Appreciation post: A client's hair disaster that changed my mind about color correction

Last Thursday, a regular came in with orange, patchy hair after a box dye fail, and I was ready to just slap a dark brown over it. My mentor, Sarah, stopped me and said, 'Let's actually fix it, not just cover it.' We spent three hours doing a proper color remover and a careful toner, and the result was this beautiful, even ash blonde she cried happy tears over. I used to think quick fixes were fine for corrections, but seeing her reaction to a proper job totally changed my approach. What's the most time you've ever spent on a single color correction that paid off?

3 comments

3 Comments

wood.john3mo ago

Man, that's a great story. I had a client come in with greenish hair from a swimmer's fade and I was ready to just go dark too. My buddy talked me into a slow bleach bath and a really careful violet toner instead. Took like four hours total, but seeing her face when it was actually fixed and not just hidden was worth every minute. It really does change how you want to do things from then on.

brooke713mo ago

Four hours for hair? I'd just shave it.

wesley832mo ago

Three hours? That's rookie numbers honestly. I had a nightmare correction last year where this girl came in with seven layers of black box dye on bleached hair underneath, like a reverse ombre from hell. We did three separate sessions over two weeks, each one about four hours, before it was even safe to tone. The first session was just removing buildup, the second was a gentle bleach bath that took forever because her hair was basically cooked, and the third was the actual color application. She ended up with a soft caramel that made her cry, but I definitely aged five years in those two weeks. So my answer is twelve hours spread out, and I'd do it again for that kind of result.