It’s a nightmare situation, you’ve dyed your hair and either something’s gone wrong or you just hate the colour. I've definitely been there with berry-hued wash-in colour. Whatever the reason, you want it reverted immediately. Depending on the colour level of your natural hair and the permanence of the dye you have a few options to fix your look.
If you had your colour done by a professional in salon, I promise you it’s always better to go back to the salon to correct things. They’ll know the formulas needed to balance the tones and how to effectively strip the previous colour if needed, without causing irreparable damage. Hair colour will always fade over time even done professionally due to environmental and styling damage that can occur, so make sure you top your colour up by using a colour conditioner or clear gloss every few washes alongside your care regimen. "There are multiple things you can do at home if you’re not happy with your colour between appointments,” says Tyson Grant, Owner and Creative Director at Forbici Knightsbridge. He recommends the Moroccanoil colour care range to his clients for at-home care. "We also recommend root touch up sprays to even out colour. It is a quick fix for any patches of colour that you’re not happy with.” Blonde base? Before you reach for a colour remover, try a purple shampoo. "For blonde hair, purple shampoos are amazing for locking in that perfect colour and avoiding letting it go dull. If you have an orange streak, a purple shampoo will instantly fix that. The longer you leave the purple shampoo, the icier your hair will look.”
For at-home hair colour jobs and vibrant semi-permanent dyes, you can revert your hue using a hair colour remover. Bear in mind though, this an instant fix that isn’t guaranteed to always return your hair to normal but strips the dye off of your strands as cleanly as possible. For instance, if you have a naturally light colour and box dye it black, a colour remover will help to lift the colour but is unlikely to return it to your original look. But if you have experimented with semi-permanent hues, especially pastels shades, the below colour removers work great to reinstate your original shade.
1. Superdrug Colour Rewind Hair Colour Remover
This extra strength remover contains no bleach or ammonia so it’s gentler than other removers but can lift dark hair colours like blacks and browns. The smell can be a bit potent but if you can get past that it works well.
2. Colourless Hair Colour Remover Max Effect
Because of how strong the formula for this is, you cannot use on Afro-textured hair, which will lead to breakage for super coily hair as it leaves hair feeling ultra dry. Although it claims to remove deeper shades it’s proven to work best and quickly on lighter browns and semi-permanent shades.
3. Revolution Pro Hair Colour Remover
A colour remover that doesn’t leave the hair feeling completely like straw is pretty much unheard of. But this contains baobab oil for conditioning properties and does well in stripping quickly. I would still follow up with a nourishing hair mask for restoring softness though.
4. Scott Cornwall Decolour Hair Colour Stripper
Using pigment powder, the ingredients in this pulls colour from the strands in around half an hour leaving a lighter base. If you’re starting with a deep brunette hue or darker you will need two goes to remove all the pigment but you can recolour it straight away.
5. Colourless Hair Colour Remover Max Condition
Before you use this colour remover, make sure you have no product build up on your hair otherwise it won’t be effective. It removes light to mid-tone pigments and doesn't dry out the hair as badly as others. However, if you have a deep colour opt for a stronger formula.
6. Scott Cornwall Decolour Orange Remover
Has your blonde shifted to a brassy orange that not even a purple shampoo can fix? This eliminates brassiness immediately and leaves you with an ashy tone. It’s only for blonde hair though and doesn’t work for mid- to dark brunette tones.
7. L'Oreal Paris Colorista Hair Colour Dye Remover
This remover is great for wash-in, wash-out colour that's still lingering. If you experimented with blues, pinks or other fun hues and you still have remnants on some strands this will strip the colour effectively. Like with most colour removers, a hydrating mask is needed after.
8. Good Dye Young Semi-Permanent Hair Color Additive
If you’re working with permanent colour, skip this. This a colour fader for semi-permanent jobs only. It gently loosens pigments to fade out in the least damaging and most aesthetic way. You can even mix this with a bright semi-permanent colour to create a light pastel tint on blonde hair.
9. Crazy Colour Back to Base Hair Colour Remover
Remove any traces of semi-permanent colour in under 30 minutes with one sachet. It doesn’t contain bleach and the kaolin clay in the formula gently cleanses the hair but it’ll still leave it looking and feeling dry so load on a moisture masks immediately after for healthy feeling hair.
Next, the 4 skincare tips that help my skin glow.
