Apparently the red dye was permanent anyway? Now what do I do?

[Lissa]

So I dyed my hair red a while ago, mainly for a vaulting competition (this sport that I do, not really too hair related but thought red would look good with my vaulting costume :P ). I bought the dye during a visit in Czech republic because I couldn't find the right colour in Norway or Austria, and on the box it said it'd last 6-8 weeks iirc. That's more than two months ago now...I dyed the roots again before the Norwegian championships though, with a similarily semipermanent dye, but I didn't touch the ends then, and they don't seem to have gotten any less red in the last weeks.

By now I already have a few cm of my natural colour (mostly blonde) at my roots, as seen obviously in this picture:
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=162&d=1353509206

I was planning on going back to my natural colour now, but am starting to doubt that the red will fade away by itself and am hesitant to damage my hair with bleach or anything similar to get rid of it. What would you guys do in this situation? Are there any better ways to get rid of a colour? Or should I just keep dying it? (just noticed there's a new non-permanent red in the shops here in Austria!)

[raingirl]

I know the products are probably different there, but see if you can get your hands on ColourB4 (UK I think) or ColorOops (USA). They both work the same by shrinking the colour molecules and opening the cuticle of the hair so the colour can be washed out.

My hair is very similar to yours now, except my red is henna so it's copper and my roots are very light blonde. Unfortunately, the henna can't be removed in the same way so I'm trying to lighten it a bit so it's not as strong a demarcation line while I grow it out.

[kaydana]

Many people have had success with mixing vitamin C with shampoo or conditioner for removing colour. Vitamin C is pretty cheap and it's probably the least damaging method of colour removal. Might be worth trying.

[millyaulait]

Frequent heavy oilings will help too, along with the great advice above. :)

[lapushka]

These dyes normally last 6 to 8 weeks if you wash really frequently. It's better to go with x-number of hair washings. If I were you I'd wash my hair really frequently during a period of a few weeks, then reassess the situation, before doing anything more drastically.

[Lissa]

Thanks a lot for the advice! :) I'll see if I can get my hands on any helpful hair products or vitamin C, and wait a few more weeks to see what happens.

[Unofficial_Rose]

It would actually look pretty growing out, seriously, because your natural colour is lovely. If you really can't stand it, there are the other options people have mentioned.

[MonaMayfair]

These dyes normally last 6 to 8 weeks if you wash really frequently. It's better to go with x-number of hair washings. If I were you I'd wash my hair really frequently during a period of a few weeks, then reassess the situation, before doing anything more drastically.

That would be my advice too. Your hair looks a lot like mine does at the moment! (except my red is due to henna and, unfortunately, I KNOW that won't wash out!

[spidermom]

I'd do warm oil treatments before every wash and wait it out.

[fairview]

Any clarifying shampoo that is not 'color safe' will remove the color very quickly if it is truly semi-permanent. If it is permanent color the only real solution is to lift it slightly above your natural level and then color/tone down to match your natural level.