While some people can dye their hair at home month after month with no problems, others can sometimes run into major disasters from the get-go. If you try to die your hair at home and now cannot face going out in public, here are a few ideas to remove hair coloring gone wrong.
The easiest mistake to fix is color that turned out lighter than expected. In this case, rather than trying to remove hair dye, the best solution is to apply a new dye a few shades darker, or to opt for lowlights, which will hide the original shade while providing depth to your color. If you dyed your hair to a light blonde and now wish to go back to dark, you may need the help of a professional. Blond coloring contains bleach, which removes the underlying pigments of the hair. Simply applying a new color can result in a green tint.
If, however, you need to remove hair coloring because your new hue is too dark, you need to act as soon as possible. Dark colors are hard to extract from the hair because the pigment sticks to the hair cuticle more quickly and firmly. As a first step, wash your hair immediately with warm to hot water to remove as much of the coloring as possible. If you have a color-removal product at hand (and you should if you frequently color at home), do a quick wash; otherwise, use regular shampoo mixed with dish washing liquid soap to remove hair dye as quickly as possible. Remember to condition after, as the double process will dry your hair.
If you tried bleaching your hair blonde and end up with an orange hue, there is not much you can do to remove hair coloring at home. You will to visit your hairstylist for a color corrective procedure. This cannot be done at home. On the other hand, there is also little you can do if you dyed your hair black and now want to remove hair coloring. Permanent black dye is almost impossible to remove except by using a stripping technique. This, too, should be done by an expert, as you run the risk of severely damaging your hair if you try to do it at home.