Undoing what did not go to plan

Color Correction

Box dye, banding, brass and color that grew out wrong. The most technical thing we do, and almost never a one appointment job.

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Rich dimensional color at Shade Studio in Long Branch, New Jersey

Written and reviewed by Shauna Bibi Adri, owner of Shade Studio, eighteen years behind the chair, IBE certified, Milbon trained and Bellami certified.

Updated August 2026

She has helped restore the integrity of my hair while giving me the blonde of my dreams. She is such a master of her craft.
Ashley M., via Google

The honest version

Color correction almost always takes more than one session, and anyone promising otherwise is planning to damage your hair. Shade Studio corrects box dye, banding, brass and grown out color, and you leave the consultation with a full map: how many visits, how far apart, and what each one costs.

Color correction is the work of getting existing color out of your hair without wrecking it, and then putting something better in its place. It is the most technical service in the studio and it is one of the three things Shauna has built her career around, alongside extensions and lived in color.

Here is the part most people are not told up front: it usually takes more than one session. Not because we are stretching it out, but because hair can only give up so much in a sitting before it starts giving up something you need. Anyone promising a single appointment from box dye black to clean blonde is either planning to damage your hair or planning to disappoint you.

What we are usually fixing

Box dye, and box dye over box dye
The most common reason people are in this chair. Box color deposits heavily and unevenly, and it comes out the same way, which is what makes the process staged.
Banding from repeated root touch ups
Years of retouches leave stripes at different levels. They lift at different speeds, so they come out in stages rather than all at once.
Brass, or a tone that went wrong
Sometimes the level is fine and only the tone is wrong. That is the good news version and it is often a much shorter road than people fear.

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How we plan it

It starts with a consultation, and this one matters more than any other service we offer. Your stylist needs your real color history: what you used, roughly when, and how many times. Nobody is going to judge you for the answer, but a correction planned on a guess is a correction that goes wrong.

You leave that consultation with a map. How many sessions, roughly how far apart, what each one will achieve, and what it will cost. If the honest answer is three visits, you hear three before you commit, not after session one.

Between sessions your hair rests and rebuilds, which is doing real work even though it does not feel like progress. Bond treatments during that gap are part of the plan, not an upsell.

After

Corrected color needs looking after, particularly in the first few weeks. Sulfate free shampoo, cooler water, and a bond treatment on the schedule your stylist sets. A gloss every couple of months holds the tone without asking anything more of the hair.

And then please do not box dye it again. We say that with love.

You can see correction work and transformations on our Instagram, which is where the freshest work goes first.

Who does this work

Shauna Bibi Adri
Owner. Eighteen years behind the chair and a correction specialist. This is her work. About Shauna
Bring your history
What you used, when, and how many times. The more accurate you are, the better the plan.
Pricing
Correction is quoted at consultation because it genuinely depends on your hair. Standard service rates are on the service menu. You get the full number before anything starts.

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Questions we actually get asked

Why can this not be done in one appointment?

Because getting existing color out of hair without destroying it takes time the hair needs, not time we are stalling for. Lifting too hard in one sitting is exactly how correction turns into breakage. Pacing it across sessions is the difference between fixing your hair and ending it.

How many sessions will I need?

Nobody can answer that honestly without seeing your hair. What we can promise is that you get the whole map at the consultation, not a number that quietly grows once you have started.

Is box dye really that bad?

It is not moral judgement, it is chemistry. Box dye is formulated to work on any head, which means it deposits more than a salon formula and sits unevenly on hair that has been colored before. It comes out unevenly too, and that is what makes correction slow.

Will my hair be damaged?

Correction asks a lot of hair, so the work is managing that rather than pretending it away. Bond building runs through the process and we will stop a session early if your hair tells us to. Stopping early is not a failed appointment, it is the plan working.

What if I have banding?

Bands are the classic sign of repeated root touch ups or box dye over box dye. They come out in stages because each band is a different level. This is normal correction work and very much what we do.

Can you fix it if another salon did it?

Yes, and we will not say a word about whoever did it. We would rather spend the appointment on your hair than on somebody else's reputation.

Book a correction consultation

Book your appointment, or call (732) 995-9372. Correction always starts with a consultation. See also balayage and blonding and highlights.