How can I lighten black hair to match natural brown roots?

A few months ago I dyed my hair what I thought was dark brown, but it came out black. Now my roots are showing my natural color (light/medium brown) and it looks silly. I want to know if there is a color I can buy to dye my hair to a lighter color, I...

don't even care what color it is as long as it isn't black. I can see the brown coming back throughout my hair, its just most noticble on my roots. I dont want to strip it or bleach it and my hair grows so slow that I would have to wait forever for it to grow out. Any ideas?

There is no way to lift artificial pigment unless you strip or bleach it. Sorry to break it to you. As a hairstylist who regularly colors her own hair black on and off, trust me when I say that is' the only way. This question is on the board literally dozens of times. Spend a few minutes browsing and you'll find this answer over and over again by myself and by others. Find a good stylist who can help you. It can cost about $150.00 to $200.00 to have it done. It's an all day process, and if you try to do it yourself, I promise you will cry later.

Good news is that you have only colored it once and your hair will probably hold up to the process(es) quite well.

Good luck.

so if I bought a blond color with peroxide in it it wouldnt do anything at all?

BLEACH

Listen, this happened to me to. If your hair is in pretty good condition, get a stronger hair dye like feria in shade NATURAL MEDIUM BROWN (but a brand like L'image or garnier which is healthier for your hair should work too. The color should not immediately lighten, in fact you might see slim to no difference, but is in fact very necessary to prep it to lighten up before you do the next step. Next, you can do the next step twenty four hours later, I did because I simply was not comfortable with this black hair and light roots and light strands growing through. I wanted to lighten it! Get CLAIROL NATURAL INSTINCTS IN MEDIUM ASH BROWN. If your hair is already matte looking or overprocessed, add 1 teaspoon of your FAVORITE CONDITIONER to the dye mixture, but it is not necessary. Trust me, it may not be quite the color you want, but it was for me. It look like a cool, translucent dark brown. IT will go right back to a natural medium to dark-brown shade TEMPORARILY and smell and look amazing too! This is an instant fix to unwanted black hair. Keep refreshing it regularly with this shade until your actual shade underneath has lightened. Then, you can moderate the tone of your hair (warm, natural-warm, natural, cool) accordingly once it has lightened. I am a cool but didn't know that. Though my eyebrows are black, I did not like my hair black. I think it is best to stick with your natural hair color as a base or go LIGHTER. If you are really warm, be sure to mix equal parts of natural with golden shades, especially if you go lighter. Your hair already warms when you go lighter, so you do not need to much of a drastic change..

I forgot to recommend you use, Garnier nutrisse or belle color (I used) in Medium brown for your permanent color. This is a half a shade lighter than my natural but leave each hair dye, the permanent and the demi-permanent in your hair for a slightly SHORTER processing time, since your hair is naturally a shade lighter. I left mine in for the full time and then some. Oh, so sorry to say to the pro hairstylist, It can be done. Don't let anyone tell you that what you want done cannot be done. Though this solution might only mask the problem, it sure does a good job at it, and what a healthy alternative to bleach or simply saying nothing can be done which is not healthy for you mentally. Hairdressers are brain washed to a certain extent, as are all professionals in their trade because they have learned certain ways only by the book

this happened to me!!! lol... I now have medium. dark brown hair, I used to dye it jet black. I bleached it put which should be ok for your hair, stripping it wont destroy it it'll just be a little dry... but then I dyed it red too much, and ended up breaking my hair and had to cut about 6 inches off. I am someone who idolises her long hair so I feel naked with it shorter. I;d recommend stripping it, as blakc wont budge and you dont want to speand 4 years of your life growing out the black/ But only strip it the once itll be enough and dye a brown over. NOT DARK BROWN! ALL dark brown colours that say dark brown on the box go black!!! It has to be number 5 or 6 brown (if your buying it in a shop) I do mine 5 or 6 an d 'natural brown' or 'chochoate brown' which blends in beautifully with my natural ahir colour (light med brown ---same as urs!) Id reocmmend it! I love the chocolate tone sin my hair and it goes a lovely brown colour in the sun... xx