When is the soonest I can re-dye my hair? (shampoo, lighten, color)

[Chokhmah]

I've been dyeing my hair myself for about a year with semi-permanent dye. I've just been working my way from light brown to a light blonde shade by moving up shades periodically. But what happened is that, my blonde hair was very brassy after the last time I dyed it. It was as light as I wanted it to be but the red tones were bothering me. So last night (4 weeks since I last dyed it), I dyed it with an ashy blonde to remove the red tones and brassiness. The dye removed a lot of the brassiness, but not all of it, and made my hair about 3 shades darker than it was before (although I still have very light highlights). What should I do? I want to re-dye it with the light blonde colour I want, in hopes that now it won't come out so brassy. When can I do that? Or, should I wait and keep dyeing it with these colours that reduce brassiness and then re-dye my desired colour somewhere further down the road? It seems like the light blonde pieces that are still left don't have the red in them anymore, but the more brown looking parts do.

[gallowsCalibrator]

Unless your hair is one big frizzball, you can re-dye it right now. But with all the conflicting tones, shades, and colors currently present, you should probably see a colorist to get it all evened out.

[*Danielle*]

You are using a semi-perm haircolor to lift your hair to a lighter shade?? Semi perm haircolor deposits color only...

[loveautumn]

Even though it's semi-permanent, it is still somewhat permanent. I would just keep washing your hair alot and don't use a shampoo or conditioner that is color safe. Try not to dye your hair again, because you are just putting color upon color upon color at this point. IMO (and experience) you might need to just let this fade out as much as you possibly can stand it...and then see what you are left with and decide from there. I have had very light blonde hair and alot of dyes will make it darker even though the color on the box wouldn't indicate so. Brassy tones are hard to get out and your hair could also turn green using an ash color on very light hair (mine does this).

Your other option would be to go to a salon and have all the color removed and then re-dye.

[Chokhmah]

What about using a toner to remove the yellow tones? Does anyone have experience with this? How has it worked for you? Thanks also for all your advice, I'm still torn what to do. I can live with the colour it currently is because of the light highlights, but I don't know what will become of it with time.

[loveautumn]

Getting rid of yellow tones is difficult...you could try a purple shampoo and see what it does, but it might come out a weird color, more ash, compared with the rest of your hair. I was advised by a colorist not to do toner yourself, it is very very tricky.

I think because your natural hair is brown, then your base is red, which is why it turned reddish when you lightened it. I would still strongly suggest what I wrote in my previous post. See, when you color your hair it doesn't replace the previous color, it just basically goes on top of it, so you are going to end up with a big mess if you keep putting on different colors/warm and cool tones. Trust me, been there, done that. If you really can't stand it or don't have the patience, then you can have a salon remove all the color and recolor over. There are drug store products that will do the same, but it is real trickly because it will take your hair to like a very orange color probably...and this really should be done by a professional. That way, you can start over and get the color you really want (hopefully).

[Ellwood]

I think you should go to a salon and have a colorist correct your errors. Other choice is to go to a place that sells salon color products, like a Sally's Beauty, and talk to the people there. They are very knowledgeable. Sally Beauty Supply has hair products, salon supplies, spa supplies, cosmetics, and more!