How to remove pigment from color enriching conditioner? Help please!

[Cecilia]

Hi! I've been using Aveda's Black Malva Color Enriching Conditioner for the past 6 months, and it has started to make my hair a very dark blue/green shade that will not budge for anything. I have tried:

Vinegar
Lemon Juice
Baking soda
Dawn dish soap
Sun-In
Hydrogen Peroxide
Aveda Sun Care Clarifying Shampoo
Regular shampoo

If anyone has any other ideas, your help would be greatly appreciated! My hair is about mid back length. I can wear it pinned up or in a ponytail and that hides alot of the mess but my bangs and face framing wisps look like a greasy blue/green/black.

Thank you in advance,
Cecilia

[door72067]

I tried looking for some hints online but came up with nothing

have you tried calling Aveda? They may have a gentle, effective solution for you

good luck!

[Nymph]

I had a hair accident like this. Stop with the peroxide at once. It damages the hair shaft but it pushes the color only further in. I'd go to a hairdresser you can properly trust and ask that they put a color on your hair to cancel out the green/blueish hue. (it's color wheel theory. You cancel out green with red and blue with yellow).

Have you already tried anti dandruff shampoo?

[EtherealDoll]

Deep oiling treatments or hot oiling treatments can get even some of the henna out, so I think they would work to get a shampoo tint out.

[furnival]

I'd second contacting the company, especially if the conditioner isn't supposed to turn your hair permanently blue/green! That's a pretty serious flaw in their product, and they ought to compensate you. ;)

[Cecilia]

Thank you so much ladies! Yes, I forgot to mention that I did try dandruff shampoo in addition to the list of things I mentioned...but, no, I did not try hot oil treatments! I bet my hair would love that! I will give it a try and post the results.

Also--I just got finished emailing Aveda's ingredient experts, who are supposedly able to give me some info on how to remove the pigments (according to the product advisor I chatted with from Aveda.)

We shall see how this turns out! Yes, I think this is a serious flaw in their product...I have wasted hours of my life trying to remove this PERMANENT hair stain!!! (Labeled as "color enriching conditioner". :confused: )

[Cecilia]

Update!

Never heard back from Aveda regarding how to fix the problem---just a generic sounding email thanking me for contacting them with my concerns.

I tried a hot oil treatment with EVOO...nice, and my hair felt and looked great afterwards, but the color remains.

Also, a confession: I couldn't help staying away from the peroxide. Yesterday I bleached my hair repeatedly while applying heat, until the dark green/blue actually turned a sort of shiny light green/aqua! It is lighter, at least, but still there...and for fear of doing any more damage to my locks, I decided to purchase from Aveda again...

I bought a litre of the Aveda Clove shampoo, and two tubes of Aveda Clove Color Enriching Conditioner. Hopefully the warm tones will cancel out the cool tones that the Aveda Black Malva product deposited.

Disappointed that the company couldn't tell me how to remove the Black Malva stuff...but if their Clove product stains as well as Black Malva, and brings me back to my natural dark brown shade, I will be happy!

~Cecilia

P.S. I think that the cool-toned Black Malva caused blue/green in my hair because I had highlights. This would work great on someone who doesn't have lighter highlights in their dark hair! So the product is a good one, just beware that if it stains your highlights you may end up with green/blue hair color in places!

[Kaelee]

Hm...black malva? Not familiar with that, but what you describe sounds exactly like you bleached indigo. I'm having trouble finding an ingredient list.

It drives me batty when companies put something permanent in a hair product...like indigo...without warning people that A) IT CAN BE PERMANENT and B) if you bleach it your HAIR WILL TURN GREEN. I see this so much and it really, really ticks me off. So many unsuspecting people with damaged hair. :undecided

[In2wishin]

I have heard that washing with Dawn dish soap can remove deposit only dye. It may not work now that you've tried other things but it probably won't hurt. (definitely condition well afterwards)

[jillosity]

Wow, that stuff has to have indigo in it! Please don't bleach anymore!!! If the brown shampoo doesn't work, try clairol Jazzing, I'm currently using Coffee Bean to deal with growing out indigo. From experience, nothing removes it, except scissors :( sorry

[Cecilia]

Indigo??? Yikes!! I never would have thought of this...this was my first experiment with a color depositing conditioner. I will have to look at the ingredients....what would indigo be called by another name, if any?

Jillosity, does Clairol Jazzing require a patch test?

Scissors...oh no! I hope the Aveda Clove I ordered will help! I selected the quick shipping option so I should get it tomorrow!

A nice scrub with Dawn and then another hot oil treatment sounds good...

~Cecilia

[Miss Maisie]

Did you buy the shampoo at an Aveda salon? If so, I'd call the salon directly and see if they can help you!

[Angelica]

Personally I'd cope with the colour and let it grow out naturally. You risk seriously damaging your hair by all the treatments you are trying. Better to have bluey green hair than no hair at all. Besides people would think you are making a fashion statement by keeping the colour. Did you do a colour test first? They usually advise that on packs. I also think you should speak to your nearest Aveda salon for advice.

[Cecilia]

Hi! No, I bought it at Aveda.com...I live on a farm in the middle of nowhere so I usually have to order things online. I guess I could look up an Aveda salon and ask a live person there---maybe they could help!

However...that will have to go on the back burner for the moment. I have water for spaghetti boiling on the front one right now!

Thanks ladies!

~Cecilia (running to fix supper for the fam)

[Cecilia]

Super update!!

I received my Aveda Clove Color Enriching Conditioner today (the shampoo should arrive tomorrow--but anyway, from what I've read, it's the conditioner that deposits most of the color)... I let it sit on my hair and soak in for a good hour...rinsed it out, and SUCCESS!!! I now have a lovely coppery-caramel color!

Whew...goodbye, green/blue hair!!! I am so grateful this stuff worked...I knew that when hubby noticed and commented on the green/blue, it was bad!

The Clove is definitely a much warmer shade than the cool Black Malva. It cancelled out the unwanted colors perfectly. I don't know why Aveda didn't steer me toward that in the first place, when I asked their Product Specialist online for help??? My hair is shedding a lot more since I've (foolishly) peroxided etc....if only I could have just purchased the Clove sooner. But...live and learn! I am blessed to still have my hair...and so, so much more!

~Cecilia (joyfully brunette again)

[Salmonberry]

Glad to hear it turned out okay :)

I read about those products and it sounds like the black malva is intended to be used on color treated hair that has developed a brassy or unwanted warm tone. If your hair wasn't super warm toned to begin with then it makes sense that the cool greens/blues showed up.

[renia22]

Bumping this thread. Anyone else get green from Aveda Black Malva, and was your hair brassy/ orange to begin with?

[Jo Ann]

Renia, from what i can tell, Black Malva is a deep blue/green. If you have orange/brassy hair, blue/ashy tones should correct that. Think "hair color wheel": https://cathycareyblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/color-wheel-project-sample.jpg You should use the color directly opposite your current color to cancel out the unwanted tones--think "color corrector" when you're bleaching/dying your hair to remove unwanted red or cool tones. For example:

Red + yellow = orange; blue should cancel that.

Yellow + blue = green; red should cancel that.

Put another way, all you would be doing is introducing the "missing" primary color (or combination, depending on the color tone of the results you have) to offset the color result you acquired. Moderation is the key--you wouldn't want to introduce a much darker color to cancel out a pastel, for example.

[renia22]

Thank you, Jo Ann! that’s very helpful. I think it may be okay for me, I’ve used and liked their Blue Malva shampoo & a few of their color conditioners before. My hair is medium-dark brown and I use henna. Sometimes I like to tone down the reddish cast with tone correcting shampoos if it feels like *too* much red, because they are subtle.

I’m wondering if some of the reviews I read who said they got green from the Black Malva might be from people who had lighter hair colors, or some blonde highlights? I’m thinking I’m my case it might be okay to use. I get squeamish whenever I hear green, I had a bad indigo / henna experience years ago, and I still get nervous whenever I hear about hair turning green (yikes).


:)

[Jo Ann]

I don't blame you for being cautious, Renia!

Maybe a strand test will let you know if Black Malva will work for you. Strand tests have kept more than a few LHCers from going astray.

Good luck!

[renia22]

^ I’ll use a few things up in the meantime, and try to decide which one I want. Strand testing is a good idea, unfortunately they only sell those huge liter bottles of the shampoo, no trial size or smaller options, so if it doesn’t work out, you are stuck :(. I might just end up with the Blue Malva again, I’ve used a whole bottle of that one before and really liked it..

[my2cats1]

I've used the Aveda Black Malva conditioner off and on for years. Love it. But yes, it is designed for medium to dark brown and black shades. If you have highlights, the resulits will be unpredictable.
I use it on the bottom half of my medium-dark brown hair that is lightened and brassy from sun exposure. It darkens the ends a bit and gets rid of the red tones I don't want.
The blue is designed for light shades.
Good luck!