I'm trying to get my hair an auburn colour but it has gone ginger, please help!

HI Hair Doctors,

I wanted my hair an auburn shade, which my hairdresser attempted, but it’s come out ginger!

I went back to the salon and they said nothing can be done to correct this!! I hate this colour and wondered what advice you could give me?

Thank you so much,

Judy, Essex

Ginger, auburn, copper and chestnut are all in the red spectrum of shades. But I think the key here is that your consultation was not completed correctly. I talk colour all day long, but when someone comes to me asking for a reddish or auburn colour I like to talk in depth with them and show examples of the colour (pictures or hair swatches). This helps us both get on the same wavelength, because what might be red to them maybe copper to me.

Sorry to hear you are not happy with your colour and that the salon who did it are not willing to change it. But what I think you need to do now is go and talk to a new colourist about what has happened and go armed with some images of your ideal colour and see what they think.

If the hair is damaged and you want to go lighter than there possibly might be nothing they can do, but auburn is normally darker than ginger so I hope they will be able to get that hue that is good for you.

Remember to tell them as much information as possible and have a good conditioning treatment whilst you are there to maximise the shine and health of your locks.

John Clark at Brooks+Brooks, London