For the least damaging options that will give you the best results, make an appointment at a local salon and ask your stylist to remove the red dye for you. Professional hair stylists can remove the color with a safe powder-water mix that breaks the chemical color bonds of your hair.
Generally speaking, removing permanent hair dye requires a trip to the salon. A professional colorist should know how to remove hair dye with minimal damage, and they can help correct any color mistakes (like orange hair) that may arise from the removal process.
If you had a bad coloring job your best bet is to visit a reputable beauty salon and have a trained professional perform corrective coloring that will rid you of the unnatural color and give your hair a second chance.
Ashy Tones: Using an ash blonde or ash brown dye can help neutralize the red tones. Ash colors contain green and blue undertones that counteract red. Cool Colors: Shades like violet, purple, or blue can also help neutralize the red. A purple shampoo or conditioner can tone down the redness over time.
Purple Shampoo on Red Hair:
If you have naturally red hair a purple shampoo may not make much of a difference but it can help those with chemically dyed red hair. Purple shampoo will not fade or remove red color but can impact its visual effect. A purple shampoo used sparingly can help remove bronzy and brassy tones.
If your color ends up brassier than you wanted, bring it up with your stylist while you're still in their chair. "Ideally, you would address it in the salon, and your stylist will tell you if they're too busy and you'd need to come back, but we can usually fix it right there," Papnikolas says.
Generally speaking though, it's best to wait 4-6 weeks before having another color treatment – in most cases, this is enough anyway and reduces the risk of hair damage. There are some exceptions, but in general, it's better to err on the side of caution and wait for this long.
A typical charge would be $120 an hour for such a service. So the total bill would come to $300 to $375 for such a service.
Harsh Chemicals: Box dyes often contain strong chemicals that can be damaging to your hair. One-size-fits-all: These dyes are not customised to your hair type, which can lead to unexpected results. Layering Effect: Each application can darken your hair further, leading to a buildup that's hard to remove.
Your colourist may use bleach or sulfur-based stripping products to lighten your hair back to enable it to be re-dyed safely. You'll get all the help and advice you need when colouring disasters strike, alongside assessments of your hair for damage and the best treatment options.
Red dye, like any other color dye, penetrates the fibers of the fabric, making it challenging to remove.
Red Hair Removal Challenges
Laser treatments are not effective for redheads. Fear not – if you want to say goodbye to that unwanted hair, electrolysis is a safe and effective method.
The biggest cause of red hair fading and turning brassy is over-shampooing. Water and shampoo both affect the cuticle, which causes hair colour to dull. This is especially true with red hair. Hold onto your hue by shampooing as little as possible.
Consider a New Colorist or Salon
A new stylist will treat the appointment as a new color, not a color correction, but if it's a complete redo, Hazan says it'll be worth it to resolve the issue. "Or, if you want to switch stylists at the same salon, that's fine too—it's your hair and your money," Hazan says.
Color corrections can be extremely long appointments that can last up to 6 or 7 hours, or they can be spilt up into multiple appointments to save the integrity of your hair. Before (left) and after (right) of a color correction by Courtney. On average, a salon will charge $100 per hour for a color correction.
If a hairdresser consistently ignores your instructions or imposes their own ideas without your consent, it's a sign that they're not focused on meeting your needs. A good hairdresser should be able to communicate with you effectively and make you feel comfortable throughout the whole appointment experience.
Reach for green shampoo
It's all about the contrast—shades that lay opposite each other on the color wheel are considered opposite (read: contrasting) colors, and when paired together, effectively cancel one another out.
Baking Soda Paste
Baking soda can be an effective way to remove permanent hair dye naturally because of its lightening properties. Try mixing baking soda with lemon juice, which is acidic, to create a paste. Then, work the paste through your hair, allow it to sit for five minutes, and rinse thoroughly.
Depending on your particular color combination, your hair will likely range from auburn tints to a rich, deep mahogany brown shade. If you want to minimize the red tone altogether for a natural brunette hue (less auburn or mahogany), you will need to use a neutral or cool/ash brunette shade to counteract the red tones.
"You want to stop using it two weeks before any lightening service. The purple shampoo can cause build up making the hair look dull and darker if overused." This makes the lightening process more difficult to create a seamless blend.
Colors that are next to each other are called complementary colors. Blonde dye contains yellow, which is a warm color. Red hair has orange in it, which makes it a warm color too. So by putting blonde dye on red hair , you have created an orange-red color!
However, there are subtle differences: Blue works to neutralize red and orange, while “purple shampoo is better suited to neutralize yellow tones,” says Carfi. To make sense of this, think of opposing hues on the color wheel.