Warning: Long Dull post about hair colour coming up...
Scott is a really lovely bloke, if you contact him thru facebook he'll answer, make sure you tell him what products you've used.
Red pigments in all guises are unstable: carpets and curtains fade terribly and spot the 10+ year old red cars that have faded to matt pink!
Once the lengths of your hair (not the roots) have been coloured a couple of times it can reach a saturation point so that the next application looks fine but it's just sitting on the surface; the molecules are
not fixed
into the hair shaft.
Any use of silicone products and heat (GHDs etc) can fix the colour
indelibly into the ends so that they aren't lifted and then coloured by the next permanent dye used. The ends can get darker and darker each time. The next problem if you apply a whole head colour (or follow the roots instructions) are "hot roots" the virgin hair is lifted by the peroxide and the toner deposits the colour perfectly (or possibly too brightly because your scalp is warm). The mid lengths can resist the colour but get a superficial coating of red/brown etc which washes away at the next shampoo, and the ends resist the peroxide but grab more colour. I see so many brunettes with bright roots, dull mid lengths and darker ends, which never happens in real life; your hair ends should be a shade lighter than the roots. (not including deliberate ombre effects).
Silicone is the enemy of colour: so if you use a shampoo, conditioner, heat protection or shine spray you must remove the build up before colouring. However if you've applied heat (straighteners or lengthy v hot hair drying) the heat fixes the colour molecules with the silicone molecules and fixes them
forever! Once this has happened, there is little to no chance of removing this colour even with a detox treatment like Hairfix. No amount of peroxide or specific colour remover will take it away. Since most colours lift (lighten) and then add the finished colour as they develop the ends just get darker. Just a quick word on colours: if you are mixing 2 bottles or a bottle & tube then the impact will be permanent. The
semi-perm colours like Casting will fade from the initial colour but the lightening effect is permanent. Also home colourants that emphasise the shine that they give in their blurb may have silicones in them which can cause the same problems when heat is applied. The only truly temporary colours are the likes of Harmony, the good old Born Blonde toners, Nice and Easy Non-Permanent
http://www.clairol.co.uk/en-UK/how-to-page.aspx?collectionid=1784. They don't even offer a red in this range!
These colours can't lighten the hair so the effect is darker than the box photo depending on the depth of your own hair. But the Nice & Easy product is great for toning down a permanent that's too vivid/light, you can use any of their ash shades to town down red/orange/brassy tones caused by the lift of permanent colours.
If all goes wrong I can recommend ColourB4 and also Scott Cornwall's more recent product venture DeColour which lift out the deposited toning colour of permanent dyes. The downside of these is you'll be left with lifted hair (possibly bright orange) but an ash Nice&Easy (non-permanent) means you can leave the house and gives a bit of breathing space in which to select your next permanent colour venture. Never try to remove colour with peroxide (highlift lightening/blonde boxed products). Back to red hair; you could try removing the current colour with ColourB4 and starting again from scratch; You'll need a few days to stay incognito at home as the hair you're left with after the remover may be hideous. Don't panic but have your new colour ready to apply, or someone on standby to nip to Boots for you! It says you can apply your new colour straightaway but I always wait 24-48 hours to see how you hair settles down because if you haven't rinsed for long enough your dark ends may start to oxidize and turn dark again. If you remove the colour but the ends are still dark/coloured then the only way to remedy this is to cut off the ends. Nothing will remove this.
Sorry to waffle on but I've learnt so much by trial and error, and reading up on the web. Scott Cornwall is very helpful and explains the science bit very well. Also apologies to any hairdressers reading this because I know I haven't used the proper scientific terms but hopefully everyone will understand what I've waffled on about.
PS Silicone is in shampoos that promise high shine, shimmering colour etc. It's worth checking the labels. Also the best shampoos for removing too much "tone" or pigment as quickly as possible (where Ash tones are too blue/lilac/green) but without removing it completely try Dandruff or Baby shampoos if you can't find a detox shampoo.
