Remove Hair Color and Dye + Highlight

Red hair cut in a bob
Photo: Savina/Shutterstock
Q: I had highlights done on my hair exactly a year ago, after 7 months I put a dark red color on. I now want to remove the color and put a light ash brown base and highlight my hair to very light ash blonde. My hair is approximately 60% white.
 
Is it safe to remove the color and dye it ash brown and highlight it or try and put a color on and then highlight?
 
A: The safety factor is going to depend largely on whether or not your hair is in good condition after the color treatments you have had. If your hair shows signs of damage (dryness, frizz, breakage and split ends, etc.) I do not recommend any further chemical processes without professional assistance.
 
Even if your hair is in good condition, you will want to make sure to perform a strand test to make sure the hair will respond well. Take a lock of hair from an inconspicuous location and process it with any chemical procedure you intend - decolorize it, recolor, and highlight it. If the hair in the test responds well, you should be safe to proceed.
 
Provided your hair is healthy and you perform the strand test before doing anything to the hair on your head, I would suggest using a permanent color remover product to remove the old hair color, then applying the ash brown color and follow up with the highlighting. If at all possible, give your hair a break between the processes and use a deep conditioning treatment between them to keep the hair's moisture balance and condition.
 
You may need to perform the decoloring and the recoloring on the same day, particularly as the color remover product often leaves the hair a flat beige color. If after decoloring your hair, you feel you need to apply a new color immediately, do so (remembering that you should have done the strand test already). If you can live with the neutral color results for a few days, let your hair rest and condition it well.
 
Also note the base color of the hair after decoloring. If the hair looks yellowish, be cautious of possible greenish results in the new color application results.
 
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See also:
 
How to color hair
 
Signs of damaged hair
 
How to choose natural-looking highlights