Colour Corrections
Colour correction is what happens when something has gone wrong — a box dye, a bad salon visit, a home experiment that didn't land — and getting it right takes a high level of skill and experience. This is where HFTP specialises.
What we can fix
Colour corrections cover a wide range of situations — from banding and uneven tones, to colour that has been lifted too fast or not enough, to decades of box dye that needs to be carefully and methodically removed. No two corrections are the same, which is why every one starts with a thorough consultation. We'll look at the history of your hair, what's been done to it and when, and map out an honest plan for getting you where you want to be — including how many sessions it's likely to take and what it will cost. There are no shortcuts with correction work, and we won't pretend otherwise.
Managing Expectations
Colour correction is rarely a one-appointment fix, and part of our job is being honest with you about what's realistic from the start.
Around 3 in 10 clients can see significant results in a single visit — though even then, the outcome may not be exactly what you pictured. If you're moving from dark to light, expect warmer tones than your inspiration image, and a blonde that's building toward vibrant rather than already there. These cases tend to land somewhere between 80 and 100% of the goal in one session. Clients in this category typically include:
Light brown to blonde transitions
Black to caramel corrections
Banding and foil line fixes
5 in 10 clients will need two appointments to get where they want to be. Results after the first session will sit somewhere in the 50–80% satisfaction range — real, visible progress, but not the finish line. Clients in this category typically include:
Those moving from vivid or fashion colours into natural tones
Dyed red wanting to go blonde
Clients transitioning from heavily pigmented colour into cool blonde shades
The remaining 2 in 10 have the longest road. Multiple appointments, detailed care plans, and a realistic conversation about what the hair can and can't do safely. The satisfaction rate in these cases is harder to predict — not because the work isn't good, but because the starting point limits what's possible. We will always tell you the truth about that. Clients in this category typically include:
Those with a history of repeated black-to-blonde attempts over several years
Clients who have used at-home bleach or colour removal kits
Those who have experienced significant lightening damage at another salon
Case:
Natural black, box-dyed dark once this year
At-home highlighted ends
Wants to be a neutral/cool Blonde
How it went:
This is one of my all-time favourite corrections results! She arrived booked in for balayage and during our consultation, I let her know that balayage would not achieve the result she was after. I explained her options and the costs of each.
We decided for a global bleach and tone which, with the student discount, came to £150.
The process took about 4 full hours.
Her ends lifted far better than I anticipated, but stopped lifting at a warm level 8.
The goal became neutralizing the warmth without taking her past a dark blonde which we were able to do after some experimentation with different toners at the bowl.
The Result:
We got her about 90% of the way to her inspo photo in her first appointment which is a huge technical achievement and one which I will be bragging about for years to come. She left happy!
The Aftermath:
She messaged me about feeling warmer than her inspo photo the next day, so we talked about the complications we encountered during her appointment (her ends failing to lift beyond a warm level 8), talked about ways to manage the warmth at home (purple and blue shampoos), had a plan in place for next steps (a full highlight in the coming months), and a back-up (re-toning in salon if the toning shampoos don’t do enough.)
Case:
Natural dark blonde with a year of regrowth
Sun-bleached, highlighted, super porous yellow ends
Wants a natural blonde
How it went:
One of my all-time favourites — and a deceptively difficult one. She booked in for a highlight, but a standard highlight alone would never have got her there. Neither would a highlight-lowlight combination. What she needed was far more considered than either.
She came in with a 30% discount voucher, quoted £120 after the reduction.
The process ran to four hours total, with sections rinsed individually as they finished processing to prevent over-processing.
Three different developer strengths were used throughout — so nothing would over-process at any stage.
The technique was a full-head foil worked in groups of four back-to-backs: two sliced baby lights against a back-to-back lowlight at her root shade dragged fully through the ends, against a sliced lowlight one level deeper than her natural, also pulled through the ends.
Four baby foils, a natural slice left out, four more — repeated throughout the full head.
The natural sections left out of foil were toned to a cool, natural blonde.
The Result
A hyper-natural blonde. No lines, no distinct highlights or lowlights — seamless colour that looked entirely her own.
The Aftermath
She was thrilled. 100% satisfaction.