My New Hair Color Experience- Reddish Brown On 3C Curls

I finally dyed my entire head!  My new hair color is a reddish brown with some honey blonde looking highlights.  I started thinking about changing the color of my hair several months ago.  I had started researching and saving pics of the color that I wanted my hair to be.  I even went in to JCPenney's Hair Salon a few months ago to ask a few questions and consult with a stylist about color, and explained that I had been applying demi-permanent color in natural black to cover my gray hair strands.  My hair was reddish-brown when I had relaxed hair years ago, however the combination of color and a relaxer caused breakage in the past.  Now that I'm all natural I wanted to retry lightening my hair again.  

Fast Forward to 2 weeks ago on a Thursday and I started thinking nows the time.  I decided that I was brave enough to finally try a new hue.  I called different stylists and the only stylist that could get me in on Saturday, the one day that I actually had a few free hours, since my daughter was getting her hair braided that morning, was a stylist at JCPenney's.  I scheduled the appointment and the stylist recommended that she could lighten all of my hair by dyeing it "mocha", a color that's manufactured by Matrix.  She then suggested some face framing highlights, which she did with foils and a custom mix of color.

When she looked at my hair under the foil, she commented that the highlights didn't take at all! She said that the demi-permanent color (natural black) that I had been using on my hair wasn't allowing the new color to penetrate.  It all seems like a dream, as I think I blacked out internally.  LOL! I do remember that she added more foils and eventually bleached those areas to lighten them.  I asked so many questions, "Will this loosen my curl pattern?"; "Is it safe to do a double process in one day?".  I was panicking inside, but tried to keep it together.  She then rinsed it out and applied a curl cream and sent me on my way.  When I looked at in the outside light, I noticed that the highlights on the left had a nice reddish brown tone, however the right side didn't pick up much color or a highlight at all.  The right side is where most of my gray hair is, and also where I've applied more dark color over the years.  I then called back inside and asked if she could bleach a few strands on the right to give it a more uniform appearance.  She was able to make both sides look like they had some color added.

Wow! This whole experience was a lesson on how color may not come out as planned based on what you've put on your hair in the past.  I'm happy to have a change, however I'm still adjusting to the new color.  I'm hoping that it continues to grow on me.  If not, I'm one bottle away to putting a black rinse on it.  In the meantime, I'm just going to enjoy the change as I remind myself that "change is good" and "change is inevitable".

Have you tried a new hair color?

Did it turn out exactly as you planned?

What tips do you have for maintaining healthy dyed hair?