So pissed off ... hair color box LIED!!

Nevan · October 30th, 2009, 12:01 AM

Just want to vent and bitch and be whiny. Sorry.

I have really long hair and quite a few grays (they started coming when I was about 23!!). My hair is pretty medium/dark blonde naturally, but gets quite dark at the roots and underneath (naturally). So I've been dyeing it for a few years. First, DH would do it for me from hair color bought at the store. Then my sister talked me into getting highlights and I went to her stylist (this was about five years ago maybe) ... she is freaking AWESOME and my hair always looked great, but holy shit, she was expensive. Full color and foil highlights, plus conditioning treatment ... $300+ with tip. I went to two other stylists and was not happy with the results, so I always wound up going back to the high priced one (you get what you pay for, I guess). Well, it's been about 2-3 months since my last appointment ... money's been tight, and there was just always something else that needed $300. Tomorrow is my son's Halloween celebration at school (parade and party) and tomorrow night is trick or treat in our area. Both things I'll be seeing both sides of the family and my hair looked like shit, so I bought hair color (Loreal) from Target the other day .... dark blonde. DH did it tonight ... it's medium to dark brown with red highlights! It was on the right amount of time and everything. I felt so bad for DH because I burst into tears (yeah, I'm hormonal).

I'm so pissed off. I know how to read the box ... I looked at the before and after colors on the side of the box for my hair color ... my hair now is many shades darker than advertised!! He's trying to placate me by saying he just worked a ton of overtime and is getting several grand (tuition reimbursement from work) in the next week and saying he's more than happy to pay for me to go to my stylist next week ... which is all sweet and everything, and I love you, DH, for trying to be so nice to your weeping wife as you tell her she still looks beautiful, she's just not blonde, but (dark) brown, even though I KNOW you don't like my hair dark ... blah, blah, blah .... SOB! I can't go get it redone in a week or it will fall out from overprocessing!!! I think he hid the scissors. LOL How long do I have to wait before I can get it re-colored? Like 6-8 weeks, right? My hair is thin (but a lot of it) and very dry normally.

McJag · October 30th, 2009, 12:08 AM

Crap,how awful! I don't know why this happened,but you have my sympathy. 300 is really steep.

Grimmlok · October 30th, 2009, 12:09 AM

beyonce LIED

Abbey Normal · October 30th, 2009, 12:50 AM

I haven't tried it, but look at this product from L'Oreal called "Color Zap". Says it removes permanent haircolor. Crossing fingers for you that it works!!!!

L'Oréal Technique - Haircolor Tools and Color Removers - Colorzap

I also read that Head and Shoulders dandruff shampoo strips color. Best of luck.

Beeyotch · October 30th, 2009, 01:08 AM

^^Try the Head & Shoulders. Couple of months ago, I got my hair colored and it came out too dark for my taste. I used H&S the next day and it did wash it out a bit. Not a lot, but I saw a little bit of a difference.

A couple of years ago I also tried the box hair color and it came out way darker than what the picture indicated. It's not so much that the picture "lies" it's just that everyone's hair is different, with different undertones and the color guide is just that, a guide not a guarantee. I ended up going to a salon to do a super-expensive color correction. That's why I just can't bring myself to do box color again. The "cheap" drugstore haircolor ended up costing me so much more than going to the salon in the first place.

misrule · October 30th, 2009, 01:11 AM

call your stylist or the salon and ask them how long you should wait before another colour - the standard is prob 6-8 weeks, but if your hair is in good condition you can prob bring it a little closer. I used to bleach mine white in order to colour it, all in the one day, and it didn't seem to hurt.
Give them a call - they'll let you know when is too soon!
And good luck!! I know the horror of colour gone wrong!!!

AliceInWonderland · October 30th, 2009, 02:49 AM

sorry

i know the feeling...you live and learn i guess, sometimes the hard way

atrayubrandy · October 30th, 2009, 03:10 AM

Oh my gosh! The same thing happened with me using Loreal Coleur Experte when I was in college. I tried the product twice and both times it was absolute crap. The color came out nothing like what it said on the box. Not even close. Not even in the same ballpark. Horrible!

This one came out a hideous light brown color with fried looking highlights

This one came out completely red...like Ronald McDonald orange-red. I will never use those products again. Ever.

However, I've used the L'oreal Paris collection with lots of luck.

tictac · October 30th, 2009, 04:39 AM

I just saw a product called Color Oops at the store the other day. I made a mental note to use it if I ever screw up my color again. I'd try it if I were you. My hairstylist also told me to wash my hair with Dawn dishwashing liquid when it came out too dark.

McJag · October 30th, 2009, 08:52 AM

Another thought-do they have an 800 number on the box? You could get their input plus issue a complaint. They need to hear about this!

sweetness · October 30th, 2009, 09:01 AM

Ooh, so sorry about your dilemma.

Not long ago my color came out a bit too dark. It does lighten on it's own over time, but to speed it up I slathered my hair with a heavy conditioner and just let it sit for a few hours before rinsing it out. It helped lift the color a couple shades as well as gave a good deep conditioning.

You can repeat the process as much as you'd like with no harm to your hair. Here's what I used:

Strong shampoos, dishwashing soap, or laundry detergent will help lift the color as well, but they are drying and damaging.

L1049 · October 31st, 2009, 02:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by atrayubrandy

Oh my gosh! The same thing happened with me using Loreal Coleur Experte when I was in college. I tried the product twice and both times it was absolute crap. The color came out nothing like what it said on the box. Not even close. Not even in the same ballpark. Horrible!

This one came out a hideous light brown color with fried looking highlights

This one came out completely red...like Ronald McDonald orange-red. I will never use those products again. Ever.

However, I've used the L'oreal Paris collection with lots of luck.

The exact same thing happened with me with the same product. The one I tried was a light brown/dark blonde colour. The last few inches of my hair turned out close enough to the right colour, but the top of my hair pretty much to my ears was pumpkin fucking orange!
I took one look at it andwent right back to the store to get a dark brown colour.
I've used other L'Oreal products with no problems, but I will never buy that shit again.

My hair doesn't hold colour very well. My natural hair colour is medium to dark brown with red "undertones", and within a few months of dyeing, my hair goes to a weird brassy strawberry blonde/light brown.
It always ends up the same gross colour above no matter what colour or brand I use. Although the best dye (stayed the colour the longest) I've used is the cheapy Nice and Easy stuff.

Penny Lane · October 31st, 2009, 02:26 AM

First time I ever got highlights.. my mom did it for me. We used a cap (horrible choice) and some store-bought shit.. it may very well have been L'oreal. Not only did the color seep through the cap, it turned my hair fucking orange... like full-blown fucking orange. I ended up with SPOTS of orange on my head and I had a school picture the next day. It was horrible. I had to wait a few weeks because my hair was so not used to color processing that my mom was afraid too much in too little amount of time would totally ruin my hair. I ended up going to JCPenny's (another big fucking mistake) to get it fixed. Bitch turned my hair fucking orange AGAIN only this time it was in thick fucking streaks. It took about 6 months to get it fully corrected. For future reference, my mom bought some Frederic Fekkai haircolor from Sephora and used it about two weeks ago and when I saw her last weekend I had to tell her that it looked fabulous. Dark color to cover the gray and it looks like she got it professionally colored.. it even comes with a pre-color mask or something to condition your hair and make it glossy.

L1049 · October 31st, 2009, 03:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Penny Lane

For future reference, my mom bought some Frederic Fekkai haircolor from Sephora and used it about two weeks ago and when I saw her last weekend I had to tell her that it looked fabulous. Dark color to cover the gray and it looks like she got it professionally colored.. it even comes with a pre-color mask or something to condition your hair and make it glossy.

I just looked at that Frederic Fekkai haircolour on Sephora and I really like medium auburn.
I don't have a Sephora store around, do you know if you can buy this anywhere else in store?
I'm hesitant to go lighter because it seems the red tones in my hair fuck up lighter colours. The only colours that seem to turn out the closest to the box chart are reds and burgandys.

LynnieD · October 31st, 2009, 08:54 AM

Had some bad experiences myself, both home and in the salon.
Luckily, none of them were so bad that I had to do much about them.
I just recently commented in the million replies thread about coloring my hair at home, 'Golden Brown' and I look like Elvira, super dark. I was like WTF? But, its toned down since and hell, its Halloween, so not such a horrible thing for me personally.

I know it sucks though, and I hope it works out for you.