Color Correction Tools

• Bleached hair is difficult to attain. Trinette Reed/Photodisc/Getty Images

  Mistakes made when applying dye to the hair are a cause of much frustration, especially when the color causes the hair to turn an outrageous hue, such as orange, red or green. As long as you test the dye or bleach on a small strand of hair with a successful outcome before applying to the rest of the head, the color should be fine. If you do have a mishap, however, there are several color correction tools to consider.

Hair Dyes

• Sometimes it's necessary to apply an additional package of dye when a hair dying venture goes awry. This is especially the case when hair turns shades such as green, gray or varying hues of orange. To correct this problem, use a hair dye darker in shade than the original you used. Make sure the dye has a base of blue or violet; these colors cancel out the aforementioned brassy tones and leave the wearer with a richer, more natural color. Use a semi or demi-permanent hair dye if your hair is brittle, dry, breaking or otherwise damaged from too much coloring. Permanent dyes and bleach are the most damaging of hair coloring products, so you should use them as infrequently as possible, especially on damaged hair. Hair dyes are also used to "cover up" bad coloring jobs of any kind. It's important to pick a dark or darker shade, however, in order for the effect to be noticeable.

Color Strippers

• Color strippers are formulas designed for hair that remove applied color from the hair shaft. This option is perfect for those who have dyed their hair, are unhappy with the color and would like it removed. Color strippers work only on temporary, demi-permanent and semi-permanent hair dyes. You cannot remove permanent hair dye colors from the hair since the hair shaft absorbs the color instead of the color only being deposited onto it.

Bleach

• Use color-correcting bleach to further lighten the whole head or pieces of hair that turned out too dark when attempting to bleach to a lighter color. Bleaching mistakes are quite common and are often caused by applying it to hair that is naturally dark and therefore more difficult to bleach, or hair that has un-dyed root growth. Un-dyed hair absorbs color more quickly than dyed hair, so it's typical for many individuals' roots to turn snow white while the rest of the hair remains a dark yellow or orange color. If your hair is not damaged, do another bleach treatment only on the dark parts of hair; stay away from the roots or else they may become brittle and break off from over-processing.

Toners

• Toners are acid-based formulas used for minor adjustments when color correcting hair. Toners are semi-permanent so they won't lighten the hair additionally; their main purpose is to deposit a small amount of color to adjust the tone of color already applied to the hair. Colors that fall under the "ash" color type tone down brassy colors in the hair like red, orange and copper. Ash toners contain blue or green tones, both of which are opposite of red on a color wheel and thus cancel out the red and orange in color mistakes. If you're attempting to reach a light color, such as a light shade of blonde, use an ash blonde toner to counteract the brassiness in your hair.

Dish Detergent

• If your dyed hair turned out too dark and you and don't want to leave the house or spend extra money to fix it, there's a great home remedy for you. Mix a couple of drops of dish detergent with hair shampoo and apply it to newly dyed hair when washing in order to fade the color. This method works with temporary, demi-permanent, semi-permanent and permanent dyes. Please note that the detergent does not remove color or lift it from the hair shaft; it simply fades it more quickly to achieve a lighter effect.