How to Get Rid of Highlights

I go to Terri Carlson at Salon Elite and Spa in Palatine. She is an expert in coloring. She worked for the mfg. for 20 + years and traveled around the country educating other hairdressers. I would recommend her to anyone with color issues. Her number is ###-###-#### or her web site is www.terricarlsonhair.com

M.

Hi H.
I jsut started coloring my hir 2 years ago bc of gray hairs. I havea lady who comes into my home. She does a color that is my natural color. It is an all over color. She does the roots then combs it through and it gives mea highlight affect. it costs only $35. I love it. Im a natural girl so this was a great choice for me. Her name is Nanci Coman. She lives in Villa Park and her logo is Hair at home. She also cuts hair and does my kid's hair. ____@____.com

Hi H.,
My hair is dark but I had the same issue. I would ask at a salon for your first time to be sure you're on the right track. They will probably color all your hair the darker color that is growing out. Some of your highlights will show through, so it won't look too one dimensional. You can add a few subtle highlights that don't take so much maintenance. Let the stylist know that you don't have the time or money to upkeep the kind of highlights you've had in the past and they can recommend an alternative as well as a good home solution to carry you over to your next appointment. The home coloring systems are really hard on your hair - the salon brands are much gentler - so aim to go every other time or something along those lines. But I would really recommend having a trusted stylist get you started on your new regime! Good luck!

As you dye darker, only go two color levels at a time. (from the darkest black to the lightest blond there are 10 levels, some colors will say "level 6 dark blonde"-look to them for guides).

As you darken, you need to fill in the underlying tones of yellow, red and blue to get a healthy brown color, by darkening in steps, those colors will be added properly. (if you've ever seen someone with brassy/orange highlights-you know there is red and orange under there).

How is your hair? Is it healthy? Have the highlights damaged it? You may consider doing a conditioning treatment before coloring (leave a conditioning creme in your hair for 15 min with a shower cap on-if you can, heat with blow dryer, then wash out with cold water).

I've tried lightening at home, no luck, so I think you're making the right decision.

Good luck.

Hi H.,

I have ash blonde hair naturally with long hair too. I am a mom of two boys. Since becoming a mom, I try to penny pinch. To me the salon is too expensive. I can color my hair for $7.99. I use Loreal (spelling?) and usually use the natural blonde. (It depends how light you like it). I never messed up my hair, and I like it better the salon. Good Luck..don't worry.

I've been in the same situation. I used a semi-permanent dye from the drug store that is close to my natural color. It washes out over time, so you won't have to keep dying it, and I actually didn't have to keep doing it after the first two times.

Hi H.!

I have naturally medium brown hair and always had it highlighted to the point where I was really blond. I recently decided to go natural again for the same reasons as you. I went to the salon to have it done since it was such a big process, but she basically did TWO semi permanents in one session. We went with a darker brown than my natural color since my hair was so light. After the 35 minutes or so she washed it out, dried it, and did another semi in exactly the same color. I would recommend at least a trim since the ends don't seem to hold color all that well. After about 6 weeks I went back for another semi, this time in a glossier color but same shade. I think you could do this at home easy enough, I just didn't want to mess it up. I probably won't go back for any more color as I think it is close enough to my natural hair color at this point. Good luck and come back to let us know what you decide!

Good Morning~
I do not have the answer to your highlighting question; however, many of us write here that we are so busy that it is hard to get to the salon. I have been going to my hairdresser at his Midlothian (151st and Pulaski) home for several years where he works full time. He makes himself available to you 7 days a week, from 6:30 in the morning until later in the evening for appointments. He will do a fabulous job on your hair for the lowest prices around ~ haircuts, highlights, colors, and great styles that hold up once he is done. Michael's shop is set up in a separate room in his home with its own entrance, and he is very entertaining. His hobbies are reconstructing his home and caring for his pets, but the shop is complete and the pets are not allowed in. Try him and you won't be disappointed. Cash / check, no charge cards, and you will leave happy with the results and the great price! ###-###-####

Consider Surya Henna cream hair color products. Easy to use at home, you can just put it on the root area, no chemicals. what you don't use can be refrigerated and used later. (no mixing) Fruitful Yield health food stores carries it, and maybe some others. Check it out. (be sure it's the cream one)

Don't color it at home! That can be so bad, the chemicals are different and stronger than what the salon uses! It could also have a reaction with your hair and the products that the salon has used on it. I suggest going to a cosmetologist or a cosmetology school and letting them give you an all over color matched to your natural color. This will help blend away your highlights and let you grow out your natural color. This is one of the few things a cosmetology school can't mess up! So to save money I suggest it!
Good Luck!

I would get yourself back into the salon! It is hard to color over highlights. At least for the first time, use a professional!! They can use a semi-permanent so it won't mess up your outgrowth. If you decide to use a box, check the ingredients. Don't get anything that has ammonia or peroxide in it, because those are not semi-permanent. Don't let the product sit on the ends of your hair, apply the product and comb it through to the ends at the end of the alloted time. I'm scared for you, good luck!!

Go to Sally Beauty Supply. I believe they sell a product that you can use that will remove all of the old coloring out of your hair in one step. I have been interested to try this, but I am coloring gray these days.

You will have to be careful, based on how heavy your highlights are and how long you have had them. Once hair is lightened it is difficult to get the color to deposit. Corrective color needs to be done in a salon, that way if something goes wrong they can fix it, I wouldn't go to a school or do it at home. Your best bet is to start with low-lights, putting the color all over is most likely not going to take, it might be fine in the begining but a semi-permanent will wash out quickly because your hair is porous from the highlights and you will end up with an undesired color that will probably be uneven now that you have substantial outgrowth. I realize you want to not have to keep up the highlights, but going back to a darker color will take some time and a few trips now and then to a salon to get the desired effect. Best of luck!

Have you ever used John Frieda Color Glaze? It's a pretty cool product. You apply it after you shampoo and leave on for 3 minutes. You have to re-apply every 3 shampoos, so it's temporary but it looks pretty natural. I use it to cover gray roots in between salon colors (I have brown hair.) You can find it in the drugstore - CVS has it, by the shampoos.

Hi H.,

I have medium to light brown hair naturally, that was so over-highlighted that it had become really light blonde. My husband and I went away on a vacation together, and I saw a picture of myself and realized that my hair had become way too light. I was also short on time and never able to go to the salon for the roots, so I tackled the problem at home, with mixed results. I purchased a permanent hair dye at the drug store and just did it at home. It worked out okay. My major advice, if you go this route, is don't go too dark all in one step. But, blonde is tricky because the stuff from the drug store can make (my hair at least) really brassy. I used Garnier Nutrisse in a medium brown, and my hair seemed super dark when I first did it. It has been 3 weeks now and my hair has faded some and looks natural and there are a few totally normal looking highlights now where some of the old highlighted hair is fading just a bit more quickly but it looks good. However, if I had to do it again, or if my natural hair color were lighter, I think I would recommend a non-permanent color. I think you should look at the non-permanent medium blondes -- something just dark enough to deposit some new color on the highlighted parts without any amonia or peroxide which would lighten the roots. This may not be perfect, but you won't turn the roots brassy and if it isn't dark enough, you can always re-color on top of the non-permanent or wait for it to wash out in 2-3 weeks. Unfortunately, I don't know the names of the non-permanent brands, but I know it says permanent/semi-permanent/non-permanent on the box. After I did my at home experiment, I read that you should always choose the lighter color if you are trying to decide between two colors. That was a mistake I made --- turned out much too dark at first. Good luck!