I have tried everything to get my hair blonde! Help!!!

Hi,

My natural hair is a medium brown but I've dyed it black a few times, so I let it grow out for about four-five months so I could put blonde through it and it wouldn't completely go orange-copper on me.

I tried the Ombré look which the hairdresser failed at, so the second hairdresser I went to did a half head of foils. My roots went blonde, my tips stayed a copper- orange colour, and my hair turned to jelly with most of it falling out!

She then put a brown over it to try and save some of it. I left it two-three months and then had a full head of blonde foils done. My hair went blonde on the roots with the ends staying a little copper.

I can't afford to go back to a salon, if I dye my hair blonde all over will it go orange?

Thank you,

Kacey, Australia

I think what you have to do before you colour it again is try and get it into a good enough condition to be able to process it with any type of colourant. If your hair is still feeling like jelly I recommend a good protein treatment like Biolustre that reinforces the hair with keratin. Then use a good moisturising shampoo and conditioner.

Colour wise, I would never attempt to colour your hair blonde all over yourself, especially if it is already highlighted. The roots may become brassy or orange and the highlights could go whitish grey, a very unbalanced look.

The orange tone that you are seeing on the ends of the hair is what we call "cuticle stain", which happens if you have coloured your hair a darker shade more than once (the old black shade you had) this is super difficult to remove from the hair, it is actually easier if you just have it cut off than try and bleach it out. But what you could do is run a violet shampoo through it for a few minutes to try and subdue the orange slightly.

I say you should rock your roots for a while until you save up and can afford to get your hilights done again rather than attempt this tricky colour yourself.

John Clark at Brooks+Brooks, London 

I wouldn’t advise dyeing your hair blonde all over.  You still have dark colour in your hair, and it won’t completely lift out by putting a light colour over the top, unfortunately it will go an orange colour which is what you have found out! To save your length and condition of your hair, I would have a very good haircut and take it from there. The more you cut off the better your hair will look with less orange. Treatments need to become your best friend, as it is essential to build up the condition of your hair, so speak with your hairdresser about regular treatments which are available either in-salon, or at home. Treatments at HOB salons start from £5.50.

Faye Turner, HOB Salons’ Creative Colour Director