"I need you to help me!!"

I get that, a lot.  Especially on social media.  This is what I got today in a private message:

"Help!  I put a box of reddish blonde on my hair and XXXXXX (young adult son) went into the shower when I was ready to rinse, so the color stayed on too long and now I'm bright red!!  And it's not even even."
To which I replied, "I don't have any stuff at home, sorry.  :(  Come see me at the salon"
"I can't afford the salon.  Can't you tell me what to put on it to fix it??"  " I really can't do anything without seeing what was done"  "So, the last time I got my hair done, it cost $120.  What do you charge for color?"

Well, to fix the hot mess your hair probably is??  $120.  I haven't responded to her yet, because she'll whine no matter what the price.

Want to know why we charge such a price??  Because fixing what you did is LABOR INTENSIVE.  Even if I were to mix a magic potion to cover up the "bright red" (God only knows what the color really is), it WILL fade and the red will pop right back out.  Especially since I know darn well she's going to wash her hair in screaming hot water and flat iron the crap out of it.  Did I mention her hair is between the middle of her back and her waist??  And everyone seems to think it should cost $1.98 to fix their hair.

Here's why her color turned "bright red":  On the back of the box is this "nifty" chart of pictures of what your hair color SHOULD be (mind you, these are computer generated photographs, so they're not even CLOSE to accurate) in order for this box of hair color to be remotely effective in turning your hair "reddish blonde" (which, by the way is roughly a level 7-8 coppery blonde).  Now, if your hair happens to be fine in texture (meaning when you hold up a single strand of hair, it's practically invisible) and you happen to have a lot of hair per square inch, your hair is going to develop FAST.  Why??  Because you have all that hair to trap the body heat to your head, causing the color to develop.   Here's the other problem with box color:  The pictures on the box aren't even remotely close to accurate, and most people don't even know what their natural color is.  This nice lady's natural color is a level 6-7.  Which means when the color is developing, it will "lift" the natural pigment to a level 7-8.  Which is hair colorist code for ORANGE.  Which supports a red head quite well.

The uneven-ness:  In a standard box of hair color you purchase in the department store/grocery store/drug store/dollar store, there is a 2 ounce tube of color and 2.5 ounces of 20 volume developer.  When you have hair 3/4 of the way down your back, one box of color will NOT cover your head.  And, I don't know anyone who applies the color to themselves that manages to get the color onto every single area of their head.  The "corners" ALWAYS get missed.  The nape will get missed.  Sometimes, even in the front of your head will get missed.  Hence, the "uneven-ness".

Seriously.  When will people EVER learn??  I realize that a lot of this is the fact that the hair color companies just cannot put all the important information into the box of color because that little "pamphlet" would be the size of my cosmetology text book.  And when I usually explain to people exactly how they should color their hair, they usually either give up and don't do it, or they come in and get it done correctly.  No matter how "good" I am, or how "good" people think I am, I cannot accurately diagnose what needs to be done.  I will need to talk to you, in depth, while looking at the hair on your head, to determine what can be done.  Then, and only then, can I quote you a price.  And this is what I'm going to have to tell her.  Sigh....