I have naturally dark brown hair but want to be a slightly lighter, golden colour

Hello,

About three months ago I had my hair coloured at a local salon. I have been going to them on and off for a year, so the girl that did my hair already had records of my colour. But this time around she made my colour much too dark, almost bordering on black, from what I usually colour my hair which is a dark golden brown.

I was not happy and asked her why she made it so dark and she said she wanted to even the colour out in my hair. This was despite me telling her that specific day that I wanted to switch the tone up slightly lighter from what we'd done before! The owner then said 'as a gesture of goodwill' they would be happy to put a few highlights through the front and top of my hair to make it look lighter, which they did about two weeks later. They said if they coloured my hair lighter it wouldn't take because it was too dark now.

I have since been following their recommendation to gradually wash the colour out as I shampoo. I've just been back to them this week to do a root re-touch which was supposed to match my gradually lightening lengths of hair. However, I'm back to square one as once again they've made my roots far darker than the lengths of my hair.

I really don't like the dark roots as I feel it’s too harsh for my features and doesn't suit me. I am losing my patience with this drawn out process. Are there any other colouring recommendations you can give me to achieve my desired colour sooner? I have naturally dark brown hair and want it to be a slightly lighter, golden hue.

Thank you for your help,

Zakkiyah, Kingston-upon-Thames

Hi there,

Wow I feel for you on this one! I think you need to change salons asap as it does sound like they are a little clueless to me. I would suggest maybe looking for a salon with good reviews online or ask around from people whose hair you like the look of and see where they are going,

You really need to find a salon that can competently lift your hair a shade or two using a colour remover or blonde bath, and then have the tone rebalanced. Follow with some good treatments to keep your hair in the best possible condition. Try Joico Kpac Colour Therapy Shampoo and Intense Hydrator to follow as the conditioner/treatment.

Good luck and hope this helps,

Simon Daniel, Salon Director of Belle Toujours, Cardiff

Dear Zakkiyah,

I'm sorry to hear about your situation. Without actually looking at your hair I can only give a rough guide for a solution.

The best course of treatment is to have this colour stripped out completely, and then lighten your hair a couple of shades by using a pre-lightener and applying a lighter warm brown. However this might damage your hair so we suggest you have regular conditioning treatments and trims.

Best of luck,

Joseph Koniak, Artistic Director of Joseph Koniak and Eleven Hair, London

Sorry to hear about your hair colour dilemma. By the sounds of it your hair is now heavily coloured an intense dark shade. The only option would be to have a colour correction. This would involve having the colour cleansed from the hair and a shade that is more desirable applied.

This is quite a big process and I would go and have a in depth consultation with a professional colourist who has experience with colour corrections. They will be able to give you the best advice and a course of action to get the colour right with the least stress to the hair.

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