I’ve always taken meticulous care of my hair, so when the great lockdown of 2020 happened and my local salon was closed, well… I was a bit stuck. How would I get my split ends trimmed? How would I have it blow dried to perfection? How would I cover my, GASP, grey hairs?
So I did something I would come to regret: I dyed my own hair. Black. With box dye. Now, you might not think this is a large transgression: after all, they sell dye at the supermarket so it can’t be that bad can it? Oh you sweet summer child, this is also what I thought until I coloured my brown hair black again… and again… and what do you know, one more time for good measure.
What I didn’t realise was that box dye is a lot stronger than the stuff you find in salons, because it has to work on EVERYONE’S hair type. And this “one size fits all” approach means the dye can be bad for the health of your hair. What’s more: the more you do it, the harder it is to reverse.
WHICH I didn’t find out until I tried to reverse it. Did you know you were only supposed to touch up your roots, not dye your hair again every time? Well I did not.
Soon two years had gone by and as much as I loved my black hair to begin with, I was beginning to miss the warm tones of my natural mahogany colour (it’s like brown, but fancy). Plus, post-pandemic I wasn’t as keen on doing a full face of makeup every day, which meant my dark locks made me look less Snow White and more Samara from The Ring.
So I decided it was time to hit up the experts and when it comes to colourists, the team at Emilly Hadrill Hair & Extensions know their stuff.
My colour correction experience
Walking into the salon I was greeted by a gold bar cart brimming with delicious looking champagne on ice and other cocktail making ingredients. Excellent start. The decor of this place has me feeling like one of those ladies who lunch who swan about from beauty appointments to brunch.
I’m greeted by my colourist Libby and we sit down to have a chat about what I would like to have done. When I explain to her my unfortunate box dye situation I see her flinch for just a second, before giving me a huge smile and saying “I think we can fix that!”
Turns out, one of her salon colleagues had JUST had the same issue as me and had her hair colour corrected from black to brown just the day before. SO helpful to have a model right in front of me that I could confirm “Yes, that is exactly what I want!”
Libby warns me it is going to take time. Not just time like a few hour, TIME like I might want to order Uber Eats to the salon for dinner and we’ll need a second appointment time. I brace myself, give the green light and off we go.
The process
First things first, we need to do a test strip. This is to make sure that what I want is actually possible, and that it won’t damage my hair. Sometimes, Libby explains, when you box dye your hair a really dark colour too many times, it can be really difficult to lift. The test strip involves us taking a small strip from the underside of my hair, popping the bleach on, wrapping it in foil and waiting.
I am really nervous at this point that my life as a brunette might be over and the colour wouldn’t lift at all. I needn’t have worries: ten minutes later we check and my formerly black hair has lightened a couple of shades. Libby says it’s actually worked REALLY well and she’s excited to see where we go with this.
From there I sip my champagne (yes I ordered the complimentary bubbles) as two people begin popping the bleach on my waiting locks. I feel very fancy having two people work on my hair at once.
As my ends were the darkest, the bleach went on there first and was left to develop for ten minutes. Then we moved up and added some bleach to the mid band and left that for another ten. After that it’s time for a rinse off (which involved a HEAVENLY head massage) and a blow dry to check the colour.
Step five involved moving up to the top of my head and tinting my regrowth using L’Oreal Professional. This is then left to process for 35 minutes, and then a toner is added to the whole length of the hair to bring it back from the brassy orangey brown to a nice warm brunette.
Then after all that, we rinsed everything off and gave it a good wash (and I got another incredible head massage).
Pre shampoo I had ordered a burger to be delivered to the salon as it was well past dinner time. It arrives JUST as it’s time for me to sit back in my chair, have a heat protection serum added to my hair and experience a two-person blow dry. Burgers, champagne, pampering… this is heaven.
When I look in the mirror I cannot believe it has lightened up as much as it has. Libby says this is a great result so far. She shows me a photo from the back and I am already super impressed but Libby says she’d like to make another appointment in a week or so to even it out a little, as you can still see the different bands of colour in my hair.
One week later (and a whole lot of time with me flipping ma new hair) I am back for appointment number two. It is much the same as appointment number one and I have a grand old time chatting to the girls, drinking my orange juice (it’s the morning this time so no bubbles for me), and having a luxe old time.
Then it’s time for trim and the blow out and wavy curl of my dreams.
The results
The results speak for themselves. LOOK AT MY AMAZING HAIR! Seriously, it’s better than I could have hoped for. Plus, it looks and feels so silky smooth and healthy which I was not expecting after all the bleach.
All in all it took about six to seven hours. Yes I know that sounds like a long time, but it didn’t feel that long. Plus when it’s a change you really wanted, it’s worth it.
My new hair brings the warmth back to my no-makeup face that I have been sorely missing. I am in love with it and immediately send the photos to all my friends, who shower me in compliments.
What I learnt about colouring my hair
- If you have to box dye, do it once, and then only touch up your roots from there.
- Lightening hair takes a long time.
- Complimentary champagne makes you forget how long a long time is.
- The people at Emilly Hadrill Hair and Extensions are incredible at what they do, especially Libby.
In her spare time, she likes long walks down the makeup aisle and performing in Brisbane theatre. You can follow her adventures on Instagram and TikTok @thebeautypalate.
