Get Back to Natural Hair Color

Amber brown hair
Photo: Katya Yacenco/Shutterstock
Q: I recently colored my blonde hair to light amber brown using a store-bought product. I hate it! My hair was previously colored, but my hair is naturally a dirty blonde. How can I get back to my natural color?
 
A: Simply put, the only way to get your hair back to its natural color is to allow the colored hair to grow out.
 
When the hair is colored, the coloring formula deposits color molecules into the hair shaft. However, once these color molecules are imbedded into the hair shaft, you have to remove them by using another chemical process - color stripping or bleaching. The trouble is that doing this also removes the natural pigments found in the hair. The nature of these processes means that you can't simply remove the hair color you have applied to the hair.
 
Your best bet is to re-color the hair with a color that is as close to your natural color as possible. If your current hair color is darker than your natural color, you may need to lighten the hair first then apply a color matching your natural shade.
 
However, if the current color of your hair is lighter than your natural color, you can simply apply a color that matches your natural shade. In any case, you want to make sure to be aware of the base color of both your current color and the color you are applying to avoid any potential unwanted color results.
 
Don't panic if you do get unwanted color tints in the finished color. The color can always be corrected. I recommend you read the various articles we have here on Hairfinder concerning coloring the hair so that you can be familiar with the potential problems and feel more secure in applying the color you want.
 
©Hairfinder.com
 
See also:
 
Hair coloring
 
Questions about coloring hair
 
Bleaching or color stripping
 
Where does the color go when you bleach dark hair?