Bleaching Keratin Treated Hair? Salon Balayage Gone Wrong!! :( Pics included!

also in case you were wondering, this was the photo i showed them for reference.. i cry looking at this pic now bc it's just.. night and day.. i wouldve been 10000% fine with the color if the style actually looked like this (bold money piece with even lightened ends) but.. what i got was highlights. i literally have the same hair i did in 5th grade lol, everything comes full circle i guess!!

So in terms of the placement, it definitely looks like you got foiled highlights. I can kind of understand where they got that from your photo, as it does look more like a foilayage, with larger pieces, but obviously, it doesn't go all the way to your roots like your current colour. Just FYI, the balayage is technically an open-air technique that's done without foils for a slower lift. The freehand painting technique creates more of a soft transition between light and dark. Lots of salons will still use foils to speed up the process and just make some adjustments in the toning or developer level, so it's not like foils themselves are a red flag. It just sounds like a breakdown in communication in this case. If you can and you don't mind not going back to this place in the future, you may want to ask for a refund. You may or may not get it, but it could be worth a try.

As for the road from here, bleach will still be effective over a keratin treatment, but the main issue is whether your hair can stand the damage. While the keratin may have made it look and feel better, the underlying damage to your hair's protein structure is still there, so it may not hold up to more lifting. If you can, ask if they are willing to do a strand test so you can assess whether the condition of your hair will be acceptable to you. Obviously, if you want to, you'll have to redo the keratin treatment after the second lift.

As for the beige blonde, you'll probably need to grow out the black dye before that's an option. It'll require a fair amount of lift that may not be possible over permanent dye staining.

hi! thank you so much for the reply! foiled highlights are definitely what it looks like. sadly this salon is known for their balayages and that's what i booked for, i also must admit we probably said that word a hundred times during the consultation LOL. but, they were the type of salon that just pump clients in and out all day like clockwork :( they had a great portfolio and reviews, but it seems like they just use the same technique on all clients instead of catering to specific needs :/ sigh - you live and you learn!

yeah, i'm definitely worried about my hair getting bleached again, the damage is pretty bad underneath lol, i most likely will have to get another keratin treatment. how long should i wait til i go back to the salon? it's been about 2 weeks since i got my hair done. i know getting keratin treatments too close together isn't great, but not sure if it even matters since i'm getting my hair lightened again. also, is it bad to get too many keratin treatments? i know protein overload is a no-no!

i definitely will go to a different salon but don't know what i should say this time around. should i ask for a balayage again? or an all over color? i'm just wondering since i basically have highlights, how it would work if they lighten my hair, what's the best thing to ask for. and what color should i ask for? i really dont know what's attainable with these black and brown stripes erghh~!!

THANK YOU a TON for your help!! <3

Timing-wise, it's very dependent between each person's hair. If you shampoo your hair at least a few times a week, I think a month should be fine. In general, if your hair is relatively damaged, it's a little less likely to get protein overload anyways, but there's a million protein products nowadays and the treatment processes can vary, so some are more "sticky" than others. I also forgot to mention in my last post, but I do think your toner may fade down over time, which will at least leave those regions a bit lighter.

At the next salon, I'd ask for a balayage, bring your photo again, and just specifically mention that what you don't like about your current hair is the stripe-y nature and the fact that the lift goes all the way up to your roots and that you would like to darken up some of the highlights near your roots and brighten up the ends for a softer transition. Also explain your hair history (black permanent dye, what happened at the previous salon). You might get charged for a colour correction, so it might be worth while to book that as the consultation type, rather than balayage. At the end of the day, it is always a bit of a crapshoot, no matter how clear you are, but hopefully it will help if you're very specific about what you're looking for. It's kind of tough at the places with a lot of good reviews, because they tend to be super popular and thus, super busy. Like you said, sometimes they are in a rush and don't really consider the individual customer.

Also, just to set expectations, most balayage photos are posted with hair that's been styled a bit wavy, like your example photo. That will help smooth out the transition and hide a bit of the highlights-ish look of the ends. When your hair is straight, it may look more subtle or more stripe-y. If you'd prefer not to have that, maybe look for a photo on straight hair as your example.