So a few weeks ago now I went Chilli Red - as in hair-wise. Great
idea for winter thinks me. I have even made a new capsule wardrobe to
compliment my new look - well a few things are left to sew up but the
idea is there.
Then as time goes by I have got a bit bored and
STILL do not recognise Me in the mirror. Though that is not really the
problem. I am out of work and I really think my chilli red hair which is
argueably more "normal" than my usual rose blonde colour, is putting off
possible employers.I just feel like interviews have not been going well at all so I decided the red colour has to go. Its also time I make a decision because my roots need a touch up. If I add more dye tho it will probably be harder to remove because right now I have only the one layer of red on my original pale blonde hair.
Now throughout my life I have pretty regularly changed hair colour. I started to dye my hair at age 13 and never stopped. I have often gone from dark to blonde and to do this I always use peroxide. But it seriously damages your hair. Last year I had a big chunk break off and had a bit of hair that was far shorter than the rest for several months till it grew out and I had difficulty tieing it back to hide my short bit. So ideally I would like not to wreck my otherwise reasonable condition hair. I came accross an internet article about colour remover ( I still am amazed at the internet!) and that this does not damage your hair. Well what an idea!
I have no idea how long this product has been available but when I was a twenty something I was told by a hair dresser that the only way was bleach ( peroxide) so since then I have stuck with that. Thus dye remover, for me, is a new idea.
So I did some research and ended up with this product bought from Superdrug but its available all over the place. I just like to collect points from Superdrug and it gets deliverd so I do not have to physically go to the store and then find out that actually no they do not stock it locally whereas if I just buy online it turns up and I get the job done hassle free and with less time and fuel wasteage.
So I bought two packs of this stuff:
It stinks like eggs - contains sulphur I think which apparently shrinks the dye particles so they simply wash out and just look at my test strip:
My hair was still only half dry when I took the selfies but you can still see the difference.
Now obviously you should cut off a bit of hair for this but I generally do not even bother with any prior tests. In this case the product is unknown so instead of a skin test + test strip I just tried it on a small bit of (attached) hair. Please everyone do not go off and do this yourself because its bad practice and I am not suggesting anyone anywhere should do what I have done. Its very silly. Luckilly I had no adverse reactions and what a dramatic result.
45 minutes later I have removed all the red dye and am a
kind of orangey blonde. Possibly closest commercial dye is light honey
blonde or golden blonde. You are advised to use an ash coloured toner
but I actually like my new colour so have left it alone and intend to try
to use a close colour to this next time I need to do my roots.
So a couple of days later I did the rest of my hair. I only used one
pack but found afterwards I had missed a few bits. I was intending to
leave the missed ( still red) bits a few more days because its always
better to leave things a while after dying. Also I quite liked the low lighted look. Anyway then I got an
interview so had to do some touch ups to remove the rest of the red.
This worked fine. I have yet to find out if I got the job.
Definitely feels like Me again tho!
So, should you, like me decide to do something a bit stupid and dye your hair a colour you decide is just not you thats a much better way to remove the dye than using peroxide.
I am so impressed by this stuff I just have to tell the world.
Hope this will help someone
Bracken
