Foils & DIY Hair Color Dye

Brown hair with foils
Photo: Koldunov/Shutterstock
Q: My natural hair color is a medium to dark brown. I also have a lot of thick, blonde and caramel colored foils, in my hair. I think my hairdresser has also toned down my hair, so my blonde foils are very light. At the moment it is costing me too much to continue getting foils because my hair grows very fast which means I always get really bad medium brown regrowth over my blonde foils.
 
I want the natural colored brown I have in my hair at the moment to be a darker brown. If I dye my hair a darker brown using a DIY hair color dye box would this make my foils go orange underneath or would my hair turn dark brown completely and fade my foils altogether? I don't really care if the foils fade completely under the darker brown dye, I am just curious as to weather they will turn orange underneath?
 
A: Unwanted color results are a problem women often encounter when they follow salon procedures with DIY hair processes. Sometimes, a simple attempt to save some money turns into an unfortunate incident, when the color used at home reacts badly with the color you already have. The end result is that you can find yourself back in the salon anyway for a color correction service.
 
With your hair color as described, the hair that I would be most worried about would be the light blonde highlights. Most home hair color kits don’t offer much information regarding the base colors used in the color formulas. If any of your hair is going to have an unwanted reaction with the dark brown home color, it will be this blonde, but that’s not guaranteed.
 
I can’t say whether or not you’ll get an orange tint, because I don’t know the exact color you’re using, nor do I know the exact shade of the highlights you have.
 
What you need to do is be prepared to do a color correction if you do end up with an overly orange tint on the blonde segments of your hair. For this, you’ll need to visit your beauty supply store (not the supermarket or department store) to get a level 3 or 4 hair color with a blue color base, and some 20-volume cream developer. (You’ll also want to have gloves, and a color bottle or mixing bowl and brush.)
 
Just remember this is only if you get an unwanted ORANGE tint to the hair. Mix one ounce of the color with one ounce of the 20-volume developer, then add 2 ounces of your favorite conditioner and mix thoroughly. Apply this mix to your hair and cover with a plastic cap. Leave it on for 10 minutes then rinse thoroughly with warm water. This should tone down the orange tint and only use half of the color.
 
If the hair is still too orange, you can repeat the process a second time.
 
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See also:
 
Basic hair coloring information
 
Hair color level and peroxide developer
 
Hair color correction
 
The base color of hair coloring products