Tips for Coloring Brunette Hair

 

Most natural brunettes have some red or gold tones in their hair. When you attempt to lighten your natural color by even one shade, your hair will have a tendency to pull warm colors such as red or gold tones. If this is a problem for you, we suggest you choose a color close to your natural color. Keep in mind that selecting darker toned colors will minimize the visibility of brassy tones. Conversely, if you select a lighter brown color, more gold or red tones will become visible.

Realizing the limits of hair color can often help you maximize your results. For example, you can successfully lighten your natural hair color no more than three shades in a single process hair color. So if you are a level six or darker brunette, you will need to pre-lighten your hair with bleach before you can color your hair blonde. Pre-lighting hair with bleach can only be safely done by a professional colorist and should never be attempted at home.
If you've been coloring your hair and desire to go two or more shades darker, it will be necessary to use a filler or pre-pigment first, before your color application. Simply speaking, you must put back what was removed! To do this, apply a temporary or semi-permanent hair color before you apply the target color. If this is not done properly, the results can be an off color, more commonly know as a bad hair coloring job. Hair Color 2 Go's experienced color technicians will guide you through this process if this situation applies to you.

Some people choose to color their hair several shades away from their natural hair color. Our color technicians caution against coloring hair more than four shades from your natural color. Doing so can contrast with your skin tone or eye color. Sometimes this contrast can be done for effect, but other times the results can be disappointing.
You can not use hair color formulas to lighten already colored hair. If you've recently colored your hair and want it lighter, using another hair color will not work. In fact, coloring already treated hair may drive the previous pigment further into your hair, making it difficult for even a professional to remove. Coloring hair will only lighten your natural color. You may leave the ends fade out naturally, or talk with one of our color technicians about COLORLIFT color remover.

To help you complete your personal profile for customized color, use the Hair Color 2 Go swatch kit to select your target color. The "N" series is neutral or natural, the "G" means gold, "R" cool red, "K" copper, "B" brown, and "V" violet. Some swatches are combinations of colors, some are pure. They may be intermixed with the brown shades. Examples would be: 6RB with a little more 6R, 7B mixed with 7K for some copper tones, 5RB with some 6V for a cooler blue/red tone.

Consider using custom blended shampoo and conditioners to prevent fading or changing hair color tones between your hair color treatments. An additional tip would be to avoid excess exposure to the sun and chlorine water. Finally we recommend cool water to wash your hair to further safeguard your new color.

For additional information, visit our FAQs section.