Hair is an accessory- something to have fun with! And i am a girl who likes some fun. But what do you do if you change your mind?
There are basically 4 types of hair colour out there: permanent, semi permanent, demi permanent and henna. (Henna is permanent, but reacts to things differently that “strictly professional” permanent colour, so i give it its own category.)
I personally believe that NO ONE WITHOUT A LICENCE to do hair, and the training that goes along with it, should be able to buy permanent hair colour OR bleaching/lifting agents. Too much can, and often does, go wrong when someone doesn’t know what they are doing- and once hair is severely damaged, you CAN’T JUST FIX IT!
This all being said- today i’m chatting about semi- and demi-haircolours: bright or fun or temporary things that wash/fade out in 6-12 washes or 4-6 weeks. What do you do if you change your mind?
These types of haircolour are NOT thought of as “permanent”, because they don’t go into the cortex (inside goodness) of your hair. Instead, they wrap around your hair and interact/cling/stain the cuticle (scaly outside layers) of your hair strands. Typically, they also don’t contain any lifting or bleaching properties- for vibrant results, you need to pre-lighten the hair. (PLEASE ask a professional to help you!)
These colours, also sometimes called “direct dyes” or “fashion colours” are mainly pigment in a conditioning base- which is why using heat helps seal the colour in deeper, because it helps your hair to soak in that conditioning.
Because these colours sit on THE OUTSIDE of your hair, they easily fade and wash away with sun, chlorine, salt, heat styling, cheap shampoos, etc.
These colours can be really fun to experiment with- but accidents in judgement happen, and we all change our minds sometimes!
If you want to FADE THESE COLOURS FASTER: here’s what I do. You can see my before and afters above. Starting from my purple/violet/silver colour to my back-to-blonde (but note the minty green staining at the tips- this is due to the BLUE mixed into my colour- blue is THE HARDEST temporary colour to remove).
You will need:
Dawn brand dishsoap (this is my fave!)
baking soda
table salt
plastic wrap
a bowl and spoon
a hairdryer OR bonnet dryer
regular shampoo
a GOOOOOD conditioner
1. mix 1/4cup dishsoap with 1/8 cup baking soda and 1/8 cup table salt.
2. Using your hands, apply your mix to the areas you are trying to fade/remove. (always keep in mind that FULL REMOVAL might not be possible.)
3. If you are finding it hard to spread, wet your hands to help massage the mix in. If you are doing your whole head, instead of select areas, you may want to start with slightly damp hair.(you can double or triple my recipe as needed)
4. Cover your hair with the plastic wrap, and apply medium heat for at least 10 minutes.
5.Massage your hair vigourously! Then rinse all that mess out. Now shampoo normally, and be very generous with your conditioner.
6. Comb out and airdry. If your colour was red or purple based, it’s probably mostly or totally gone. If it was blue- you’ll have staining like i do. You can repeat this process to try and remove more, but i would always give a day in between so your scalp and hair can rest- and keep a close eye on the integrity of your hair: if your ends are fraying or feel slimy, you’re going to need a professional hair cut.
Good luck!
Be awesome!
-M
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