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Black hair color looks like “shoe polish.” Help!!

Annette writes:
“I have used black hair color on my hair at age 54. What was I thinking? It seems risky to highlight hair that has been colored black. I would like to highlight this black hair color to break it up and get rid of this ‘shoe polish look’ and I am currently using a harsh shampoo to fade it slowly. What do you suggest, since my gray re-growth will be coming in soon making it look worse? Help!”

“Black Hair Color Issues”Kristle  answers;
Annette, let me first say that you are not alone with this black hair color dilemma. Black hair color looks harsh on many people and good on a few, but many people continue to make the mistake of coloring their hair black at home. There are a couple ways to fix this solution:

• Black Hair Color Solution 1:Have a professional stylist heavily highlight hair with a lightener like bleach and then tone the lightened strands to a very dark brown, giving the hair an overall lighter appearance. Unless your hair is already quite damaged from previous chemical treatments, this process shouldn’t ravage your hair. Just be sure to fully explain to the stylist what you have done to your hair and what you are trying to achieve as an  end result.

• Black Hair Color Solution 2:If you want your black hair color gone and replaced with a lighter hair color, another suggestion might be to try a hair color remover. A hair color remover is best done by a professional stylist, although you can pick up a DIY version from your local beauty supply store. The hair color remover works to break up the hair color molecules and lightens hair. You then need to recolor hair to a desired hair color. For DIY readers out there, I would suggest using a shade of hair color that is one shade lighter than what you want to achieve in the end.

The reason I first suggest getting this process done by a professional is that hair color remover can be unpredictable in the outcome. It needs to be applied evenly and watched closely as to when it should be taken off the hair. You need to lift out the right amount of color from your hair and deposit a color that works with your new strand hair color.  A professional has experience with this type of color correction and can control the hair color more so than if you were to do it at home.

Annette, as far as your gray hair re-growth is concerned, I would first suggest choosing either solution above for a temporary fix for your black hair color. Then, as your gray grows in, use a demi-permanent hair color, like Redken Shades, to color the re-growth. This will blend in grays as they appear, while allowing the rest of the color to grow out.

Keep in mind that whenever you are doing several chemical processes like this within a short span of time, it is a good idea to also do a deep conditioner or protein conditioning treatment for your hair to maintain the integrity of the hair. Try one like Joico’s K-Pak Deep Penetrating Reconstructor, which leaves the hair feeling soft and revitalized.

Barb has an black hair color article that might help as well.

Got a question, war story or comment about this topic? Click on the "Leave Your Comments" link at the very bottom of this article. Some of my best ideas for future articles come from reading reader comments. I'd love to hear from you!

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