As you guys will have noticed from various pictures posted on my blog, I have been a long-term red-head imposter! I felt that the vibrant red hair had done it’s time and it was time for a change back to something more simple; something that perhaps didn’t require me to be constantly topping up my colour every 2-3 weeks to keep it looking the way I wanted.
I wasn’t sure what colour I wanted to go to, all I knew is I
wanted a change and I wanted to avoid a disaster!
After speaking to several hairdressers and other people, I
began getting a little concerned when people were constantly telling me that
red was the most difficult colour to remove and I would probably have to spend
some time being an odd colour as it would be so tricky to get an even, decent
colour, especially after frequently dying my hair bright red for a year.
I decided to bite the bullet on Monday and went out on my
lunch break to grab the bits and bobs I needed for my transformation.
I opted for ColourB4 in extra strength, although this took
some deciding. I was torn between this one and the ColourB4 made for frequent
use. Although looking back, both would have probably done what I needed, I
opted for extra strength, having heard all the comments about red being tough
to remove.
I then decided to look for a colour to use afterwards. I was
fully aware, and you should be too if you are planning to use ColourB4 to
remove hair colourant, that although it is safe to dye your hair soon after,
your hair will be more pourous, meaning it will absorb colour quickly and essentially
it will go darker than the box describes.
I opted for a dark blonde, I was wary of going too light, as
I didn’t want it to end up orange depending on how well (or not) the ColourB4
worked. I also didn’t want to go too dark, as I didn’t want it to end up too
dark, considering the colour would absorb quickly.
Decisions made, I headed home and started the whole process
at 6.30pm. After mixing the ‘Extra Remover’ and ‘Extra Activator’ (pots A &
B) from the ColourB4 set, I sectioned my hair and applied the mixture to every
part of my hair. I was pushing it a bit using only one box on my length of
hair, and did panic at the end that maybe I didn’t have enough product and it
was all going to be disastrous!
The instructions said to leave the ColourB4 on for one hour
to develop. It was already almost 7.30pm by this point and I had work the next
day so needed my hair to be sorted by then. In hindsight, I wish I had done it
on a day off, but I don’t have a free one for a while and I was beginning to
get annoyed with my faded, growing out red.
The key for development is to keep the hair warm. Don’t sit
in a cold room, cover in cling film to trap heat, and every so often, give it a
quick blast with the hair dryer.
So I had reached 8.30pm which was time to see what the
damage was! I had to stand in the shower and rinse the hair for 10 minutes,
followed by applying the buffer (pot C), allowing it to absorb for a couple of
minutes and then was to make sure it was completely removed.
I put my hair in a towel immediately. I refused to look at it until I had fully dried it with the blowdryer. Once my hair was dry I stepped in front of the mirror, and was pleasantly surprised!
Okay, so probably wouldn’t have left the house like this,
but my hair was not as bad as I thought. The roots were a platinum blonde, and
there was gradually more and more hints of ginger/orange getting slightly darker as it
went down the hair.
Considering I used a red dye with a peroxide element, being naturally blonde, and having years of peroxide blonde, brown and various other hair dye colours underneath the red, this is exactly what I was hoping for, and the colour looked even enough to dye over.
Considering I used a red dye with a peroxide element, being naturally blonde, and having years of peroxide blonde, brown and various other hair dye colours underneath the red, this is exactly what I was hoping for, and the colour looked even enough to dye over.
I waited around half an hour before applying the Garnier
Nutrisse Creme dark blonde dye and then the panic set in again. I was really
concerned at how this colour would turn out.
After developing, then washing the dye out and blowdrying again (with a ridiculous amount of heat protection spray on my hair as I felt sorry for it!) it was about 11pm, which was a relief as I thought I was going to be up all night!
Not bad if I do say so myself! I’m going to see how it
fades, and then potentially may get a few highlights put through it.
I do think my hair needs a little TLC after all this work,
but it doesn’t look or feel overly damaged. I will spend some time giving it a
little treat with some hair oil or hair mask, just to give it some extra
protection – can you recommend a good one?
Also, I am going to *try* and avoid intense heat for a
while, until I feel like my hair may have recovered a little more.
So there you have it, not only a ColourB4 success story, but
also a red hair dye removal success!
I'm a natural redhead and dyed my hair a darker red that was permanent. I wanted to get rid of the dye as my roots were starting to show. I used Decolour and it was HORRIBLE! I still had dark red dye everywhere so I went to Boots the next day and got Colour B4 and now my hair is back to its natural, although it is lighter. Glad yours turned out really well, I've read some really horrible stories about Colour B4. Love your blog and if you're interested check mine out :) x
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Thanks for your comment hun! I am so glad it turned out nicely, I was dreading getting rid of the red for ages, but I didn't need to worry!
DeleteThanks for reading hun, will take a look at your blog!
xo
Really nice blog. I like redhair. But here in my town,and generally most girls are dying in red color,so I wanted something different-like purple. I colored it and it is not 'really' purple,more dark cherry with slightly violet shine. But I am pleased :-)
ReplyDeleteYour hair is awesome,maybe you didn't know for quote.''Never upset a redhead,it may be the last thing you do.'' :-)
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Wow you did an amazing job! I have red hair at the moment, and I don't know how I'm going to get rid of it so this post couldn't have come a better time! xx
ReplyDeleteThanks hun! Definitely try this out when you are ready for a change!
Deletexo
I remember having a red shade in my hair before, so difficult to remove from my natural black hair. I didn't have such a good result trying to remove mine (I think I used something from Sally beauty) Very glad yours was a success, your colour turned out very nice!
ReplyDeleteIts my first time going red from blonde and this has given me confidence that if it goes wrong it is repairable! X
ReplyDeleteI'm currently bored of my dyed red (I've had it about 6 years but am dying it less frequently!) I want to go rose gold but I know this will involve going blonde and then going rose gold. Im terrified of what will happen but hoping colour b4 brings me to a good enough state!
ReplyDeleteWow the dark blonde came out beautiful, it looks great!
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I like your all post. You have done really good work. Thank you for the information you provide, it helped me a lot. I hope to have many more entries or so from you.
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