I love having bright crazy coloured hair and washout dyes are my favourite things because although they can be quite high maintenance; they allow me to change up my hair colour as often as I want! But what if you want to change the colour and still have a few weeks of colour left in your hair?
Step away from the bleach! There are loads of methods out there to remove semi permanent hair colour without using bleach, unless you want to completely remove the colour in your hair immediately, bleach is not necessary!
Washing up liquid
Washing up liquid is designed to strip grease and dirt away from things, so when applied to the hair can be used to help to quickly fade out unwanted colour. Simply wet the hair and the massage the dish soap into the hair in place of your shampoo, then rinse. For best results repeat this practise a few times each time you shower and the colour will fade out over time. This method is quite tough on hair and can be very drying so make sure to deep condition the hair alongside this treatment to try and maintain the moisture in the hair!
Lemon Juice
The lemon juice method is a form of natural bleaching. Simply juice a lemon, wet the hair with the juice and sit in the sunshine! The heat from the sun opens the hair cuticles and the acidic components of the lemon juice lift the colour and lighten the hair colour overall. This method again is not great for the hair because it will dry your hair out but this can be combatted by mixing some coconut oil into the lemon juice before putting it on the hair. This method also allows you to watch the result happening, its best to keep an eye on how long you’re outside in the sun and keep checking on how much the colour has faded so if you’re just trying to lighten a colour that came out too dark this method will allow you to keep an eye on it as its happening!
Photo credit – André Karwath
Anti dandruff shampoo
Anti dandruff shampoo works the same as the washing up liquid, the medicated shampoos often strip the hair more and therefore work great at fading semi permanent hair colours. This is my preferred method as its the least damning on your hair! For the best results wash your hair in hot water as the heat opens the hair cuticles and helps to release the colour from the hair cuticles while you’re washing your hair!
Bicarbonate of Soda
Bicarbonate of soda can be used as a cleaning agent because of its tough stripping qualities, making it great at stripping hair!
Simply mix with shampoo (preferably anti dandruff shampoo) on a 1-to-1 ratio and then coat the hair. For the best results rub thoroughly throughout the hair, then clip the hair up and let it sit for a while before washing it out. By wrapping your hair in a plastic bag and then wrapping a towel over the top you will trap in the heat opening up the hair cuticles for the shampoo and the bicarb to lift as much colour out as possible. I often use this method for removing colour from my hair as it works very well, you will see the colour that has leaked out from the hair before you even wash the mixture out of your hair. However, again this is very drying to the hair!
I have never experienced long term damage to my hair using any of theses method, I always follow them up with a deep condition and my hair has always been fine and healthy afterwards!
If you’re looking to lighten your hair its always best to try and avoid strong chemicals so by using these simple methods using just household products hopefully it’ll save your hair from long term damage!
Cloe-without-the-H 