After putting a red dye on my hair a while ago, I cannot get rid of the red tint it has left behind!

Hello,

I have naturally dark blonde hair which has been highlighted. Seven weeks ago I put a 6-8 wash in red through it. After about 30 washes it still left a red throughout my roots and a ginger tone through the rest of my hair.

A hairdresser stripped my hair which turned my hair a peachy colour, she then went on to highlight the top. My hair condition is fine but it still looks very ginger. Can you help? I really want to go back to blonde.

Thank you,

Briony, Scotland

Hi Briony,

I advise you buy a purple/blue-tinted shampoo to remove the warm, ginger tones. Use it every other day when you wash your hair, leaving it in for 5mins before rinsing. That should give a cooler tone to your hair colour. Alternatively, next time you go to your salon to get your roots done, ask for an ashy toner to be applied and that will also help. Good luck.

Alice gazagnes, Stylist & Colourist, Simon Webster Hair, Brighton

Red is a difficult colour to remove from hair, especially if your undertone is blonde. I think your hairdresser has done a good job to have lifted your hair to a peach colour whilst still maintaining your condition. I would advise not doing too much more to your colour until you need your roots touching up again, as you could end up causing unwanted damage.

Please try to avoid using at home hair colour strippers and instead use a cleansing shampoo, this will gently remove any more colour that can/wants to come out of your hair. Unfortunately it’s going to be a waiting game and in the meantime always remember good treatments and conditioners to avoid distress to your locks.

Try Wella SP Repair Mask (£21.50 @ HOB Salons)

Faye Turner, Creative Colour Director at HOB Salons

Blonde highlighted hair can be quite porous and also very patchy in its porosity. So hence why the red is still vibrant in some areas as opposed to others.

If you used a true semi-permanent colour and it is still not washed out I can only imagine that it may have been quite a strong vibrant tone that has stained your hair quite deeply or you used a colour that was a little bit more permanent.

If you now want to be back to blonde then I think you need to gather some images of the type of blonde that you like and go armed with them to a colourist who enjoys colour correction work. They then should be able to tell you realistically whether it will be achievable, don't forget to give them an in-depth history of your hair!

It may take a couple of appointments to get the right tone and depth but remember have patience as this needs to be done with the utmost respect for the hair. Being a colour chameleon is fun but it can really take its toll on your hair!

John Clark, Head of Colour at Brooks+Brooks, London