I was recently wowed by the wonders of Colour B4, a DIY hair dye remover retailing at £12.25. My friend Stevie at work had dyed her gorgeous ginger locks brown and then had a change of heart. With the help of Colour B4, she was able to get back to her natural colour easily, without having to bleach or grow the colour out.
I am happy as a brunette (my natural colour is dark blonde), but am also a curious Gemini, so when Colour B4 contacted me to see if I'd like to try it out, I thought 'why the heck not'.
I mixed up the necessary bits and bobs, just like a normal hair dye and applied it, wrapping my hair in cling film after (as recommended by some people online). Cold air stops the product working so well (the instructions even state not to apply it in a cold room!) so cling film and central heating were a must! By the way, this stuff reeks of rotten eggs, and your hair will have this subtle stench for a short while after using!
The process is a tad laborious for anyone as impatient as me, as once the allotted 20 minutes is up, you have to rinse the hair for 10 minutes - without fail - to get the old dye pigments out of the hair. Snooooze. On the plus side, you can use it thrice in one sitting depending on the end result you want to achieve.
Let's remind ourselves of my hair 'B4'! Black with brown roots. Yum.
And this was it after using Colour B4. A browny red colour, still with brown roots funnily enough.
So did it work for me?
Well, not as such. I had naively assumed that it would strip my hair back to my natural dark blonde colour, not leave me with red hair. It definitely did lighten the hair, but it was nowhere near the colour I was 'B4' I started dyeing my hair black. But this product was up against years and years of black hair dying, so the fact it did anything is remarkable in it's own way. I have since seen on the product information on Boots' website that although it isn't printed in the instructions, the directions have been updated to suggest you leave the extra strength formula on your hair for an hour per sitting, not 20 minutes. I imagine this would've made a lot more of a difference to the end result and should I try it again, this is definitely something I'll be doing. Slightly annoying that it wasn't in the instructions when I used it, really!
To conclude: I think it's definitely worth using if you've had a hair dye mishap like Stevie, but be prepared for a longer ride if you're stripping out built-up hair dye.
After all this, I decided to embrace red hair for a while so I bought a lovely dye from Boots to even out the colour and bunged it on, forgetting about my un-dyed roots... I ended up with dark red ends and fluorescent orange roots. NOT good. Seeing as my staff party was that night, I thought 'eff this' and dyed my hair dark brown.
All in all, a bit of an ordeal really, but mostly due to my own idiocy!
Have any of you tried this stuff out? What did you think?
♥
I used this on my friends hair to get rid of the black, hers went the same colour as yours and she's never had red hair either! The smell was horrendous though, we couldn't cope! Using a hairdryer made the process a lot quicker for us though so we could wash off the eggy awfulness faster :-)
ReplyDeletexxx
http://hummingbirdandtherose.blogspot.com/
I love this product. I used it a few times when I first decided to move from black to blonde and it made a massive difference without all the damage associated with bleach.
ReplyDeleteNow I use it to remove the bright colours I put in the blonde from time to time.
The 10 minute rinse is essential, as I once skimped on this and ended up with next to no colour removed.
The smell is awful though :/
Betty
x
I used this on my hair, previously dark blonde, dyed to chocolate brown, it didn't work how I expected, it kind of lightened my hair by like 2 shades, but the new colour actually suits me better than either previous colour... weird..
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I used this the other week, my hair was really dark brown and it came out very ginger with blonde roots, so it definitely stripped a lot of the colour out of it.
ReplyDeleteI did make sure I left it on for longer though as my hair is quite long/thick which I think did help.
The whole process took ages, especially with the ten minutes washing out process but I think that is crucial in order to achieve the desired effect!
Definitely something I'd use again though. If only they could make a nicer smelling one, I thought I was going to pass out due to the eggy fumes!
Hev x
www.farewell-tothefairground.blogspot.com
wish id known about this when i was trying to get rid of the purple in my hair last year! instead i used countless permanent dyes and bleach - not good!
ReplyDeleteIt is due to the bleach in dyes, your hair will be bleached each time you dye it so will end up a strange ginger red colour! Or at least mine always does!
ReplyDeleteIt tried this product a few months back and I found I had exactly the same results. I was very disappointed as I just wanted to lighten my hair from black to a mid-brown so I could go a gingery auburn colour. My hair was left multi-coloured, with lines that corresponded with my hair dyes over the months.
ReplyDeleteIt also burned my hair in places which made it go a bit frazzled looking.
I think if you have dyed your hair once, or maybe twice, you may have much more luck with it but I would never use it again or recommend it to friends.
I used this and was quite surprised at the results, mine has been dyed dark red for over 7 years but it took it to a really light strawberry blonde in 20minutes! Maybe it depends how healthy your hair is in the first place, my hair is NOT healthy haha.
ReplyDeletehelloterrilowe.blogspot.com
Also im sure mine was in a pink box, maybe there are variations.
I used the colour B4 extra ( it think thats what it was called!) to lighten my hair from dark brown,to my
ReplyDeletemaybe the extra one would work better for you? its an extra strength one...in a pink box.
I used to dye my hair red and a few month ago I decided to go back to my very dark brown hair again, apparently it is a nightmare getting red dye covered (I am still slightly red) and I got told this wouldn't even help it and it would damage my hair so I stayed clear. I honestly think the best thing is to just grow colour out, which is ridiculous, but my hair is soooo dry I don't want to risk using anything like this on it!
ReplyDeletexxx
I think people shouldn't be allowed to do DIY on their hair! It never looks right (despite of what they may think).
ReplyDeleteOf course it hasn't turned dark blond! That's why you need to have your hair done by a professional, but thanks god for that, this is how i earn my money. You need to know basic rules about hair and colour pigment. Please stop messing with your hair at home. Box colours will never look nice. ( just a thought from a hairdresser..)xx
I've used this before and my hair went lighter than what I thought my natural colour was - I think I might have used the extra strength one though as I had a lot of colour build-up on my hair and I left it on for 45 minutes (I think there might have been a guide on the box for how long to leave it on for). The resulting colour was a bit funny but the condition was awesome. My hair felt soft and like normal hair again. I threw a temporary mid-browny dye on to even up the colour and that's only just starting to fade now (about two months on). I'd definitely use this again if I had a dye-disaster :)
ReplyDeleteMy sister and I used it and although we are both natural blondes (and there is no ginger in our family), we both went the same reddy-ginger colour. It smells really bad too.
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I used it to get from a red/purple colour to my natural red, and had no problems with it - absolutely no roots after nine months!! I'd definitely use it again if I decided to dye my hair and then had a change of heart like your friend! xx
ReplyDeletewww.whatlisasaid.blogspot.com
Ah this sounds like something I'd do, I used to be obsessed with colouring my hair and then I became even more obsessed with bleaching it so I don't think this B4 stuff would ever work for me. Now I'm stuck with 3 toned hair that looks like ombre gone wrong but I'm just trying to stick it out!
ReplyDeleteAnd I think you look rather fab with dark hair!
xx
I have been contemplating using this but because I dip dyed my hair about a year ago I'm worried it will make the ends white...
ReplyDeleteThanks for the honest review though, it's certainly food for thought!
And I suppose it gives you the freedom to play with your hair colour a little more!
Fi
x
http://fifisstyle.blogspot.com
Does anyone have any experience with using this on 'unnatural' colours? My hair's blue at the moment but when I want to get it back to my normal colour (mousey brown) I was wondering whether to use this, or a combination of this and a brown dye? Any help would be massively appreciated! xx
ReplyDeleteI've used this is amazing!! I have natuarally med brown hair and had used alot of blach on it to make it every colour under the sun until one day decided to dye it dark brown. After about 6 months of the brown thought i would strip my hair back and start again....instead of more bleach i went for it. Seeing as I had bleached my hair previously and dyed it alot of colours which obviously stain hair it came out coppery brown in the first go....did it again 2 days later and i came out ginger....was fairly impressed at the stripping power!! It made an amazing base coat for my bright RED hair without the damaging factors of bleach. HIGLY RECOMMEND :)
ReplyDeleteBut yes, STINKS to high heaven...hair smelt like burning for about 2 weeks afterwards!!
that products sounds very interesting!
ReplyDeleteI like your blogs new layout, I haven't been here for a while I admit.