Why doesn't my colourist lighten my entire head from the root up?
I am a natural brunette. I have had several different colours of hair, and recently I went from a lighter brown to a darkest brown – carried out professionally.
I now want my hair lightened again to a nice medium brown. My colourist keeps putting streaks throughout and lightening the roots. I now have dark reddish streaks, reddish roots and dark brown hair!
Why doesn't she just lighten the entire head from the root up?
Anon, New York
Some colourists are a little bit shy when performing colour changes. They often think that using a highlighting technique will give a better result, when in actual fact it may not be the best option. Gently lightening the base colour by one level and then colouring it with your chosen shade would to me be the simplest and best method of going a little lighter. Speak to a confident colourist and go armed with some photos of what you like and hopefully they will be able to assist you.
John Clark, Head of Colour at Brooks+Brooks, London
Hi,
Unfortunately getting hair to lift from a dark brown to a light brown isn’t quite as easy as you would imagine. I think your technician will be doing this to preserve the condition of your hair.
However if the condition of your hair is good, you could possibly have a light colour cleanse through the mid-lengths and ends to gently lift out some of the depth, then add a lighter colour throughout the full head.
I hope this helps.