Highlighting Problem

Hair with highlighting
Photo: Chris Bourloton/Shutterstock
Q: I have dark blonde to light brown hair. I have been coloring it with a golden blonde 7G to even out my tones and cover some of my gray. It's very close to my natural color. Last night I touched up my roots and had the bright idea of highlighting it with a highlighter kit.
 
However, I managed to miss a step. I added the powdered blue to the cream, but there was another bottle of "glistener" that smells like ammonia that I did not add. I for some reason thought that was the conditioner the directions were talking about.
 
I used that bottle all over my head at the rinse stage and that's when I realized it wasn't conditioner. I rinsed it out right away but now I have brassy strawberry blonde hair (not all over, mostly on the top layers where I highlighted). I like strawberry blonde but it's too orangey.
 
Do I need to go back with another highlight kit and re-do it or can I just use my standard golden blonde 7G and just do an all over color and forget about highlights?
 
A: Provided your hair is in good condition after the mistake with the highlighting kit, then you should be perfectly safe using your regular hair color formula to restore your hair's normal color appearance.
 
You may have some issues with orange tones in the color, and if so, you may want to get a level 9 or 10 blue-based color to adjust the color and neutralize the orange tones.
 
If this becomes necessary, combine one ounce of the color with one ounce of developer and one ounce of your favorite hair conditioner. Apply this mix to clean, dry hair and allow it to process for 10-15 minutes. This should be sufficient to counteract any orange tones in the hair and should not adversely affect the hair's overall color.
 
If at some point down the line you decide you want to try creating highlights again, you will at least have some previous experience from which you have learned.
 
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See also: How to color hair