Please remember before reading this that this is just a post regarding how I dyed my own hair. I have made this post due to popular demand. I am in no way encouraging others to do the same. I have not included brands or volumes of dyes used. I did however want to share this little trick I discovered that worked quite well with all of you. It isn’t as harmful like bleach and if it saves someone jumping straight into trying to lift red out of their hair with that then I’m all for it.
*R E A D M E*
Please ensure that you follow this up with conditioning, treatments and the same care as you would normally with any other process on your hair. I am not responsible for anyone's treatment of their hair following this process.
So if you guys know me in real life or follow my YouTube
channel or any social media, you’d know that a few months ago I chose to ditch
the black locks and try out red.
I was totally aware that red can be a high maintenance
colour majority of the time and that it is also quite a pain to lift out of your hair. Knowing this, I made the decision
to start prepping my hair to be dyed. As well as following the steps I did in
my video, for about two weeks prior to doing that I was using shampoos that
strip your hair (Pantene, Head & Shoulders, etc) as well as using
dish washing detergent twice over that period of time (Morning Fresh). Sounds scary I know, but
I'd rather do that than bleach right away.
Recently I decided that I've had enough of the red because
I was finding it too hard to get it exactly how I wanted it to be. I’m a big
perfectionist so it doesn’t surprise me that I reacted that way. Anyway, over a
month ago I began prepping my hair yet again for another big change. I had done
plenty of treatments and used my trusty protein shampoo and conditioners for a
while as well as having a few inches cut off my hair (just below my ear lobes)
so it was nice and healthy.
Once I was ready I began using dish washing detergent once or
twice every now and again (followed by extreme conditioning treatments, don’t
freak out everyone). I also used baby shampoos and the same stripping shampoos
as previously used. Just these two steps faded the red an incredible amount, it
was crazy! It was also exactly what I wanted to happen. My idea was to try
and lift as much of this pain in the butt red as I could without needing to
bleach my hair and this is why I started doing these steps so far in advance to dying my hair.
Next I decided to try something a little weird (yes, weirder
than using dishwashing liquid on my head)… I wasn’t sure if it would work but I
had a whole container of the stuff I never used and thought to myself “worth a shot”.
This stuff that I’m talking about having a whole tub of is
Vitamin C tablets. Yes, Vitamin C. The vitamins that I and many others used to
eat like sweets as a kid. Vitamin C lifted the red hair dye out of my hair.
Now I’m not saying this made me blonde so don’t expect it to
do this for you and I did do this 3 times. However, it did completely lift all
of the red off my recently dyed roots and also off my ends, my mid-lengths were
a lot more stubborn because of the product build up on them from the amount of
dye I’d used previously over time. My mid-lengths hey ended up more of a peach and yellow blonde colour
compared to the rest.
Here are the simple steps of how I used it:
- I ground and crushed up Vitamin C tablets (how
many you use is up to you but I recommend more than 10).
- I then combined the powder and crumbs into a dye
bowl (any bowl will do) with baby shampoo and mixed until it became a slightly
thicker paste.
- I then applied the mixture to towel dried hair
and left for about 20 minutes.
Here it is after the first application:
Here it is after the 3rd application, before the bleach bath:
That’s it. That is absolutely all I did. After washing the
first application I was so surprised with the results I then did it again two
days later and for a longer period of time. Of course, protein and conditioning
treatments then followed as usual. Not that they were really that necessary
however I always do it just as a safety measure (Ha ha, yes… the girl who does
her hair at home is talking about safety measures).
I've been told recently by friends that have tried this that it actually has worked on other colours too, both natural (browns and blacks) and unnatural (green, pink, orange, blue). Amazing!
Once I was done with that process I then did one bleach
bath. I didn’t need to leave this on too long, I just continued to work it
in every now and again while it was on to ensure all my hair was covered in the
mixture. After removing that my hair was light enough to have the dye I wanted
over it.
Now, I didn’t do this straight away. I left it for about two
weeks and took great care of it, wearing wigs over the top in public so I
didn’t need to use product or heat on it.
Without going into the levels that were used I applied a
light ash blonde crème colour over my hair and extensions (I followed every
step on them that I did to my own hair). The final results are quite close to
my own natural colour but not as blonde. I more so chose to use a cool
toned dye to cancel out as much of the remaining warm tones until I was happy
with it. Eventually I will be changing my hair again but not for many, many
months… Certainly not dark again for a long time (as much as ‘the dark side’ is
always tempting me).
So there it is, my latest ‘hair transformation’ and a nifty little trick for anyone that wants to drastically fade red or bright dyes from their hair without bleaching it! I do admit I will miss the red but I felt that it only looks nice in certain lighting or in photos with flash.
What do you guys think? Are you a fan or do you prefer the red? Feel free to let me know!
