Need your help! Hair dye question!

[BarkerChickens]

So...my hair is naturally a medium ash brown on the darker side of the spectrum and I thought I would dye it with a demi-permanent to spice it up. I chose a medium auburn, which, on the box, should have come out to a medium-dark auburn brown (again, it's a demi-permanent, so no ammonia or bleaching). Let's just say it lacks the medium-dark or brown end of it. I could have applied a fire engine red demi-and gotten about the same color. I don't mind some red, but it had a bit more orange than I would like.

Looking at the color wheel, I can use a green base to get rid of the red to a blue-base to get rid of the orange. But, somewhere online said a violet strips red well too.

I don't mind red undertones on a darker shade (I have dyed my hair dark burgundy before and liked it) or the violets (I have also dyed my hair a dark violet brown, which I really like).

My question is....which is the best base color to reduce the red, but not go completely ashy again. I will be using a demi- again, so in about 2 months, it won't matter....but until then!!

I will likely go a shade or two darker than my natural medium to help it as well (not quite a dark-dark brown though).

Meanwhile, I am going to go shampoo and condition the daylights out of hair! This color is horrendous!

(looks nothing like the box section that says "if your have..., then it will be..."

 

[Cloverleaf Farm]

Well, I don't know about what to use to "fix it" but I can tell you that red fades REALLY fast. I have to re-dye my hair every 2 weeks to keep it red, otherwise it just looks brown... Good luck!

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

Yeah, i agree with the poster above. When I dye my hair red, it usually comes out super bright the first couple of days and then fades into a really nice color. If you can stand waiting a couple of days, it should fade drastically when you wash it with normal shampoo and conditioner!

 

[BarkerChickens]

Oh....how I hope for fading....and not to the orange spectrum. I have never had issues with red before, but like I mentioned, I usually go with burgundy, so maybe there is more of a violet in there oppose to the more orangy-side of the red range. The hair around my temples looks like I coated my natural brown with that new "2012 color" tangerine tango that Yahoo! had posted.

 

[Stacykins]

I have a suggestion in order to get the lovely auburn locks you so desire. A mixture of body art quality henna! Here are results that people have gotten, a lot have before and after pictures, and share their mixes. The bonus, is it is very healthy for your hair, like a natural conditioner. When I henna'd my hair, my housemates (whom I was very close to lol) couldn't stop running their fingers through my hair because it was unbelievably silky. Henna is permanent, and despite being naturally red, won't fade like chemical red dyes.

Sometimes 'henna' can be found on the shelf near the other hair dyes, stay FAAAAAAR away from this, as it is just another chemical dye!

 

[yinepu]

Quote:
that site is the one that got me hooked on real henna

 

[BarkerChickens]

Thanks, Stacy! I will have to look into henna!

 

[debilorrah]

Feria products don't fade quickly either. Sorry about your mishap. I had that happen once - I looked like Lucy.

 

[yomama]

I feel your pain. I normally have light brown hair with alot of blonde highlights around my face. At least I think that is what I have,

I've been dying my hair since I was 15, so alot of years. I've been everything from blond to black to red to punk red. I got so used to dying my hair when I already had hair dye in my hair, that I was used to the results always coming out dark or not as exagerated as the box would show. Well, I took some time off from dying my hair, about a year,not sure why, just kind of worked out that way. Well, I got that wild hair again to dye my hair and went with a red auburn, such as you did. Same result, most of my hair was ok, but the top was fire engine red and all the little hairs framing my face looked like they could of belonged to little orphan Annie.
In all my years of at home hair coloring ( I am by no means an expert) I have found out a few things: Dandruff shampoo helps strip color out of your hair super fast.
If you want to just go back to a "safe" color, I recommend using a light ash brown. This is what I did. Ash is a nuetral color, and will help nuetralize any warm tones. However, in my experience, it didn't cover it all completely, so I ended up getting a toned down version of the crazy red that I had. That I could live with. Just remember, haircolor is going to take much better to virgin hair than it is to hair that already has color on it, or is dryer, like the ends. Thats why it takes so much more on the top of your head then the ends. Something to consider: Each box of haircolor has a number you can call. I've never used this, but maybe they could give you some advice too. Good luck!

 

[goobhen]

Quote:
My mother bought a blonde color for her silver hair. Someone took the blonde color tube out and put a red color tub in its place. My mom called me to come to her house, told me I was not allowed to laugh, her hair was not red, it was Bozo the clown orange!! I laughed until I had tears coming out, she laughed too. We called the Clairol hotline & they told me what hair colors to buy to get her hair a normal color. (her hair came out a very soft brown.) I had to drive all over Indianapolis to find the two shades. I am sure if you look on the box of hair dye, you will find the 800 #, give them a call, they have all the answers. It did not hurt my mom's hair or scalp, just her pride! Good luck, Theresa