Going Dark can be like going for cocktails; have too many on an empty stomach and it can all turn pear shaped. It’s the same for Brunettes. Kind of. See, if your Hair is a Light Blonde (empty stomach) and you Colour with a Brunette (cocktail) you can end up with a Colour that is not as you expected (pear shaped).

If you’re a Dark Blonde or Darker, you can Colour as normal. But if you are a Light Blonde or Lighter (a 7 Medium Blonde or Lighter) you will need to fill in your Colour, before becoming a Brunette.

Why? Because Lightened Hair has been stripped of its Natural pigments, and are missing Orange, Golden and/or Red Tones that are key for Brunettes to build off. So if you don’t fill your Colour in, it can end up looking Green and uneven, especially compared to your regrowth.

Consider the fill in Colour your base. It’s used to pump those Orange, Golden and Red Tones back into your Hair, so your Brunette can grab onto the filled Hair and build on it. This helps bring Warmth and Depth back into your Hair, for a brilliant and even Brunette Colour.

So how do I fill in a Colour?

In 3 steps.

Step 1. Decide the Brunette Colour you want to be.

Step 2. We need to choose a fill in Colour. This is a Warm Colour, that is 1-2 shades Lighter than your desired Brunette.

Step 3. Once you have Coloured with your fill in Colour. You can finish your Hair with your final Brunette Colour choice.

But wait, don’t go stressing that you will be stuck with a Warm Brunette because of the fill in Colour. We just need to fill in the Hair first, then you can go onto your Natural or Cooler Colour choice. Alternatively, you can still stay with a rich, Warmer Brunette by keeping with a Warm Brunette.

Take this example.

Let’s say your current Colour is 9 Very Light Blonde and you want to be a rich Chocolate, like 5.53 Chocolate Brown. We can use a 7.3 Golden Blonde or 7.53 Chocolate Blonde as a fill in Colour to build off. Use it with a No Lift Developer and apply to your Lightened Hair. Once you have Coloured, try and leave your Hair a day or so, to allow the Colour to settle.

Then, we can move onto your Brunette Colour, 5.53.

First, we’ll talk about your Developer choice.
If your Natural Regrowth Colour is Lighter than your desired Brunette Colour, use a No Lift Developer.
If your Natural Regrowth Colour is Darker than your desired Brunette Colour, use a 20 Volume Developer.

When applying your Colour, start at the back of your head working forward, leaving the Hair around your face / Hairline til last. Then you're done!

Now that cocktail analogy makes a little more sense, doesn't it.