@essenceofjme Said
Colored dark hair is hard to lift without using bleach. If you dyed your hair dark you could consider lifting it with something like blueflash and a 20 or 30 volume developer,depending how much lighter you want it. After lightening I usually give my hair a rest.
When dyeing my advice would be to use the color of your choice with a 20 volume developer to deposit the color. Highlights with a 10 volume, if you want them. Again they're two separate steps, so you'd have to color, wash, dry, and then start with highlights. It's a lengthy process and I hated every minute of having undone hair.
Ofcourse, I'm not a professional this is just my advice based on what I've experienced.
Yeah, I've done it twice before, both times I went to a professional (different ones) The first time she bleached out highlights then re-dyed everything red. like a normal red shade though. I was not a fan in the sense that it was hard on my scalp and hair.
The second time, the other person (my usual hairstylist) mixed in some stuff with the red color and then did highlights and i had to sit under the heat lamp for what felt like forever. I'd go back to her this time, just pick a more purple color than red.
Every time I tried it at home it failed, both because my hair is dark, and because I got more dye allover the bathroom than in my hair.
I should probably switch shampoos too. I was thinking of Daddy-o by lush, since the purple/reds fade so soon. I wish that I could not wash my hair everyday, that would help, but it just icks me out to not wash and the whole irritated scalp thing.