If you try to apply color over hair that’s already been dyed, it’s only going to get darker. To dye over a dark hair dye, you can choose a simple method, such as adding highlights or color sprays to your hair. You can also lift the color using special shampoos or color removers — this method will work for lightening your hair color just a few shades. To dye over your dark hair, you’ll first need to bleach it if you want to lighten your hair. Make sure you wear gloves when working with bleach to protect your skin.

Whether you choose natural methods using common household ingredients or opt for the same methods the pros use, it’s definitely possible to lighten dyed hair at home. Baking soda combined with selenium sulfide, the active ingredient in some dandruff shampoos, is a great way to naturally lighten hair dye. We’ll look at those easy, cheap natural methods first. Then we’ll show you the methods professionals use to lighten hair dye.

You may be able to lift your color a shade or two with this method. We’d recommend starting with a natural method to see how much it lightens your color. Professionals will have the best method for coloring hair that’s already dark, so visit a salon if you’re able to.

Use a timer to ensure you leave the dye in long enough to have the desired effect. Use a shower cap to keep the bleach settled on top of your hair, allowing the heat from your head to remain trapped butterfly locs what hair to use in the cap. Most bleaches will stay on your hair for minutes, but keep checking your hair to see how the color is turning out. Mix bleach with a developer to start bleaching your hair.

It may take a bit longer (7-10 days), so be patient if it’s not fading right away. Fixing a funky dye job doesn’t always require a trip to the salon. Here are a few ways to lighten too-dark hair at home. Color remover and a rinse might be all you need to get your hair color back to your desired shade.

Thanks for this, just got out of the salon after asking to go back from a faded red to a more natural warm brown. And I’m a pale person, it’s awful and I paid a ton of money for it! This is the last time I go to a hairdresser for color seeing as it’s the 6th time they’ve screwed up my hair color royally and charged me a ton to do so. I did better with a box, I always got complements and it always looked pretty.

Black hair dye is different from other colors because it’s “the deepest and darkest color,” Ashley explains. Because of this, it has the strongest pigmentation, which literally locks into the hair. Unfortunately, that means that lifting black will cause damage. “You’re opening up the cuticle of the hair to try and remove or lighten black pigment, which can cause the hair to feel dry and/or damaged,” Ashley says of the process. Note that color removers are gentler on your mane than a lighter like bleach. These shampoos are designed to help remove excess color from your hair, so they can be a great way to lighten up dyed hair that’s too dark.