Feria Hair Color, Get Out!

I have dark brown hair, and used to dye my hair jet black using Feria.  I would like to get it lightened up now to go caramel with blond highlights, and my stylist says that Feria is absolutely impossible to get out. 

Feria uses a metallic dye that is hard to get out. This dye can react with normal hair dye which is oxidative. I've been searching on the web to see if Color Oops color stripper can be used for metallic dyes but read on their website that it can only be used for oxidative dyes, not direct dyes. Feria advertises that they use "chromatic direct dye technology" confirming that they are in fact a direct dye.

I found this interesting page on hair color removal:

http://www.style-hair-magazine.com/hair-color-removal.html

What struck me the most was that bleach lifts natural pigment faster than artificial pigment. If you have a build up of artificial pigment on the ends, that would explain why the bleach didn't take as fast on them. Wish I could help more.

I just found this on the hair color bulletin boards at behindthechair.com:

"Metallic dyes are colors (grecian formula is a good example) which use metallic salts to deposit pigment. The best way to tell if a color is metallic is by checking the package if you can. Look at the ingredients. The most often used metal is copper. This is what grecian formula uses and it sometimes gives the color an unpleasant, greenish undertone in the light. These salts bond permanently to the hair shaft and cannot be removed. NO ammonia-based product can ever be used over metallic color. The result will be smoke, and burned/melted hair. I've seen this happen, so i know it's true. This means no perms, no professional color, and no bleach. I generally would say no chemical processes at all until all of the metallic color has been cut out of the hair. And as usual, better safe than sorry, so if you have any doubts about the color, don't proceed with the service, or at the very least, obtain an iron-clad release form. If you want a good example of a release form, e-mail me and i'll send you a copy of mine."

So I guess bleach is out as an option as well. Sorry about your luck. This should serve as a warning for the rest of us to avoid Feria in the future though.

Well, I guess it's good to know that my hair colorist wasn't just trying to get out of doing my hair...but it definately sucks that I can't get the hair color that I had my heart set on.  Warning to all...don't use Feria unless you're willing to wait a LOOOOONG time before you can color your hair again. 

I'm really really sorry this has happened to you. It seems stupid that these metallic colours even exist. Maybe dye the roots with a semi until the ends are gone, then let that wash out and start fresh?

Best of luck with it.

This or info like this should be a *STICKY* here to warn novices or colorists to beware of certain products/practices i.e. Grecian formula/Feria.  Do all Feria colors contain metal?
Would Metalex work?

Thank you for posting

I've heard of Metalex but have never used it. I did a search and found this on Askmags.com, a cosmetology education website. This is a long post because I copied the whole page as it is very informative on color removal and I thought many of you would be interested, especially cjkim76:

"COLOR REMOVERS & BLEACH SOAP CAPS by JBUZZ

For moderate stain removal
3oz. BLONDE DIMENSION
3oz. 20vol.
2oz. Warm wzter
1oz. shampoo

Slight stain removal
3oz. BLONDE DIMENSION
6oz. Warm Water

Did a client

I never knew Feria was a metallic dye! I used it before a long time ago and I absolutely hated it. It dried my hair out bigtime and the color looked nothing like it was supposed to on virgin hair. julesyjul882008-01-05 03:09:24

This is so scarey. I used to dye my hair at home about a year ago, and L'oreal seems like a reputable brand, I could have easy used it.

There definitely should be a warning on the box!

I guess it would be good for someone who wants a really long lasting colour, and who never plans to change their hair colour, but who doesn't want to change every now and then these days?

I've heard that Nice N' Easy and Just for Men have metallic dyes in them from the behindthechair forum. Haven't heard it anywhere else to back it up though.

I dont know about Nice N Easy...that hair color washes out faster then any other I have tried. To be honest,it's kinda crappy.

Hi...I came across this board after doing a search for metallic dye and thought I'd share what happened to me today.

Thanks for sharing that with us Jenn! I've heard Nice N'Easy contains  metallic dyes too. It looks like your hairdresser is really looking out for you. I love that she did a strand test. I've heard that you can put the strand in perm solution and if it does not smoke, it will be okay. Scary, huh? They should totally be labeling this kind of stuff on the packages.

My hairdresser also applied the highlights while my hair was damp...another precaution she used. Like I said in my previous post, my hair is pretty healthy. I never use any kind of irons on my hair and I never blow it dry...the most I do to it is color it. She wanted to blow it dry today so I let her and my hair is so soft and shiny.

ths surprises me. i have used feria many times and have bleached it out and coloured over it with other brands and it has been fine. now i know this i might be a bit more careful tho.. damn i love the range feria have :(

Is this the dye that also has the highlights within?

Ladybug, yes they r the ones with highlights within.

I have read this thread with much interest. I posted a thread below about going blond, the trouble I have had getting the red orange color out when bleaching and now the yellow that seems to be permanent. Well, for years I used Feria color in Mahogony or another of the auburns but never again! I just thought it was the ed that ws so hard to get out, but now I know its the metallics in Feria.

I'm so sorry about your hair! I sure hope it gets out.I don't use Feria ever again.I will put up a thing on here to warn others not to use it.It does suck! It's very drying & just won't get out.I had to learn the hard way, myself.I wish u the best!

OK...if you really read the information posted about 'Metallic dyes' you will see that Feria and all other drugstore hair colours do NOT contain metallic dyes!!!! It clearly states that they are in products like 'Grecian forumula' that gradually darken colour. This is one of those myths that is NOT true and I'm not sure why everyone says it does. Same with 'Sun-In'. Feria contains 'direct dyes' that are very hard to get out, but can eventually fade out.

I dyed my hair with Feria a few weeks ago and am regretting it.  I'm wanting to remove it and maybe lighten slightly.  Would I be safe for bleaching my hair after using Metalex?

I just used Color Oops last night over my very heavily Feria color treated hair and it lifted about 90 percent of the color.  Because I've been dying my hair for so long, and the developer in permanent colors lifts  your natural color a bit each time, my hair is quite light after using Color Oops. 

It isn't an even color because the dye on the ends has been there much longer than at the root.  My natural color is a medium ashy brown.  My roots went from being a Feria Burgundy Brown color to being a light brown borderline blonde with some brassiness to it.  My ends went from being almost black from so many colors of dye being piled on to a light ash brown. 

I'm hoping to re-dye with a Demi- Permanent so as to keep my hair healthy.

It should also be noted that Color Oops did NOT damage my hair at all.  
Elecin2010-01-21 11:41:25

Thank you!! I just read about Got2b and they said if you don't like it just use color oops