Advice: Going from Blonde to Brunette.

by Lexi
(Wisconsin)

To Dark Brown or Brunette

To Dark Brown or Brunette

To Dark Brown or Brunette From Blonde

Never ever dye your hair brown using box chemicals and such after you've dyed your hair blonde. It will turn out green.

If you want to go brown after blonde, then I suggest going to a salon and getting it done. Your hair will look alot more professional and blend together better.



About Images posted on top
Brazilian TV hostess Xuxa Meneghel (age 49) transformed her look by going from bleach blond to dark brown using Koleston's nuance 30, dark brown – A professional hair color by Wella.
-- SHS Team


Sharing tips, advice and consequences of going from Blond to Brown or Brunette when not using a professional service

Answers and Comments for Advice: Going from Blonde to Brunette.

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Ive gone green!
by: Lynd

I wanted to get rid of the blonde-hairstyles and go back to a brown shame but ive got green tinge and a yuck dirty brown what can i put on top, will a darker brown take and look ok?
RE: blonde to light browne
by: Anonymous

I see why you might be confuse. Actually both methods are possible depending on your current hair condition. If you already bleached it then you add filler from tube and no developer. If not, then you add a red color from box just as you intend to dye it red and then dye it brown. Hope that makes it clear :)
blonde to light brown
by: Anonymous

When adding my filler, Red. do I just use the color in the box and no developer. Also do I leave the color on and put the brown color mixture on for the 30mins and then rinse? Confused
HELP!!
by: Anonymous

Okay, so I had my hair like really blonde, and I tried to dye it back to my naturally color and it turned green, I can't afford a salon, so what should I do?
Bleeched Blonde to Brunette
by: Anonymous

I had colored my brunette hair blonde twice before deciding to go back to my normal color. To do this, I first colored my blonde hair RED to add pigment back and then a MEDIUM BROWN. I did both the red and then the brown all in the same day. This process worked beautifully. I had full coverage brunette hair again. I highly recommend anyone wanting to take their stripped of color blonde hair back to brunette to do it this way. It works!!
blonde to brown colors
by: Anonymous

Ok ladies, I've been a stylist 30 plus yrs, what do you get when you mix yellow and brown GREEN. always use red to fill hair . Don't rinse, apply desired color over the red, leave red filler on 15 minutes you can paper towel it off then desired color on for another 30 min. Shampoo with color protect shampoo ,and conditioner.
Platinum to blonde II
by: Anonymous

Well I didn't see the advice someone else added on time (thanks anyway!), so this is what happened:
- Too much red, it indeed turned slightly orange, the blonde was lost completely. The mix was 3/4 of blonde and less than 1/4 red, but still.
- Added a neutral base brown mixed with a bit more of red, it turned out a perfect chocolate brown that has been fading and will surely end in a lovely light brown.
Not too bad even if it's not blonde. It looks kind of awesome too, like it has natural highlights, as it doesn't wash away all evenly.
Hope it helps somebody else.
blonde to brown
by: Anonymous

Frist determine the level your hair is currently at!! For example if you are a level 9 and want to be a level 5. First pick the desired shade you would like to be in a colour book. Then you would put a little of each level of colour until you reach the level of your target colour into your formula to equal the same amount of your target colour. So if you are using 2oz of target colour then mix a little from level 9 to 5 to equal 2 oz. This will fill the blonde and last much longer then slapping on a brown colour with a little red in it..Blonde hair no longer has any pigment or very little depending on the level. This is why I would opt to fill it and some people don't like red, so this is a way to stay away from the red, ensure long lasting results and no green cast (ash).
Platinum to blonde?
by: Anonymous

Okay, I'm going to do this tomorrow since I need it for a job interview, I guess I can't expect any help but after reading the comments I hope it turns out well.
I'm going to go from platinum to light blonde, I'll probably mix in a bit of red hoping it doesn't turn green (it did when I applied an ash blonde before, it also became super dark) but I wonder if it's not going to become orange?
I'm worried, but I'll let you know the results.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge!
Not true - Bleach Blonde to Brunette
by: Amanda Ericks

I just went to bleach blonde for a corrective color and then switch back to brunette I use the John Freida dark chocolate brown and my hair did not turn green it is gorgeous and it only stayed in for 10 minutes
Thank you
by: Anonymous

I have really learned something here. I was ready to buy an ash brown as thats what colour I want but after reading the above I realise that putting that on my golden blonde will make a mess. I will buy a reddish brown and use that as a filler and then apply my chosen colour over that.
I actually like the idea of chocolate brown now.

Thanks all (well not all)
Went from Blonde to Brunette and love it!
by: Anonymous

Ok, I'm no expert on coloring, but I have been coloring my own hair for about 10 years now and here's my 2 cents on the subject.

Disclaimer: Seriously, there is a definite difference between at home color and salon color. If you have made the commitment to doing it yourself, then you also have to accept that 1.) your color will not be as dimensional as if you had it done professionally, 2.) it will not look exactly like the color on the box and 3.) you will most likely have to dye your hair more than once to get the color you're looking for.

First and foremost - you should check out a pigment/color level chart. This will help you decide what color needs to be added to your hair before you dye it in order to achieve the color you want and will also give you an idea of how many times you need to dye it. For example, I had been lightening my hair to somewhere between a level 8 (light blonde) and a level 7 (medium blonde) which are both based on a yellow/gold pigment. I also opted for an ashy tone and had been shampooing with a violet, color depositing shampoo (to increase the ash tones).

So, box color is finicky in the sense that if you use it on hair that is more than 2 shades away (either lighter or darker) than whatever color you have currently, all sorts of crazy things can happen. You should really consider reading a little bit about how box color works - a simple Google search should provide you with tons of resources, before you go ahead with this method. It will save you some unwanted "crazy hair" surprises.

In my case, I wanted to darken my hair from a light blonde (about a level 8) to about a medium brown (level 3 - which is based on a red pigment). I first dyed it using a light brown color with lots of red in it (about a level 5). Because my hair was so light and bleached, it really grabbed the color so the color came out darker and -very- red. This is a good thing. I conditioned and cared for my hair for about 5 days before dying it again. The color faded but still provided a good base to color over.

At this point, you should consider using a neutral tone protein filler with the second dye. You can get them at Sally's for about $3 bucks and they really do make a world of difference - once again, try a quick Google search for more information.

So, I then dyed my hair using a level 3 medium neutral brown and I am so pleased with the results! My hair still grabbed a lot of color, but that was because I chose against the protein filler (mainly because I didn't have time to run out and buy it). After about 2 washes, the extra color faded and now my hair is a rich, coffee brown. No green in sight - looks natural.

I really hope this helps. Good luck!!
coming from a pro
by: Anonymous

First off I am a professional hairdresser for 27yrs- once you strip your hair to a blonde stage you are removing your red pigment from your hair you need to apply red back into the hair straight from the tube- no developer your hair will absorb the color your hair is very porous- leave that on and apply over the red with your choice of brown with 10 vol developer, remember you only want to deposit color not lift hair color.. The red color may be there faintly- but will fade out with shampoos.

Anytime you apply an ash color over blonde hair you will end up green, unless the blonde color on your head still has alot of brassiness to it-which is the red remains from not being lightened enough to a pale blonde state- not turning green would be flat out luck- put the red in first and play it safe you need the red pigment which makes up a brunette color, as for the wanna be hairdresser, my best advice to you is to stay off the forum your only screwing up peoples hair!! Im sure colorists are frowning on my out of salon advice- but in our economy, everyone needs a little advice!
Vinegar rinse
by: Anonymous

Wash your hair with vinegar...Used this trick after being blonde and swimming chemicals turned hair green. Also, been there done that , don't dye it at home if you are going darker after being platinum! Go to a salon, worth the trip instead of buy boxes and redying hair several times trying to get the right shade. Save yourself the stress! Leave vinegar on hair for about 3 minutes then rinse and condition , condition, condition!
brown, red, blonde....blonde, red, brown :)
by: Anonymous

Take it from someone who has dyed her hair all shades (blue black to blonde and back to brown) in the span of 13 years and still manage to have fabulous hair - Dye hair RED first, then put whatever brown shade you want.

Going from blonde to brown is a reverse process where instead of taking the red pigments out (to get that yellow shade), you are putting it back into your hair and using it as a base for the brown. Stay away from ash colors! That will definitely turn your hair into a drab brown with tints of green. Warm medium browns to dark browns (chestnut) will work best. Also remember to condition, condition, condition (hot oil treatments, hair mask packets, olive oil, anything!)
USE A FILLER!
by: Anonymous

If you are going to go from blonde to a darker tone; first buy two boxes of dye; they can be the same color or you can buy one darker and one the color you want; use the darker color or if you bought two of the same; use half of the mix, and the rest water into the bottle; SHAKE WELL! apply this color all over ( this is called a filler ) this will take the blonde and color it but not the color you wish to go; rinse it out; then once you have rinsed it; blowdry your hair and it's time to use the second box; Apply this color like you normally would; the blonde in your hair will not go green or any other color for that matter because now it should be a light brown if that is what your going for;

I cant tell you how many young girls i have come into my salon with green or grey hair because they made this mistake. ALWAYS USE A FILLER ON BLONDE !
WARM TONES
by: Anonymous

ALWAYS you golden or warm tones...I am a natural blonde...I have dyed my hair plenty of times and anytime i use ash my hair turns gray/purple. I use warm tones and my hair turns out perfect every time.
Fix for ASH Green
by: Anonymous

Just so you know a great at home fix for ash green tones in your hair, or even pink tones is LEMON JUICE... it's very effective, because the green and pink tones are just that toner... the lemon juice will strip the green and pink from your hair... you may have to do it more then once... but it WORKS....
my story
by: Anonymous

I tried to go from medium blonde (which is what I was via hair color, I am a natural medium brown) to dark blonde using "natural dark blonde" hair color (level 7). I ended up with a darker dull greyish greenish color which I hated. I didn't want to go the hair color remover route right away (which does work, when I used to have brown hair the coloring would sometimes come out too dark and I would use Color Fix to remove the color but you then have to dye it again because it ends up a light red).

What worked this time was to put on half a box of "light reddish blonde" (level 9) and half a box of "extra light natural blonde" (level LB02) - I used half and half of the color and the peroxide that came with each and mixed it in a plastic bowl. Left this on for about 15 minutes. Now my hair is a normal color, this put back the reds, and it's also lighter which I'm happy with.

My advice is always take going darker in steps because processed hair really grabs darker colors and you don't want to end up darker than you want (this used to happen to me all the time when I was trying for a light brown, and why I eventually ended up just sticking with blonde. Good luck.
Ash colors on blonde hair will make your hair green
by: Anonymous

Wow, there are some really mean people out
there. Why would you say any color labeled ash will help?
Ladies ash colors on blonde hair will DEFINETELY make your hair green. Please believe ME and don't go through that. The person who wrote that MUST be a hairstylist mad at the fact that people want to do it at home and not go to a salon. As someone mentioned blonde has no pigment so going for a brown might result in a muddy or green color.
That is the reason why you do the red first or combined in the mixture with the brown. In the color wheel red opposes green. This lets you know that to kill a green tone you apply red. Some people get lucky by going to a really dark brown but for a pretty shade I suggest using the red.
Best Wishes to all!
Bleach blonde to brown
by: kim

I went from bleach blonde to brown in one step, using L'Oreal Recital dark brown, with no green.
Blonde to brunette
by: Anonymous

Took the advice to use L'Oreal excellence dark and it worked for me too in 10 minutes and my hair was bleach blonde, and brassy too! thanks for that x
Best tip ever
by: m.Elen

I cant count how many times I have gone Black to Blonde to Brunette to Blonde. In salons and with packet mixes and I have had plenty of disasters.

So if you dye your hair brunette from blonde and it turns green or like a mud colour or is way too dark, go to the chemist and buy a pharmacy strength anti dandruff shampoo and repeat washing for around 10 minutes... it works, like wonders.

To ensure your hair doesn't go green though to begin with, get a light red colour and use that first before putting the brown over the top second. It acts as a filler because blonde hair has no pigment, worse if you have poor quality or damaged hair. Whatever you do don't go for a colour that is copper based or too dark, because you can always go darker but hard to go lighter. But yes it will go green if u do it wrong and its a horrible experience. I HAD GREEN HAIR!

Going from brunette to blonde should only ever be done at a salon, so much risk involved and I had my hair snap at one point. It can be done in one shot, but you have to get a hairdresser that is willing to do it, most of them like to take it slowly to make sure the hair wont break. Only be prepared to go blonde if you have the money, time and patience.

No amount of treatments will help with hair breakage, seriously your hair needs to be in good condition before you put any chemicals on it.

Best advice, get a hairdresser to do it, takes the nerves out of the whole process
Blond to Brown
by: Anonymous

If you have been using blond shades for years over brown, your hair condition won't be as good as it could be so if you use box colours for cheapness you usually end up buying at least one or two more shades to get the colour right over the blonde. And it really takes it out of your hair so save money and effort by going to the hairdresser for the first colour change back. At least it's less expensive in the end and your hair condition will not suffer any where near as much.

I have had to wear my hair short and keep cutting it short to get rid of dry hair I ended up with trying to use home colouring over blonde.
blonde to brown
by: Anonymous

Always put a red on before brown then your hair does not go green ,but it will have a chestnut tint on it x
Bleach blonde straight to dark brown
by: Anonymous

I went from bleach blonde straight to dark brown using a box dye and it was a complete success :) I used 2 boxes of Loreal Extreme Excellence Creme colour Natural Dark Brown
Help, it's too late!
by: Anonymous

I found this thread after doing a panicked google search on green hair. i tried to take my bleached blonde hair brown and i now resemble queen ursula from the little mermaid. what can i do?
someone please help me, i cannot afford to go to the salon, so i need advice for an at -home fix.

(and btw, my hair was platinum, so i used a med. honey brown thinking it would not be grey or green.)

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