Why is my hair turning ginger when I am dyeing it a dark colour?

Hello,

I've recently started dying my hair from a mousey blonde to a dark brown shade. Over the past little while, whenever I dye my hair, the roots and the very top of my hair all turns ginger. Why is this happening and how can I prevent it?

Michelle, Ireland

When darkening mousy hair, it has to be treated like you are colouring grey hair. To avoid it going ginger or red then you must check what shade you are using. For example if the colour says golden, chocolate, mahogany, red, warm brown etc, these will all look 'ginger'.

To achieve a rich colour, a basic shade must be added to create the depth (how dark it is). By just using a natural base shade, it will darken the hair without any unwanted red traces. Hair colour goes in levels, using a numbering system from 1 (black) to 10 which is platinum blonde. Most rich dark brown shades sit between the levels of a 4 to 5. 

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