A Better Way To Go Darker With Your Hair

Want to get away from the up keep of super blonde hair, but afraid to go too dark? It’s difficult to get used to being darker or all one color when you have been highlighted for so long. Often colorists will go with color all over, leaving you feeling drab and ashy. Adding depth to hair that has becoming too blonde is one of the bigger trouble points we see int the salon. I get several calls a month to fix green or grey hair resulting from bad tint backs or low-lights.

Other times they will color all over and then go back and highlight again. Not a bad way to go, but labor intensive and potentially damaging if your hair is already sensitive. If condition is an issue, I don’t recommend going this route.

Here are some great alternatives.

1.Tint the first 2-4 inches close to the natural level. Preserve some of the blonde on the ends by leaving them out, or bywrapping them in conditioner, foil, 0r plastic. Bring a slightly lighter and warmer color through the ends. The result is a better than natural look with a subtle ombre effect, done in a gentle economical way. Here is a model started out very blonde with about two and a half inches of new growth. This was the final result. The whole process only took about an hour.

2. Foil low-lights throughout the hair will add depth and tend to cool  the palette. It’s a great way to add dimension and eliminate excess warmth without making a drab color. Here is an example. The color on the right is before, the two on the left, after.

3. Sometimes a color just needs to be tied together a bit. We still see some rather aggressive ombre attempts that get too blonde on the ends and two toned. The best approach is to tie it together with a combination of balayage and low-lights, or use some foil highlights with some color between to bring it together. The model below started out with very light ends, and we balanced it out with foils and low-lights.