Too bleached, too dark, home perming – there are ways to remedy any hair disaster.
Too bleached
Bleaching your hair at home can be quicker and cheaper than at a hairdressers, but make sure you do it right! Johnnie Sapong, hairdresser to the stars, advises that the absolute darkest shade of hair that can withstand bleach is an ash blonde tone. Any darker and roots look more obvious and can need a professional colour correction. The wisest thing to do is to have darker sections put back into your hair to even out the tone. The peroxide opens up your hair cuticle and strips out your colour, so adding colour will improve the look and with the right intensive treatments will also improve the texture.
Too dark
Dyeing your hair too dark is easier to deal with than bleaching as the foreign bodies added to your hair shaft can be lifted out. Never colour on top of hair that already has colour in it, or it will react differently from what you are expecting. Ask your colourist to remove any residual colours and have a consultation before you add further colour. If you hate your dark colour, Johnnie advises using crystals to remove the colour. They act as an emulsifier that lifts out the staining of the dye – and you have to take a trip to your salon to have the treatment.
Bad home perm
If your perm ended up far too frizzy and tightly curled, immediately condition your hair with a rich deep treatment conditioner. Comb it through your hair from root to tip and rinse it out after 20 minutes. Then when your hair is still wet, set it in large rollers and leave it to air dry. If this doesn't help, Johnnie admits that you need to have your hair relaxed very gently at a salon. He says: "The last thing you should do is add any more chemicals to your hair. The curls will eventually drop, but as your hair bonds have been restructured, you need to relax it slowly with intensive treatments." In addition you may need a course of after treatments to keep the moisture in your hair.
Words: Monisha Rajesh
