I'm trying to get from my Black Cherry colour to a Golden Blonde!

Hi,

I had bleach highlights at the hairdresser's to lighten my black cherry hair colour over the course of three visits, the first time was horrendous as it went a gingery colour but after the third it did start to resemble the golden blonde colour I was looking for.

As I was after an all over colour she put a dark golden blonde shade all over my hair about two weeks ago, I did like the result although it was a bit darker than I imagined. However this has now started to fade so meaning the highlights are beginning to look more noticeable. As I can't afford to keep going back every month I have bought a medium golden blonde permanent hair colour but I daren't use it before I get advice, the colour on the box resembles the colour my faded hair now is - the roots are slightly darker though?

I have done a strand test and there were no horrible colours after waiting 30 minutes but would like to know if it would cover all the different colours in my hair (highlights showing through, roots which are medium brown) or would it end up looking uneven?

Thank you,

Anon, UK

This sounds like it could be a potential disaster. After all the chemical processing that your hair has gone through, I cannot recommend you colour it yourself. The unpredictability of home hair colour applied to hair that is heavily processed is not worth the risk.

If I were you I would go back to your colourist and explain that you want a low maintenance option and that you don't have the money to be having highlights all the time. Possibly take the colour that you was going to use and say you want something like this. They will give you options and it will be more reliable than colouring it yourself.

John Clark at Brooks+Brooks, London 

Hi there,

Cherry Black is a very beautiful colour, not many people have such a strong natural colour. You say that your strand test colour was basically OK, please consider that your root colour is cherry black so you need to make the strand test first on the dark root and see how this colour looks. You may need to use two different colours to get an even look, one to lift the black cherry and the other to cover the washed out looking colour.

If I were you I would seriously balance the pros and cons of visiting a good salon in the first place, instead of having to visit a salon later to repair the damage done from home colouring. The first option must be cheaper for you in the end!

Go to your hairdresser, save money on something else. You wake up with your hair every day, your hair is important to you obviously so take care and don’t do home colouring, I have seen so much damage it can do to hair and especially to the physiological feeling people go through after damaging their hair at home.

I hope this helps,
Pierre

Pierre Alexandre of Pierre Alexandre, Manchester