A fresh pop of color can make ordinary hair feel like a red carpet moment. With the hottest hair color trends of 2022 just a bottle away, it can be tempting to grab the nearest box dye and run with the inspiration. However, inspiration is rarely found in home hair dye. When it comes to finding excellent hair dye in Denver, an expert colorist is the way to go.
If you’ve already made the mistake of trying home hair dye and aren’t loving the results, don’t let your colors fade quite yet. There’s hope for bad dye jobs! Hair color correction in Denver is just an appointment away. Deseo Salon & BlowDry has an experienced team of stylists ready to help every hair type, and every type of mistake. We know it all because we’ve seen it all. From fried and frizzed to broken and brittle, orange and green, or pink instead of red, our expert colorists are here to help.
We turn oopses into amazing looks with hair dye correction in Denver. Come along for the journey and learn more about thinking outside the box with Deseo.
Decoding Hair Dye in Denver: Why Box Dyes Do You Dirty With Dirty Ingredients
So why is it so important to choose the right hair dye in Denver for your color goals? Isn’t all hair dye the same?
The simple answer is no! Home hair dye simply can’t stand up to salon-quality products. The reason your hair often turns out less than perfect with DIY dye lies in the application process and the ingredients themselves. Home hair dyes contain a lot of filler. These heavy additives and junk can easily ruin your hair. The worst offenders on the bad hair dye ingredients list include:
- PPD
- PTD
- Metallic salts
- Sulfates
Not only are these ingredients bad for your overall health and wellness, but they can cause serious harm to your hair. Home hair dye tends to be highly drying and acidic, often stripping away the pigment from your natural locks and leaving the cuticle exposed in the process. These dyes are not made for all hair types and may be especially harmful to hair types with low porosity. A bad dye job can alter your natural color to the point that only a professional stylist will be able to correct it.
Furthermore, finding your true shade with a boxed dye can be an impossible challenge. Colors often turn out different from the picture-perfect image on the box. This is because the consultation process is highly important in assessing how your natural shade, texture, and hair type will absorb the color. A stylist ensures your hair dye in Denver turns out to be exactly the right hue. Followed by the correct application method, even your worst dye-saster can be turned around.
We recommend starting the process with a deep conditioning Olaplex treatment to remove any residue and harmful build-up while replenishing your hair’s natural hydration.
When Semi-Permanent Is a Little TOO Permanent
Another risk of box dyes and their derivatives is how difficult these colors are to remove from your hair. In fact, unless professionally stripped, many popular brands are nearly impossible to get out. Store-bought dyes work by staining the hair, which severely damages the strand, strips away the pigment, and dries out your lovely locks. These colors won’t typically come out until the hair grows out, as they cannot be bleached or lifted.
The worst staining brands include:
- Manic Panic
- oVertone
- Madison Reed
- Arctic Fox
- Feria by L’oreal
- Garnier
- SPLAT
- And any dye containing henna!
While many box dyes advertise their colors as semi-permanent, the stain and damage left behind is anything but temporary.
Lightening, Bleaching, and Toning, Oh My!
Coloring your hair is only part of the process. Unless your hair is naturally cool and ashy, chances are you’ll need to lighten, lift, and tone to achieve the trending hair color of your dreams. Pastels are especially tricky as lighter colors require a blank canvas. This step is one of the most critical as well as the most sensitive. Too much bleach can strip away all the moisture from your hair, leaving your locks stringy or brittle. Failing to lift the pigment enough can turn your base orange or yellow rather than the snow-white tone you need.
When Lightening Doesn’t Work
When the lightening step doesn’t achieve the correct color, your final color will also likely be underwhelming. If we take a look at the color wheel, different colors interact in different ways.
For example, if you want to achieve a beautiful light blue shade, you’ll need to lift your hair with a high-volume lightener to achieve a silver-white base. A yellow or orange base will interact with the home hair dye to create a sickly green far from an ethereal fantasy. Likewise, if you’re going for a natural tone such as auburn, the exact shade of red will depend on the degree of lightening achieved.
That means your color can range from deep, sultry chestnut red to Orphan Annie carrot top. If you want to ensure you aren’t caught looking like a Broadway reject, it’s time to stop by your professional color salon.
Hair dye correction in Denver can fix a rainbow of errors. The first thing your stylist will do is assess the damage. That means taking inventory of where your shade is at. A color correction may be as simple as lifting your hair to achieve a cooler tone or darkening the shade to capture a more natural look with depth and movement. Adding highlights or lowlights is another styling trick that can rescue a botched cut. If your original color inspiration can no longer be achieved, we’ll find you the next best alternative with luxury hair dye in Denver that suits your hair type, texture, and personal style.
Common Dye-Sasters and How to Fix Them With Hair Color Correction in Denver
When it comes to home hair dye catastrophes, you aren’t alone in your less than perfect attempts at DIY color. Our color correction team has seen a lot of oopses over the years. There’s no need to be embarrassed! Our salon chairs are open to all kinds of hair dye mistake stories, including but not limited to:
- Using the wrong toner on blonde hair. This mistake can often be remedied with a clarifying routine, a rest for your hair, and then a fresh new pop of color once your tresses have had time to return to their natural state.
- Leaving the dye on to process for far too long. Sometimes less is more when it comes to color treatment. If your shade is too dark, we can break it up and create dimension with clever highlights throughout.
- Trying to follow a TikTok trend at home. Trends aren’t all they’re cracked up to be! Whether you’ve tried to do a split color wolf cut or mermaid locks, Deseo Salon & BlowDry is here to smooth over the damage. We’ll get you as close to the trend as possible without damaging your lovely locks.
- Using the wrong color or matching the wrong shade to your natural hair. Hair coloring is an art. Selecting the right formula for the job, as well as matching the shade to your natural tresses and complex, is a big part of the process. Box dyes are designed to make it appear as if any hair type will turn out exactly like the model on the box. At Deseo, we celebrate the wide diversity of hair types and textures. Our amazing color team can help you find hair dye in Denver that suits your unique style and complements your features.
Stop By for Professional Hair Dye in Denver and More
Don’t let a dye-saster ruin a good hair dye. Deseo Salon & BlowDry offers top-tier hair dye in Denver. We also offer color correction services for any and every home hair dye mistake. Wave goodbye to box dye, and come see our amazing team today for your next color appointment.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is hair color correction and when do you need it?
Hair color correction is a professional service designed to fix hair that has been improperly colored, whether from a DIY box dye gone wrong, incorrect toner application, uneven bleaching, or an unexpected color result. You need color correction when your hair has turned an unintended shade (like orange, green, or brassy yellow), when the color is too dark or too light, when the finish is uneven or patchy, or when a staining dye has left permanent discoloration. Color correction is a multi-step process that requires a skilled colorist who can assess your hair’s current state and develop a plan to safely correct it without causing further damage.
Why is box dye bad for your hair compared to professional salon color?
Box dyes contain significantly more fillers and harsh chemicals than professional salon formulas. Key offenders include PPD, PTD, metallic salts, and sulfates, ingredients that are highly drying and acidic, and that can strip your hair’s natural pigment, expose the cuticle, and cause serious structural damage. Because box dyes are formulated as a one-size-fits-all product, they don’t account for your specific hair type, texture, or porosity, which means the final result is often far from what’s shown on the box. Professional hair color, by contrast, is applied by a trained stylist after a thorough consultation that accounts for all these variables.
Which popular box dye brands are the hardest to remove?
Some of the most notorious staining dyes that are extremely difficult to remove include Manic Panic, oVertone, Madison Reed, Arctic Fox, Feria by L’Oréal, Garnier, SPLAT, and any dye containing henna. These brands work by deeply staining the hair shaft rather than simply depositing color, which means the color often cannot be bleached or lifted out and will only fully disappear as the hair grows out. A professional colorist can assess whether correction is possible and develop a safe plan to minimize damage during the process.
Can hair color correction fix orange or yellow tones after bleaching at home?
Yes. This is one of the most common color correction scenarios. When bleaching doesn’t fully lift the hair’s underlying pigment, the result is often an unwanted orange or yellow tone. A professional colorist can address this through toning, additional lifting (if the hair is healthy enough), or by using a gloss or glaze to neutralize the unwanted warmth. The approach depends on the current state of your hair, how much damage has occurred, and what your ultimate color goal is. At Deseo Salon & BlowDry, the team routinely handles bleach-related corrections and can safely guide your hair toward the result you originally envisioned.
What does the hair color correction process look like at a professional salon?
The process begins with a thorough assessment of your hair’s current color, condition, and history. Your colorist will evaluate where the hair is starting from and determine the safest, most effective path to correction. Depending on the severity of the issue, the process may involve a deep conditioning treatment (such as an Olaplex treatment to remove residue and restore hydration), one or more stages of lifting or toning, and finally re-coloring to achieve the desired result. Color correction is rarely a one-step fix, it may require multiple sessions to achieve the target color while keeping hair integrity intact.
Is it possible to correct a TikTok or at-home trend gone wrong?
Yes, and it’s more common than you might think. DIY attempts at trending styles, wolf cuts, split color, mermaid locks, and similar looks, often result in uneven coloring, unexpected tones, or structural damage. A professional colorist can assess what’s salvageable and develop a plan to get your hair as close to the desired trend look as possible while minimizing further damage. The key is to come in before attempting further DIY fixes, which can compound the problem.
How do I prevent a hair dye disaster in the first place?
The most effective way to avoid a hair dye disaster is to skip box dye entirely and book with a professional colorist. Before any color service, a thorough consultation is essential. It’s where your stylist assesses your natural hair color, texture, porosity, and history to create a formula and technique specifically designed for your hair. At salons like Deseo Salon & BlowDry in Denver, consultations are a standard first step that helps ensure your color comes out exactly as envisioned, with the health of your hair protected throughout the process.