# L'Oreal Feria Hi-Lift Browns DOES NOT WORK! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 15, 2005, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loreal-feria-hi-lift-browns-does-not-work/312595 "2005-07-15T00:27:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loreal-feria-hi-lift-browns-does-not-work/312595/21 "2005-07-15T17:03:36Z")
I have naturally red hair that’s fading to auburn as I get older. Every now and then I give it a little chemical help, because while I hated being a redhead as a child, now it’s an essential part of my personality. I usually use either an Herbal Essences (I think it’s the Brilliant Ruby, which comes out browner on me) or a Feria. A few weeks ago, I bought what I _think_ was called the Light Copper Blonde, because the color on the box plus the color my hair already was would equal the color I wanted. I failed to notice that this was the _super duper colorfast bright fire engine_ variety of hair color. I looked just about ridiculous. Luckily, even with their “color protecting conditioner” and using shampoo designed for colored hair, it faded to the color I wanted within a week. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loreal-feria-hi-lift-browns-does-not-work/312595/22 "2005-07-15T17:43:00Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > 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.” > > So my hair is still dark, dark brown. It’s so incredibly frustrating trying to just lighten brown hair, it always winds up red/orange. Red hair is great, nothing against red hair, but when we don’t _want_ red it can be a bitch to lighten. I’ve had decent luck using 2 of the same shades, one ash and one regular. Although every colorist shrieks that ash=green, I’ve never had that happen. I generally need two boxes for my longish, thick hair, so the ash calms down the reddening effect. Heh, we’re talking about hair color and I’m in the process of turning my child’s Very Black hair bright blue for the summer. And by process, I mean bleach it up to rust orange, rest, bleach it up to blonde, rest, then dye it Huckleberry Blue, then a haircut to remove the completely fried ends, we might be done by Sunday. Healthy? Hell no, it’s frying his head. But, it’s just hair, it’s the color he chose, and it’s a reward for making honor roll, so whaddya gonna do? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loreal-feria-hi-lift-browns-does-not-work/312595/23 "2005-07-15T18:04:24Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > the first one I tried was on fairly virgin hair (the temporaries I use to colour my greys should have been gone by then) This is your problem. On really virgin hair (ie NO other color of any type, henna, temporary rinses, etc) the new Feria works great. If you have _ANYTHING_ in your hair it won’t work at all. But I guess you figured this out. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loreal-feria-hi-lift-browns-does-not-work/312595/24 "2005-07-15T18:11:05Z")
Hee- your bright blue story reminds me of the time I used the temporary Plum colour. Apparently, and this is something someone should tell girls in school or something, dark brown hair has a real affinity for purple. The temporary Plum was supposed to have purple highlights only, and only for 12-24 shampoos, but my hair was quite purple, and of course it lasted _much_ longer than any other temporary colour I’ve used. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loreal-feria-hi-lift-browns-does-not-work/312595/25 "2005-07-15T18:14:16Z")
Oh, I forgot about your build-up question, **Ginger**. Yeah, that’s entirely possible, too. I’ve started switching shampoos now, but I was using Head 'n Shoulders, and I believe they’re notorious for waxy buildup (that’s how they fix the dandruff - they glue it to your head. 😃 ) Only use it on completely virgin hair, **Alice**? But my hair is always slutty! ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loreal-feria-hi-lift-browns-does-not-work/312595/26 "2005-07-15T18:20:10Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > Only use it on completely virgin hair, **Alice**? But my hair is always slutty! You and me both. Actually, a gal came into work who had tried to dye her processed, medium blond hair to medium brown using the Feria high-lift (obviously not having read the package). Her hair was the color of cigarette ashes with dark blue streaks running through it. I wish I was exagerating. :eek: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loreal-feria-hi-lift-browns-does-not-work/312595.md?page=1)