Monday, October 25, 2010

The Hair Horrors-A Cautious Tale from an Impetuous Color Addict!

On the 30th of September, I had my hair color done by my amazing stylist, Corry. He colored over my platinum blond streak and he adorned my formerly-light auburn stresses with a rich red tone. My hair was amazingly intense and bright on the first day and like most red hair colors, the lush crimson hue began to fade quickly.  After many years of experience with 'bottle color,' I expect color loss. It is an inescapable 'side effect' of having artificially tinted hair.

Being the impatient girl I am, last Monday I decided in my "not-so-infinite-wisdom" to re-freshen my color with a blend of Special Effects Devilish and Artec Color Depositing shampoo in Red Clover.  I wet my hair, applied my mix, and let it sit in my hair for 30 minutes. I then rinsed it out and put on my Paul Mitchell Super Strong Conditioner. I rinsed again and then towel-dried. After applying a dollop of Paul Mitchell Styling Glaze and then blow-drying, I was APPALLED at the color! While the majority of my hair had a nice, cool red tone to it like before, the once-blond sections were BRIGHT RED PINK! NO! NO! NO! The porous state of the blond parts caused more color to be pulled in and the result looks so bad. I feel like such a dummy! What on earth was I thinking?!

I have been using Artec Color Deposit in Ginger Root (a warm golden auburn) to try to cover the reddish pink but it only helps a tiny bit! I have also been using Head and Shoulders (since it's known to take out color) but my hair has only faded slightly. Like poor Janet Leigh pictured above, I feel like screaming! I did this to myself and my stylist is going love it (sarcasm) for sure.

So, does anyone know if there is something I can do to further fade the red-pink from once-highlighted hair? I would like to get most of it out so I can have semi-permanent color put over it when I have my next appointment in 2 weeks.

15 comments:

  1. What, no pictures?? ;-) I feel your pain. I have done everything a girl can possibly do to her hair in the pursuit of the perfect red. Pink roots, orange roots, orange hair, fried hair... This is why I have had black hair for so long. I always know what I'm going to get: black hair. My only recommendation is to buy a semi-permanent hair dye and dye over the pink. I would go to Sally's Beauty Supply and talk to someone there. They should have hair swatches so you can choose a color that way. I use good ole Miss Clairol with a 20 or 30 color developer. Otherwise, you'll just have to continue to wash out the pink. But this is when hats and scarves are particularly handy!

    Good luck!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Holly,

    Thanks for the advice and tips! I will have to post pictures for sure now! lol!

    I am going to suck it up and face the music by going to my stylist! I think he is either going to laugh his ass off or give me the riot act! Either way, I hope he can cover the pink-red! Until my appointment, I am going to keep using the head and shoulders and deep treating so my hair is not fried. I also read somewhere that using Neutrogena's anti-residue shampoo can help fade color. I think I will get some when I go home from work tonight.

    Tara

    ReplyDelete
  3. ack, i feel terrible, I offered you up my suggestion of adding a dollop of special effects to your conditioner!!

    My hair is all over red (except in the underneath back, where it is very dark deep brown (merely just to keep the red color from bleeding onto my clothes, haha). anyway, keep washing it more often with a shampoo that really fades color would be my only suggestion, but then again, you may not want to listen to me.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Shrinky,

    I had used the Devilish before and it was fine but now that I have the highlight chunk that was covered, it grabbed the color the most. If my hair did not have that blond, it would look okay! lol! I just want the pinky tones gone. I will continue to use the head and shoulders. I also heard using VO5 hot oil treatments and prell work to remove unwanted color. I will try those too.

    Do not worry about the suggestion! I did it on my own! :) Yo se que tengo la culpa en esta situacion! Soy tan impaciente!

    Also, have you tried the MAC brow pen yet? I hope you like it!

    Tara

    ReplyDelete
  5. Try using a clarifying shampoo on your once-blonde streak to get the pink out. Clarifying shampoos are usually used once a week.. and to de-gunk hair from built up products, so sometimes it helps to fade hair fast.
    Depending on what tone of pink your hair is, you may be able to tone it with an ashy toner if you feel like taking a stab at the chemical process yourself.
    Otherwise, if your hair isnt too damaged, your stylist may need to use a filler next time he colors your once blonde streak.. to give it back the underlying pigments that are no longer there (from bleaching).
    hope you work it out! =)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Yo soy impaciente tambien!! Devilish is mighty pink-based, but it does wash out quicker than say Blood Red. Keep washing washing washing!

    I finally had a chance to use the brow pen yesterday as a matter of fact - wow, who knew a marker tip would give such a great result. tiny strokes gave me great fill in some areas that i am regrowing back in (of course, to pluck again later, hahaha, the search for great brows is a lot like the search for great red lipstick). thank you again ;)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Vivi.Deluxxxe,

    THANK YOU so much for the suggestions! I will ask about the filler next time I see my stylist! I think my hair is in good shape which is amazing after all I put it through this year alone! lol!

    By the way, I love your hair! It looks great! I assume from your intensely informative response and great look that you are in the beauty biz!

    Thanks again for the amazing tips! I will be sure to do the clarifying shampoo next time I wash my hair!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Shrinky,

    Es bueno que no soy la unica mujer impaciente! lol!

    As for my hair, I will keep washing!

    As for the MAC pen, that is great that you like it! I love mine and I am glad I found something that works!

    Tara

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oh I feel your pain! I have red all over so wouldn't have the pink problem but I'm sick of my red fading and all the fab products you seem to have, we don't have in the UK :o(

    ReplyDelete
  10. I think red with pink sounds cool! Sorry, not helpful! ;)
    I hope you get it fixed anyway.
    I got my lipstick by the way - THANK YOU! I did a blog post about it at the weekend :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Straight Talking Mama,

    My hair mixture would have been fine but like I said, the blond bits just soaked up all the pinky undertones and as the color fades, they are super pink. I actually used the Neutrogena anti-residue shampoo last night and heaps of color came out! I was pleased! I think I will be fine by the time I go visit my stylist for a color touch up in two weeks!

    As for the products here in the US, the Artec line was great (got discontinued) but I have two big bottles left. The Aveda color line is good too but the conditioner is too heavy. Once my hair settles down, the Artec Ginger root color shampoo will greatly conserve color. I just need this pink out for now.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Clare,

    The idea of pink and red would be cool! But I want to go more golden red next time. I was that color as a kid and it seems to compliment my skin nicer than the apple red I have now. I will always stay red but I may change the tones here and there.

    I used a clarifier shampoo last night and it really got a lot of pink out. I just need to keep washing daily and hopefully most of it will be gone soon!

    I am so glad you got the lipstick! I am sorry for not sending it sooner! My mother-in-law was in hospital for surgery. Nevertheless, I am glad you got it! I will be sure to check out your post!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Poor girl! Everybody who colors their hair is bound to have a horrific result at least once in their lifetime. This was your time - and now you got it out of the way and it will never happen again!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I'm a natural blonde with no grey even though I'm approaching my 50's. Still, every once in a while I get that Red Urge, and off I go. I've been so deeply red that I looked anemic in comparison, and I've been pink, yes, sister, I too, have had pink hair.

    You can rock it and act like you did it on purpose, but I've found professional help to be required for such emergencies.

    Believe me, I feel your pain.

    Love your blog! Will be blog rolling you!!!

    ReplyDelete