Removing Ultra-Stubborn Colors

Sometimes, dyes will not come out completely just by simply washing it. Or maybe you used a new color and you want it gone ASAP. These tips will help you fade out that color.

Least Damaging

Clarifying shampoo: One of the safest way to remove a dye is to wash daily with clarifying shampoo. First, let your hair run under hot water for a few minutes. Then, slather your hair up with clarifying shampoo. Let the shampoo stay in your hair for most of your shower. Rinse with hot water and follow with a good conditioner.

My favorite clarifying shampoo is Suave Daily Clarifying. I’ve tried many brands, but Suave strips the best and seems to be less drying than some of the more expensive brands. You can use dandruff shampoo because it is also high in sulfates, but you will probably notice more breakage.

Castor oil mix + heat: One secret I have discovered through experimentation is the power of castor oil. It leaves hair feeling silky smooth and can remove a decent amount of color. I will make another post detailing my method. Please read it and do not apply pure castor oil to your hair!

Medium Damage

Clarifying shampoo + baking soda: One good color stripping method is mixing clarifying shampoo with baking soda in a bowl and thoroughly washing your hair. Baking soda is alkaline and opens the cuticle, which lets more color escape the strand. Follow with a deep conditioner. This method should not be used daily because you will end up drying out your hair.

Ion Hair Color Remover: This color remover is one of the only ones that works on semi-permanent hair color. (Using a color remover for permanent dye will not work and will make your hair smell like rotten eggs.)

This color remover is so-so. It works on some colors better than others. I'd give it a 3 out of 5. One package was plenty for my hair and I use 8 oz of dye. It says non-damaging, but it does contain vitamin c so I imagine it does a little bit of damage. It's not a preferred method, but you can try it for yourself.

Soap cap + oils: This method does involve bleach powder, so some damage is involved. I mix one scoop of bleach powder with enough clarifying shampoo to cover my hair, with some coconut and olive oil mixed in for moisturizing. Do not use developer with this mixture. To minimize damage and maximize color removal, saturate your hair in coconut oil at least 2 hours prior to applying the mixture. Heating it will give better results. Apply the soap cap mixture, cap it, and leave it in for 15-30 minutes. Shampoo and deep condition.

High Damage

Vitamin C powder + shampoo: This method can cause drying and breakage, which is why I don't use it anymore. It is actually quite effective, so you can try it if you like. I don't recommend using it more than once.

1. Mix dandruff or clarifying shampoo with vitamin C powder (I make mine by crushing vitamin C tablets. You can buy pure powder, but youre looking at $8+ per bottle). The mix should be slightly drippy, but solid. 2. Wet hair with warm or hot water. This opens the cuticle. 3. Saturate hair with the mixture and cap it. 4. Leave it in for 15-30 minutes and rinse. Use a gentle shampoo to remove and follow with a deep conditioner.

Bleach: This is a last resort method, and it doesn't always work. It will lighten most colors, but for some colors it is ineffective. Trying to bleach out pink is how I ended up with this mess:

My journey from pink to blonde:

Trying to bleach out pink left me with the mess you see above. I was absolutely horrified with the result. I had to manually fade the color out over the course of a month using the above methods. Here's a look at my journey:

The progress started out pretty modest. A week or so of active fading left me with the dark peach seen above.

Two more weeks of using the methods above left me with a peachy, discolored blonde. It was light enough to dye darker, warm-toned colors over, but I wanted it blonder.

I created this shade by creating my own custom "blue conditioner" to tone the orange. This is very similar to using purple shampoo and conditioner on yellow hair.

I used a dollop of leftover blue dye (go for a true blue, not turquoise) and mixed with my daily conditioner. It should look like conditioner with some blue coloring in it, not blue coloring with conditioner in it. Too much blue will actually dye your hair.

This is a temporary fix and will require reapplication after almost every wash. I used it to tone my hair down enough to put another color over it.