Expert: Dana Sear - 7/5/2009

Question
QUESTION: About three years ago I had my naturally blonde/golden brown hair dyed a dark brown by a stylist. I continued going to that stylist to dye my hair for about a year, then swtiched to DIY and started using Loreal Feria number 40 and have been using that once a month for about two years.
I'm starting college in the fall, and don't want to spend the time and money keeping up my hair color. I'm ready to go back to my natural color and I'm wondering a few things about it.
What steps can I take to safely fade my color quickly in  the next few months without getting splotchy and uneven color? And if I go into a stylist to have it dyed back to my natural color, will I have to keep dying it to keep it that way? I just need to know the easiest way to get back to natural!

ANSWER: Hiya Tauna,

You will not be able to get your hair back to it's natural color at home. A very good colorist will be able to get it close enough that you will be able to let it grow out but hair that has been dyed darker than the natural color would have to be lifted and the problem is, when you use a product for lifting or removing color, it does not target JUST the  hair color that has been applied. Your natural color will be lifted too and then something close to your natural will have to be applied.

Getting it to fade a bit quicker may be your best bet. Shampooing in warmer water and using a moisturizing conditioner will fade your color rather quickly but you did not mention whether or not you have been overlapping the color. If the color has been layered on top of itself too often, it is not going to fade very well, nor will it lift out with a decolorizer very well.

The safest thing to do, is the hot water and moisturizing conditioner. If you are using semi permanent color, and it has not been overlapped too many times, you can wet your hair, apply and lather up some Johnson's Baby Shampoo, put on a processing cap and warm it with a dryer. It will lift the color a bit. You will probably have to do it more than once and you can leave it on for 15 to 30 minutes. You should be able to see discolored water pooling in the cap if it is working. If you try this, be sure to follow with a good deep conditioner.

Good luck,

dana

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: The color I have been using (Loreal Feria #40) has instructions to put the dye on my new hair growth for 15 minutes, then pull it through the rest of the hair for an even color. And if I do go to a professional colorist and have to get my hair lightened and dyed back to my natural color, will that fade and make me need to keep dying?

Answer
The directions always say that because they expect some fadage. (An indication that the quality is sub par, in my opinion.)

If the stylist gets your hair close enough to your natural color, you will not have to continue dying it. You will be able to just let it grow. Because you have been following the directions and overlapping the color every time you do the color, it is going to be difficult to do that. However, once the stylist gets it close to your natural color, you can switch to a semi permanent color. These just gradually fade. Once the semi color has completely faded, you can apply it again to keep your  hair color looking even until you can have the old color cut out.
Many of the semi permanent colors are very conditioning and act just like a deep conditioning treatment and make the color look fresher and more even. Semi's last 4 to 6 weeks and just gradually fade and they are what I use when a client wants to go back to their natural color.