You've been told time and again that it’s best to leave your hair colouring to a professional. However, those at-home hair colouring kits that you find in shops are inexpensive and seem simple to use. You can’t be blamed for being tempted to buy them.

Unfortunately, they don’t always do what you expect them to. Picking the wrong shade, not mixing the pigment and developer in the right proportions, not distributing the colour through your hair correctly or leaving colour on too long can leave you with hair that is too light, too dark, too brassy or an odd colour you’re embarrassed to leave the house with.

A hair colour mistake can also happen at a salon where colourists are poorly qualified or simply don’t take pride in their work.

The best way to solve the problem of hair colour that’s gone horribly wrong is to cover it with a hat or a turban and head right over to a salon with a reputation for expert colouring services, like The Hair Boutique in Exeter. At our salon, a hair colour specialist will correct your colour while causing as little extra damage as possible.

Unfortunately, sometimes covering your hair isn’t appropriate and you don’t have time to get to a salon. Here are some quick at home fixes for horrible hair colouring mistakes.

1. For hair that’s too dark, try washing several times with a clarifying shampoo, which will remove some of the colour. For further lightening, wait 24 hours, then create a shampoo made of your regular shampoo with an added teaspoon of baking soda. Let it suds on your hair, the let it sit for 15 minutes before rinsing.
2. Hair that’s been overlightened has probably undergone extensive damage, so apply an intensive conditioning treatment. Then darken with a semi- or demipermanent colour. Use an ash-coloured shade on lightened hair that’s turned brassy and a warm shade on hair that appears pale and colourless.
3. Wanted red hair but got carrot orange instead? Add a medium to dark golden blonde demipermanent colour. This will soften the orange but still leave some of the red.
4. Has your hair turned green? Add a reddish tone to neutralize the colour. In a pinch, try soaking in ketchup or tomato juice.
5. Orange stripes in your hair after highlighting? You probably didn’t apply the highlights correctly. Apply a semi- or-demipermanent allover dye in your natural colour. The orange stripes will now be a lighter version of your natural colour, giving you subtle highlights that look great.

Of course, the best way to deal with hair colour disasters is not to have them. Avoid a colour nightmare by having your colour done by one of our experts here at The Hair Boutique.