What to Do If You Hate Your New Hair Color

If you’ve been following me on Instagram Stories (@ruyakiraccc) then you already know about the hair disaster that I had last weekend. I went into my usual salon which is the third time that I’ve been to this salon and the first two times that I had my hair done there, the results were amazing. I finally thought I had found the perfect salon in Rochester! Did I mention I’ve been to 11 salons since I’ve start dyeing my hair when I was 16? Yes, seriously. It’s been a struggle. There’s just always something wrong with every salon that I visit and at one point I was going to a new salon every three months. Yet no matter how bad the results turned out, I had never felt miserable about my hair (you can even see my previous hair posts!) and somehow made it work but with this new hair color? NOPE. I can’t do it. I don’t even wanna look at it cause it’s so bad. I’m pretty sure my hair is orange even though I told my stylist to make my balayage a HINT blonder. I don’t even have a balayage anymore! It’s just bad. Okay, rant over.

So I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to share with you ladies what to do when you HATE your new hair color and you’re trying to find a solution: 

Wash Your Hair Immediately – Normally I wouldn’t recommend washing your hair right away after getting it dyed and at least waiting 3-4 days so the color settles in. But if you hate your hair? Wash it NOW with a clarifying shampoo such as Head & Shoulders which is something I also would never recommend for color-treated hair since it strips out everything but in this case, use a generous amount!

Make Sure to Wait Before Coloring – I know some people will buy a box of hair dye and color it themselves but make sure to wait at least a week (even better if it’s a couple of weeks!) before exposing your hair to color again or else it can result in some major damage. It’s more important to wait for your hair to repair itself then to color it. Also I would definitely recommend going to a professional instead of doing it at home just to be safe. Remember it’s less damaging to color your hair darker than it is lighter!

Call The Salon – If you’re like me then you most likely lied to your hairstylist when she asked “what do you think?!” in that happy voice and smiled and nodded and you said politely that you love it so you wouldn’t ruin her day. Oh boy. But it’s okay! If it’s a salon that you’ve been going to for a long time then just call and let them know that you didn’t like it and they will most likely not charge you for the color correction appointment. 

Do Research & Find a New Salon – If you also have the same brain as me, then you most likely won’t be going back to that salon after that hair disaster and will be spending your Friday night reading salon reviews on Yelp and wondering what you did in life to receive this kind of misery. It’s okay I’m in the same situation as you! Do a LOT of research and even look through the salon’s social media to see their work. Yes, it’s going to be expensive to fix your hair but hey at least you won’t have THAT color on your hair anymore.

Deep Conditioning – In the meantime, make sure to deep condition your hair with a great mask in order to get rid of the some of the damage that’s resulted from your previous hair color disaster. 

Be Specific and Bring Photos – One of the main reasons why our hair color doesn’t come out the way we want it to is because of miscommunication. Take your time and tell them exactly how you want your hair and don’t rush! My number one tip is to bring photos since colors like ash blonde means something different to everyone.

Go To a Salon That Does Consultations – Of all the salons that I’ve been to, not one of them does consultations and I think this is another reason why I’m not satisfied with my hair. I always seem to be rushing when I’m telling my hairstylist what I want and end up forgetting something but with a consultation, you’ll be able to sit and go over every detail so you and your hairstylist are on the same page. Of course, it’s always the expensive salons that offer consultations so that can be a deal breaker.

Hope these tips helped! I’ve been wearing a hat every single day to school this week because I don’t want anyone to notice how bad my hair is so trust me I feel your pain!

-Ruya