Lightening/Stripping/Removing Black Hair Dye

Last week I decided I was done with my black hair. It's been black for a while and it's the color I seem to go back to time and again. I love it, but here's the thing about black hair: It is VERY difficult to change your hair color once you've dyed it black! In the past I've added some highlights when I wanted a change, but this time I got the idea that I would just remove the color myself (which I've done before with no real problems...although my hair was very short at the time and only had black on it for a month or two). I watched some youtube videos and going into it I hoped it wasn't going to be too hard. Yeah, I was wrong...

For my 1st attempt at removing the black (notice I said FIRST), I used One 'n Only Color Fix from Sally's. I'd read good reviews about it and it seemed like it would be less damaging then other ones out there.

While it lifted a good deal of the black, my hair was still pretty dark and the color was uneven. As I dye my hair every couple months I'm assuming it only took off the first layer of color. I didn't want blonde by any means, but a nice chocolate brown. To get that I needed it to lift more color first.

So the next day I went with Loreal Haircolor Remover (which is the type I've used in the past). I think it works the best, but it comes with very little product. Ideally I would have used two bottles for my short hair so if you have long hair keep that in mind.

While it was still wet it appeared to be an array of colors. I was worried!

 But it dried to a fairly solid orange-ish color (sorry I don't have a better pic of this).

 I gave my hair rest for a couple days and then dyed it using Revlon Colorsilk in #37 Dark Golden Brown. 

I went with a lighter shade then what I wanted because I read it would probably take darker, but that wasn't the case. I want to go darker, but I've got to give my hair a rest for at least a couple weeks before I attempt anything else. In between each process I deep conditioned the heck out of it and I use "It's a 10" leave in conditioner.

(I have on full makeup in the pic with my black hair but not in the other so I look a little pale)

What lessons have I learned through this process? #1 Do NOT dye your hair black unless you want it to be black forever because it's a pain to get out! #2 Go to a professional for the lightening process! In the end it will probably cost the same amount of money and save you some of the hassle.