From Blonde To Brunette In 3 Easy Steps
If you would like to go from blonde to brunette, you are in the right place to learn how to do it.
The truth is that if you have had blonde hair for a long time, you will surely feel that the quality of the hair has deteriorated over time. Therefore, it is very tempting to go brunette for a while and give your hair a break.
To go from blonde to brunette you need to go through a pre-pigmentation process in which you deposit warm pigments into your hair before dyeing it brown. If you do not do the pre-pigmentation you will run the risk that your hair will turn green in the process and also the color will not last long.
Whether you plan to go to the hairdresser, or you plan to dye your hair at home, in this article I will tell you how to go from blonde to brunette in an easy and safe way.
How to go from blonde to brunette
Being blonde is something very special. I think most of us women have gone through a phase in which we wanted to test how we would look with a little lighter hair.
But the truth is that being blonde is not for everyone, and many times you will end up going back to your natural color (or similar!). The secret to knowing if you should be blonde or not is to pay attention to your natural color.
Nature is for a reason, and your natural color will look much better highlighted and illuminated, but not always bleached! I recommend that you stay blonde if your natural hair is dark blonde or light brown. This way your hair will stay healthier because you won’t have to bleach your hair too much.
But if you are medium or dark brown, forget about blonde! Caramel or honey colors are the most recommended for you as they will blend perfectly into your hair. If you have blonde hair and it is severely damaged, I recommend that you consider going back to being a brunette.
3 easy steps to go from blonde to brunette
Going from blonde to brunette is not an easy process. Even for professionals sometimes it means a challenge. The most important thing you have to keep in mind is that you will need a couple of sessions to seal the color completely.
Although in your first session your hair looks amazing, as the weeks go by your hair will lighten approximately 50% again, and you will need to dye it again.
Another thing to keep in mind is that if you dye your hair darker, you won’t be able to go back to being blonde for a while. Lightening your hair again will be a very aggressive process, so it is important that you are 100% sure that you would like to keep your new hair color for at least a year.
Finally, I recommend that you do not darken your hair too much. Darkening your hair is relatively easy, but lightening it is not!
Preferably choose a slightly lighter brunette color in case you regret not being so dark. Since you’re going to need the second session anyway, you can darken it more if you need to. It is better to go step by step.
Step 1: Prepare your hair
The first step you should do to go from blonde to brunette is to prepare the cuticle of your hair so that it absorbs the color properly.
The reality is that most blonde hair has quite damaged cuticle that covers the hair. This cuticle is responsible for the color sealing properly in the hair and for the color to be absorbed.
If our hair is very damaged by the highlights, we will have high porosity levels, and this means that when we dye our brunette hair we could have unstable results, such as uneven color or unwanted reflections.
Therefore, it is important that at least 2 weeks before the dye we prepare our hair and regenerate our cuticle to the maximum. In this way we will have our hair in better shape to absorb the color and make it worthwhile. Otherwise, you expose yourself to suffering a good washout of color and I do not recommend it.
how to prepare your hair for the color
The fastest way to prepare our hair for coloring is with a protein shock treatment. This type of treatment will begin to fill in the damage to the cuticle of our hair, helping us to recover that coating that we so much need.
To do this, I highly recommend that you use the Kerastase Therapiste mask every time you wash your hair. This treatment is in my experience the most powerful to restore the damage to the strands and re-create the hair cuticle. Normally it should be used once or twice a week, but in this case I recommend that you simply put it on every time you go to wash your hair.
Apply it as a conditioner from mid-lengths to ends and leave it on for 5 to 10 minutes. You will see how your hair begins to feel stronger from day 1! Start using it at least two weeks before you dye (although if you can do it a month before, the better).
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Step 2: pre-pigment your hair
Pre-pigmenting your hair is the most important step when going from blonde to brunette. If you don’t pre-pigment your hair before dyeing, your hair could end up greenish and translucent!
Prepigmentation consists of depositing in the hair the red or orange pigments that have been lost during bleaching. All brown hairs have a reddish-orange background (even if they are ashes). Therefore, if you have blonde highlights in your hair, it means that you have lost those pigments during the bleaching process.
If you try to dye your hair without pre-pigmenting it, the result may be unstable and will not seal your hair at all. In most cases you will only turn your hair greenish brown, and after a few washes you will be blonde again (but greenish).
how to pre-pig your hair
Pre-pigmenting your hair is extremely easy to do. You will only have to apply a dye with the pigments that your hair needs to recover to become brown. I recommend that you use a demi-permanent dye to pre-pigment your hair like Shades EQ by Redken or Dia Richesse by Loreal.
If you plan to be a light brunette, to pre-pigment you should apply a dye that has coppery reflections (orange) and is medium blonde based. For example: an 8.44 hair color would be perfect (medium copper blonde hair color in most nomenclatures).
On the other hand, if you plan to go dark brunette, you should apply a pre-pigment dye that has coppery and reddish reflections on a light brown base. For example: a 7.45 style haircolor (light cooper red brown hair color).
In both cases, what you should do is apply the dye to dry hair only in the blonde areas and let it act for about 20 minutes. Afterwards, just wash your hair and you are ready for the next step.
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step 3: dye your hair brown
The last step you should do is apply the brunette dye to your pre-pigmented hair. For this, it is important that you wash and dry your hair 100%. When you have just pre-pigmented, your hair color can look quite strange (orange in most cases).
But that was just to fill your hair with warm pigments. Now with the brown tint the color will be covered, so don’t worry. When choosing the dye, I recommend that you use a normal dye (buy it in hairdressing stores) with a natural color without reflections. You will get better results.
Let the dye act for about 30 minutes, and then wash your hair normally. The most important advice I can give you at this point is to buy a good quality dye like Majirel from Loreal Professionnel or Koleston from Wella. Avoid box dyes because they will dry out your hair too much and can leave the color uneven.
what to do next?
Once you have finished the process, you can enjoy brunette hair for a season! Remember that it is very likely that you will need a second session. This usually happens around 6-8 weeks, however you can do it whenever you feel like you need it.
Depending on the level of hair washout is whether you need to pre-pigment yourself again or not. If your hair has returned to being slightly blonde, repeat the process with everything and the pre-pigmentation. And if your hair still looks brown, just a little fade, just repeat the last step in which you apply brown dye.
Another thing that will help you a lot is to use a special color-protecting shampoo like Kerastase Bain Chroma Respect. This product will be your best ally since it will make the brunette color last for many washes and also continues to restore your hair. If you use a supermarket shampoo, it is very likely that after a few washes you will have washed away most of the brunette dye.
bottom line
I hope this article has been helpful to you in knowing how to go from blonde to brunette in simple steps from home.
My final recommendation is that you really be sure you want to do it. As I mentioned at the beginning, if you regret it, it will be a long time before it is recommended to lighten your hair again.
It is better that if you are not sure what type of brown you would like, start with a color as light as possible. Thus, in case you want to go back to blonde it will be easier, and if you want to darken it, it is even easier. Go little by little and analyze how you feel.
Until next time!
