hair colors can also be removed from your hair with certain methods. However, permanent hair colors are the most difficult to get off your hair as they wear off only when your hair outgrows the color. Nonetheless, you can take it off your hair with the help of certain harsh chemicals, but that would mean you will be inflicting your hair to a lot of damage.

Most problems of dyeing hair too dark arise because people fail to take into account the natural shade of their hair. Ideally, your natural hair color suits you the best. If you color your hair, make sure the new shade is within three shades of your natural hair color. Meaning, you can either color your hair three times lighter or darker than your natural shade. If you have naturally black color, you can color your hair dark brown, burgundy or max medium brown. Similarly, if you are a natural blond, then light brown is the darkest possible shade you can attain. Professional hair stylists are well aware of this fact, hence they can suggest apt hair color ideas and are least likely to commit a blunder.

How to Lighten Dark Dyed Hair

Clarifying shampoo to remove hair dye is the best option when it comes to stripping the hair off the undesirable hair color. They contain strong surfactants which are capable of removing even the traces of hair color. Shampoos with sulfates also remove hair color reasonably well. However, you might have to repeat the procedure a couple of times before you notice a change in shade. Hair bleaching products are yet another option of lightening your hair color. Apply bleach on your hair only for a few minutes if you do not wish to get a very light color. If you colored your hair too dark you might have to leave the bleach on your hair for at least 20 minutes.

You might find some extreme advice such as using detergent or dish wash soap on your hair, to fade the hair color. Although, these methods indeed get the color off your hair, they also end up doing irreversible damage to your hair. On the other hand, you may try some simple techniques such as hot oil massages or hair packs to lighten hair color. A hair pack of yogurt, olive oil, beaten eggs is not only helpful for stripping hair color, but also conditions your hair.

Alternatively, you can find some commercial products that are especially formulated to strip the hair color. As a last resort, you can go to a salon for corrective hair color procedure. This way, you will save yourself from another disaster.

Next time you end up dyeing your hair too dark, it shouldn't be a problem for you, since now you know what exactly to do. As far as possible, try to rely on professional help when it comes to any hair styling. More so, if you are an amateur.

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