Save your money. Go to a salon. That’s where I’ll be headed when I can dye my hair again.
These are hair dyes that are “Exclusively for dark hair”, that do “Ultra Lightening in One Step”. No, they don’t.
I tried the medium shade first on my dark brown hair - virtually no effect at all. I have just tried the more extreme colour (B61), which is supposed to turn dark brown hair a lovely, cool dark blonde - again, virtually no effect. Either I have resistant dark brown hair, or this product is a BIG, FAT RIP-OFF.
I’ve been coloring my hair since I was fourteen. It’s a mousy medium brown. The lightest I could get it myself was a dark strawberry blonde, and it felt gross afterward from too harsh a product. I used some “ultimate blonde” stuff–with ammonia and peroxide because hey, you don’t need to breathe! I think dark hair just has to be bleached or something first if you want to go much lighter. The Feria was just playing on your hopes.
It might work on my hair, though. The last Feria I tried turned out beautifully, but I’m cheap so I don’t usually buy it.
I haven’t gone blonde for ages, but when I did I’d always buy a two step kit. I can’t remember a brand, but it had one part to strip out your natural color, and the second to add in the blonde tones. It was kinda harsh, so if your hair is fried I wouldn’t recommend it. I’m naturally a pretty light red-brown, so I usually go red anymore. Works better with my coloring and all that.
When I was in college, I earned small amounts of money in the dorm by doing perms, haircoloring, and streaking (the hair kind, not the running around naked kind). That was a long time ago, but I don’t think things have changed much in the world of blonding. The two-step process is the only way to turn dark hair blonde. It irks me that L’Oreal is ripping off its customers by leading them to believe that their product will do something that no product can do.
I was sorely disappointed by Feria. I tried it twice and found it faded within a couple weeks, despite using the shampoo meant to protect coloured hair.
I suggest the beauty supply shop, the one near me actually has great customer service. They’ll ask you exactly what you want and don’t want and explain why this packet and bottle will do A and that packet and bottle will do B instead.
They’ve got the stronger stuff the pros use anyway, I’ve had very good luck turning my son’s black hair platinum in the summer so he can play with the fun colored gels and such. Worth talking to them, and if they tell you to go to a real salon, then you know you really shouldn’t mess with it anymore.
I got a gorgeous red (this, though it looks a little darker in the photo) the one time I had it done in a salon. I went in for burgundy; I’m glad I changed my mind. I guess I’ll go to my mom’s and aunts’ hairdresser since I can’t seem to reproduce it on my own. I should probably already be going to her, as she seems to have assimilated all my female relatives, and looks to do great work, but as I said, I’m cheap and the folks at MasterCuts always do a good job.
Okay, after waiting on hold for a Very Long Time with L’Oreal Canada, I will be getting a gift certificate to re-imburse me for this purchase. The consultant thinks I screwed up, trying to colour hair that was already coloured, but the first one I tried was on fairly virgin hair (the temporaries I use to colour my greys should have been gone by then), and it didn’t work either. But who can keep track of what dye they have in their hair at any moment? Certainly not me.
I’m with you, pinkfreud - I don’t think you physically can get from dark brown to dark blonde in one step. Well, I could get to a very unattractive brassy colour, but that is not what I’m aiming for.
Ruby, us natural brunettes can be pretty bold with hair colour, since it takes some special colour to show up on dark hair.
Another vote for going to the salon. I see those kits in Target all the time and think to myself there’s no way in hell…
I have brown hair that is colored a dark golden brown base with copper highlights. It looks quite nice, and I have no worries because it was done by a pro.
I’ve used Feria for years, and I love it. I can’t recall the exact name, but it’s something like “Power-Reds,” are excellent for dark hair. (Well, if you want to go redder, that is.) I’ve used three or four different shades, and they work well on my hair. Plus, I like that there’s enough for long hair. I picked up my last box for less than $2 on clearance at Target. (Something like “Bright Coppery Red,” but I’m adventurous with my hair.) It covers my gray well, and after the new color calms down a bit, it looks quite natural.
But no, it isn’t meant to drastically lighten dark hair. That’s a bleach and dye process, which I wouldn’t attempt at home.
And that little scent capsule in Feria? It does nothing. The stuff still smells horrible.
I have no problem going redder at all - my hair takes to it like a duck to water. I’ve never tried to go lighter before, and it has been a learning experience.
My problem is not that lightening dark hair is a two-step process; I pretty much knew that. My problem is that Feria is selling a $12.00 box of hair colour that CLAIMS to lighten dark hair in one step, and that it is specifically made to do just that. It’s basically fraudulent.
$12?!?! That’s just wrong. I’ve never paid more than $9, full price. Ok, I get your complaint, and you’re right. Based on my good experience with the brand, I would have assumed that their claims are accurate. But I’ve never tried to lighten, just to cover gray, and sometimes brighten my natural color (or colour, if you prefer).
A friend of mine used it to lighten her dark brown hair a shade or two, and it worked well for her. When she tried to go too light, she got orange. When she tried to go red, she got purple. She just has weird hair, I think.
Oh, that IS lovely! A girl I work with gets a similar result from Feria’s ‘Mango’ colour… but when I use it, it just doesn’t ‘hold’ more than a couple of days. The colour is brilliant though.
(For those dyeing at home, my hair is naturally a dirty-looking brown - disgusting colour, which is why it’s always dyed over!)
'lou, is it possible you’ve got a wax buildup on your hair from your shampoo? It’s common. I tried to lighten my hair and had a similar result (none). I was told to strip my hair with dish detergent, then wait a week and try again.
Yep. I have dark, dark brown hair with a red undertone, so anytime I tried to lighten it, it went Bozo Orange. I wanted dark ash blonde/light ash brown, and finally found The Only Honest Colorist in New York, who told me, “honey, there are two ways you could get that color: either strip out your color and re-dye it, and it’ll look like straw in six months; or buy a wig.”
I got some of that to try and lighten my hair - it DID lighten it. Really, really unevenly. I should have, by now, learned my lesson about trying to go lighter at home, but nooooo…I have to be cheap, don’t I?
I’m actually trying to grow out my natural hair color now, and managed to find a henna dye that was pretty close. No roots, though it does get slightly darker towards the ends.
My hair is a weird mousy brown naturally, but it takes to color really well. It’s fairly light, about what the haircolor companies call “dark ash blonde.”
