Had a client's color turn green right before a wedding

I was working on a bridal party at a salon near downtown Denver back in March. The bride wanted a cool ash blonde but her hair had old box dye that I didn't catch. It pulled straight up green after the toner went on and she had to walk down the aisle in 4 hours. I quickly threw on a red pepper rinse followed by a warm toner and it neutralized enough to look natural. She ended up happy but I still get nervous doing drastic color changes now. Has anyone else had a repair job that almost ruined a special event?

3 comments

3 Comments

grace_knight7024d ago

Pepper rinse is a lifesaver but I learned that trick after accidentally turning my own hair swamp green trying to fix a brassy dye job at home back in college. Strand tests are non negotiable for me now too, but sometimes even those lie to you depending on porosity that day.

phoenix_carter24d ago

Honestly, the part nobody's talking about is how much this stuff messes with your gut instinct as a stylist. Like, you learn a lesson, but then you second guess every single decision on future jobs, even simple ones. That green reaction with box dye and ash toner is such a specific nightmare because you feel like you did everything right on paper, but that previous dye buildup is a total wildcard. Tbh, I bet you still run a strand test on every single client now no matter what they say about their hair history. It's one of those things where you gotta train yourself to trust your eyes more than the formulas. Glad the pepper rinse worked though, that's a pro move that most people wouldn't even think of in a panic.

thomas.tyler23d agoMost Upvoted

Pulled a similar panic move last year on a bridesmaid whose highlights turned yellow from a previous bleach job. I slathered on a purple shampoo mask and held my breath while she sat under the dryer for 20 minutes. Lucky for me, it worked just enough that she looked like a warm champagne instead of a caution sign. To @phoenix_carter's point, I still flinch every time a client says "just a couple old box dyes" because that always means there's a rainbow waiting to happen underneath.