Sunday, March 12, 2017

Insistently Black Hair


About nine months ago, I wrote about the failed attempt to change my hair color from black to purple. The stylist bleached my hair, put on purple dye... and my hair turned out black.

She later tried again, with disastrous results. The (apparently much stronger) bleach essentially melted my hair into yellow mush. I had to cut off about 8" of ruined hair.

On recommendation from a coworker, I tried a different stylist, one who has 25 years of experience and colors her own black hair purple. After a couple of "regrowth only" appointments, I decided to risk bleaching again. She successfully bleached my hair - it lightened nicely without excessive damage. Then she put on purple dye... and my hair turned out nearly black.

I've spent a stupid amount of money and 12+ hours in salons, and my hair remains more or less the same color. I really want a change from black hair, which I've had for 8 years, but my hair insists on being black. I AM VERY FRUSTRATED.

16 comments:

  1. Scientists need to study your hair.

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    1. Indeed. I'm growing a research project on my head.

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  2. My hair similar but the opposite so I'll try to the mine black it ends up Brown, its take to red ok ends a coppery. My hair just as it pleased. Fingers crossed and sorry to hear about it.

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    1. I hear that from many people - their hair won't take color or won't hold color. I'm sure it's frustrating, too.

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  3. Do the stylists not give you a discount for failing to do their job??? That sounds ridiculous!
    At best, now maybe you can try clip-in colored extensions or just a full-on wig O_Q

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    1. I guess it depends on how you define "do their job." If their job was to bleach my hair and then put purple haircolor on it... that's exactly what they did. They did not expect purple haircolor to turn my hair black.

      The second stylist should have expected it, though, because I told her that's what happened the first time. But it seemed like such an unlikely result - bright purple dye turning hair black - that she assumed the first stylist had done something wrong.

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  4. Still no success? so sorry to hear :-O will you try again though?

    My hair hates color, fading back to bleached blonde within a few times of washing XD

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    1. Yeah, I'll keep trying. I got my hair from black to purple several years ago, so I know it can be done. The stylist actually called the haircolor company to ask them what to do. They told her to dilute the purple with clear so that it would have less pigment. (Which is exactly what I did when I dyed my own hair - I used 1/3 purple and 2/3 toner.) I also think she should leave the dye on for only a few minutes. My hair should be allowed only a short, small dose of pigment because whatever it's given it soaks up like a freakin' sponge.

      Hair that fades fast is probably annoying, too... though at least you can change the color.

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  5. Oh bummer. I'm intrigued, do you know what brand did the stylish use?
    My hair is like a sponge too, but luckily I'm a natural blonde so it's easy to get a vibrant colour. But on the other hand, getting rid of it is hard...

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    1. She used Matrix and Pravana.
      That is lucky! My natural color is medium/dark brown... though the amount of grey seems to be increasing rapidly. It will be interesting to see if the grey hairs take color without pre-bleaching.

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  6. You have my sympathy -- that royally sucks, especially when you are paying a professional to do it! She probably did assume the first stylist had erred, but if she also called the company to be sure she was using it correctly, she DID do her job right. At least your hair still looks GOOD, and didn't get fried again.

    I just colored my hair blue with a gray tint (out of a box, as usual), and while it didn't take on ALL my hair, what did hold the color stayed the RIGHT color. I think I goofed while doing it and missed part as well.

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    1. I can't blame her too much for assuming the first stylist did something wrong. I'm sure my story seemed pretty far-fetched. Overall, she's been great. She has been very conscious of minimizing damage, and even had me come back a few days later for another dose of conditioning color (no extra charge).

      The way she styled my hair really showed me that she knows her stuff. Out of all the stylists I've ever seen, she is the ONLY one who dried and styled my hair properly - meaning she first dried my hair and then flat-ironed it. Every other stylist has done the typical blowout technique using a round brush... which absolutely does NOT work on my hair. My hair cannot be blown smooth; it just gets bigger as it dries.

      It's great that unnatural colors are now readily available in box haircolor. Even permanent color is available in reds and violets. :) I always tended to miss spots behind my ears when I did my own color.

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  7. Oh my, sorry to hear! This is so peculiar! Your hair is so goth it refuses to be anything but black :P

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    1. Ha ha! Yes, that's it! I should get extra Goth Points. ;)

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