Dye removal

**Sarahlabyrinth** · June 30th, 2012, 03:33 AM

Hi everyone - I would like to return to my natural hair colour after 20 years of dyeing it and was wondering if anyone has used the product called Colour B4, apparently it "shrinks" the dye molecules so that they can no longer be seen and the original hair colour shows through once again.
Has anyone tried this product and would you recommend it ? LHC hairdressers advice please / Or anyone?

**pink.sara** · June 30th, 2012, 03:49 AM

Originally Posted by Sarahlabyrinth

Hi everyone - I would like to return to my natural hair colour after 20 years of dyeing it and was wondering if anyone has used the product called Colour B4, apparently it "shrinks" the dye molecules so that they can no longer be seen and the original hair colour shows through once again.
Has anyone tried this product and would you recommend it ? LHC hairdressers advice please / Or anyone?

Yes. I've used it very recently to lift black permanent dye.

I personally use it about once a year to colour change lighter for summer.

Pro's are that it doesn't damage my hair like colouring does. Although the long rinsing leaves it dry.
It removes colour very dramatically. One application may take it all out. Although I need three for black build up.

Cons are it smells dreadful. Although I don't find this lingers like some say. Probably because I rinse for about half an hour!
If your hair was dyed with a much darker permanent it will most likely have lightened your hair underneath, meaning it won't be your natural colour but a brassy or ginger colour.
It may re darken requiring multiple applications, or leave hair patchy if hair dyes used previously have been different brands or strengths or applied unevenly.

I would also go for the new Scott Cornwall, Decolour Remover if you are in the UK. You can get it from boots online or in some stores. It is faster more effective and requires less rinsing.

HTH rather than confuses you!

**pink.sara** · June 30th, 2012, 03:53 AM

Oh and it works by shrinking the dye molecules so they can be flushed out of the hair by rinsing. That's why the rinsing stage is the most important.

**EmmaDStrange** · June 30th, 2012, 04:00 AM

I've used it before to, I used it the maximum of 3 times on dyed black hair (which is naturally mid blonde) and came out with a rather vivid but still quite dark orange, which is to be expected really. It was as good as I could of expected, it's definitely worth a try if your hair is anything lighter than black! I must have had at least 10 layers of black on my poor hair, so it was no suprise I never got my natural colour.

But, on the positive side, now my regrowth doesn't look as starkly different to the lengths anymore. And, the best part, no extra damage on my previously damaged hair, so, if I were you, I'd definitely give it a shot!

**hototogisu** · June 30th, 2012, 04:02 AM

I used it to remove 3 years worth of red dye. It *does* work, but be aware that oxidative dyes lighten your base colour considerably, even if you dyed it a darker colour, and you'll also need to do several rounds of Colour B4.

The Scott Cornwall company has AWESOME customer service, though. Seriously, I asked them a question about re-oxidising colour and they sent me a lab sample of a stronger buffer they were developing. I highly recommend taking some photos of your current colour and asking their advice.

**Sarahlabyrinth** · June 30th, 2012, 04:09 AM

My natural colour is "mouse" (now with sparklies too) but I have only used medium brown permanent dye on it...?

**pink.sara** · June 30th, 2012, 04:25 AM

Then it shouldn't be too difficult to remove. It won't be mouse underneath though, probably a slightly warmer shade if anything.
Try a stand test....
I bought a colour remover. Separated out a stand about an inch wide and mixed a teaspoon each of the 2 developers to put on it. Covered it in cling film and hairdried it to warm it, left for an hour then soaked it in a cup for a few minutes changing the water a few times to remove the colour b4. This gave me a very good idea of the result on my whole head.

**Sarahlabyrinth** · June 30th, 2012, 04:43 AM

I do like the idea of doing a strand test. What I am aiming for is to be able to blend in regrowth without having such a dramatic contrast between mouse/sparklies and...other, a slight difference wouldn't be so bad. Thanks for the wise advice, anyone else tried it / Photos?

**mckellyn** · June 30th, 2012, 06:43 AM

From your experience, does it matter how *long* you've had the dye in before you use color b4? I dyed my hair black a year ago, and have been trying to grow it out, but it looks really bad right now because it's reached a length that it's like half-and-half (black and light brown).

Any thoughts on removing old color? Does it still work? Should I expect repeat applications?

I'll probably try this anyway, just wondering if anyone could offer any insight from experience : )