Why Does Your Hair Look Worse After Trying to Fix It Yourself?

The text came through at 11 PM on a Friday.

"Please tell me you can fix this. I'm desperate."

Then a photo. Hair that was supposed to be blonde. Was actually gray-green.

I replied: "What did you use?"

"Wella T18. The internet said it would fix my brass."

I knew immediately what had gone wrong.

I'm Emily, owner of LAHH Salon in Bay Harbor Islands. Twenty years fixing color disasters. This is the most common one: someone tries to fix brassiness at home, follows internet advice, ends up with worse problems than they started with.

Natalie's Internet Solution Created a Bigger Problem

Natalie came in first thing Saturday morning.

Her hair was worse than the photo. Muddy gray-green with patches of yellow still showing through.

"YouTube said T18 would fix brass," she told me. "Every video I watched used it."

"On what level blonde?" I asked.

"I don't know," she said. "They just said it removes brass."

That was the problem. T18 is a specific toner for specific levels of blonde. Use it on the wrong level, you get green. Which is exactly what happened.

I looked at her underlying color. She was a level 8 yellow blonde. T18 is designed for level 10 pale yellow. The formula was too strong for her base.

"The internet can't see your hair," I told her. "It gives generic advice for generic situations. Your hair isn't generic."

She'd spent three hours watching tutorials. Bought the exact products everyone recommended. Followed the instructions perfectly.

And ended up with green hair.

"How much will this cost to fix?" she asked.

"More than the $25 you spent on the toner," I said.

Christina's Black Box Dye Became a Five-Month Journey

While Natalie's green was drying under a heat cap, my next appointment walked in.

Christina. I'd done a consultation with her three weeks earlier.

She'd shown me photos of platinum blonde from Instagram. Her hair at the time: jet black from box dye.

"I told you it would take five sessions," I said at her first appointment. "Are you ready?"

"I'm ready," she said. "I can't live with this black anymore."

The black wasn't even her original color. She'd done it herself during a breakup. Emotional decision. Box dye from Target. Applied it in her bathroom.

"How long ago?" I'd asked at the consultation.

"Eight months," she said.

She'd also tried to remove it once. Used a color remover kit. Got her hair to a rusty orange. Hated that even more. Dyed it black again.

"So we're removing black that was put over orange that was lifted from black that covered your natural brown," I'd told her. "This is going to be a process."

Today was session one. I mixed a gentle lightener. Started lifting the black.

Halfway through processing, she looked in the mirror. "It's orange."

"It's going to stay orange for about six weeks," I told her.

Her face fell. "I have to walk around like this?"

"Or you can stay black," I said. "Those are the options."

Rosa Came for Roots, Discovered Two Years of Buildup

My afternoon appointment that day was Rosa. She'd booked online for a root touch-up.

"My roots are really showing," she told me at the consultation. "Need them covered."

I looked at her hair. Two inches of natural brown roots. The rest: black. But not natural black. Box dye black.

"How often do you color it?" I asked.

"Every four weeks," Rosa said. "Been doing it myself for about two years."

I did the math. That's 24 applications of permanent black dye. All overlapping on the same hair.

"If I just do your roots," I said. "You'll have brown roots and black ends. The contrast will be obvious."

She looked confused. "But I just color my roots."

"Show me how you apply it at home," I said.

She demonstrated with her hands. Started at the roots. Pulled the color through to the ends "just to refresh the color."

"Every time?" I asked.

"Every time," she said.

That's how the buildup happened. She thought she was refreshing. She was layering permanent dye over permanent dye over permanent dye. Twenty-four times.

"Your ends have 24 coats of black dye on them," I told her. "Your roots have none. That's not a simple touch-up. That's a color correction."

She sat back in the chair. "I had no idea."

Three Hours to Remove Natalie's Green

Back to Natalie under the dryer. Her green was ready for correction.

I removed the T18 with a gentle color remover. Brought her back to her original brassy yellow.

"We're back where you started," I told her. "Yellow and brassy."

"So those three hours of YouTube tutorials were for nothing," she said.

"Worse than nothing," I said. "They cost you time and money to fix."

I mixed a custom purple-based toner. Level 9. Designed for her specific yellow.

"This is the right formula for your base," I told her. "T18 would work if you were level 10. You're not."

After toning, her hair was cool beige blonde. No brass. Definitely no green.

She stared at herself. "Three hours of watching videos. I still got it wrong."

"The videos can't see your hair," I said. "They're giving advice for average situations. Your hair isn't average."

I sent her home with specific instructions. Purple shampoo once weekly. UV protection daily. Deep conditioning twice weekly.

"Can I just follow a YouTube routine?" she asked.

"No," I said. "This routine is for your specific hair. In Miami. With Miami sun and water."

Five Sessions, Five Months, Christina's Platinum Reality

Christina's orange phase lasted eight weeks. Session two brought her to a lighter, golden orange.

"Still orange," she texted me after that appointment.

"Lighter orange," I replied. "That's progress."

Session three, six weeks later: we broke through orange to yellow. Brassy, but finally yellow.

She came in smiling. "I can see the end," she said.

"Two more sessions," I told her.

Session four: light yellow. Blonde enough to tone. I gave her a soft beige.

"This is blonde," Christina said. "Actual blonde."

"One more for platinum," I said.

Session five, four weeks later: we lifted to pale yellow. Toned with ice platinum.

She cried looking in the mirror. "Five months. Five appointments. But we're here."

"And your hair is healthy," I said. "Touch it."

She did. Soft. Strong. No breakage.

"If I'd done this at home or let someone do it in one day," she said. "My hair would be destroyed."

Two Hours to Strip Rosa's Two Years of Buildup

Rosa's correction happened in one long appointment. Three hours total.

I sectioned her hair. Applied color remover only to the lengths. Her roots didn't need it—they were already her natural color.

The remover lifted the black in stages. First pass: dark brown. Second: medium brown. Third: finally her natural color showing through.

"I didn't even know this was happening," Rosa said, watching the black dissolve. "I thought I was just maintaining my color."

"You were building up layers," I said. "Every application added more black on top of black."

After removal, I toned everything to match. Rich, even chocolate brown from roots to ends.

"This is what I thought I had all along," she said.

"This is what you'll keep having," I told her. "If you stop putting permanent color on your lengths."

I taught her the maintenance difference. Permanent color on roots only. Demi-permanent gloss on lengths.

"Your lengths don't need permanent dye every month," I said. "They just need a gloss to keep the tone rich."

What These Three Disasters Have in Common

Natalie followed internet advice meant for different hair. T18 works for level 10 pale blonde. She was level 8 yellow blonde. Wrong formula. Green hair.

"YouTube can't see your hair," she learned. Three hours watching tutorials. Got it wrong. $300 to fix what $25 created.

Now eight months later, she comes every six weeks for professional toning. Hasn't touched home color since. "That green nightmare taught me. Never again."

Christina wanted instant platinum. Emotional box-dye black from a breakup. Then wanted to undo it immediately.

Five sessions over five months through orange phases she hated. But healthy platinum at the end.

"Five months felt eternal when I was orange," she told me recently. "But now I have healthy platinum that would've been destroyed any faster way."

Rosa thought she was maintaining. Was actually creating 24 layers of buildup she couldn't see.

"Simple root touch-up" revealed two years of compounding damage. Three-hour correction. Now one year of proper maintenance.

"I had no idea I was causing problems," she said. "I was just trying to cover my roots."

Where They Each Are Now

Natalie: YouTube T18 tutorial green disaster → 8 months professional toning routine. "Never trusting internet color advice again."

Christina: Emotional black box dye → 5 months gradual correction → 6 months maintaining healthy platinum. "Five months felt eternal but was only way to get here safely."

Rosa: 2 years monthly permanent all-over = 24 layers buildup → 3-hour strip → 1 year proper root-only maintenance. "I had no idea I was causing problems."

If your internet color fix made things worse, if you want dramatic change without destroyed hair, if years of home maintenance created invisible problems, you need professional correction that assesses your specific hair not generic advice.

Not tutorials. Actual assessment.

Ready for real correction? Book a consultation at LAHH Salon. We'll look at what's actually in your hair, explain what correction will require, and tell you honestly if it's doable. 1090 Kane Concourse Unit B, Bay Harbor Islands, FL 33154. (305) 877-7706. See our color services and bond treatments.

Emily
Owner & Stylist, LAHH Salon