Sulphate-rich shampoos are ideal for stripping hair since they help to release the colour - especially with dark or vibrant colours. These include clarifying or deep cleansing shampoo or anti-dandruff shampoo.
The two common not-so-good (and super bubbly) sulfates are sodium laureth sulfate and ammonium laureth sulfate. That's because they can totally strip your hair of moisture and nutrients, causing your hair to become brittle—and brittle hair equals color fade.
7) Using Products That Strip Hair Color
The number one ingredient to avoid in your aftercare products is SLS (Sodium Lauryl Sulfates). However, using color care shampoo and conditioners that are also pH-balanced and free of plastics will prove to enhance and extend the life of hair color.
It's not the shampoo doing all the stripping of the color, it's the water! Turns out that sulfate – what gives most cleansers the ability to effectively remove dirt & oil – has been getting a bad rap of stripping the color from color treated hair. Sulfates still get some blame.
Sulfates like SLES are powerful detergents often found in shampoos. They create that satisfying lather, but they also strip your hair of natural oils, leading to dryness and frizz. If your shampoo leaves your hair feeling brittle, SLES might be the culprit.
Sulphate-rich shampoos are ideal for stripping hair since they help to release the colour - especially with dark or vibrant colours. These include clarifying or deep cleansing shampoo or anti-dandruff shampoo.
Dish soap is made to break up oil on dishes, which it will also do to your hair, so beware of desert-dry tresses if you try this method. Fortunately, if you go through the effort of using this drying soap on your dyed hair, it can help remove unwanted color.
There are some sulfates included in shampoos that can be quite strong and inadvertently cause your color to fade. They do this by penetrating the hair's cuticle, which strips natural oils and dries out your hair.
Vinegar rinse
The acetic acid in vinegar helps to break down the dye, making it easier to wash out. To use, mix one part vinegar with two parts water. After shampooing, pour the mixture over your hair and let it sit for a few minutes.
Diluted apple cider vinegar alone may remove build-up but it can also strip your hair color and leave a lingering smell.
While you have several options for DIY color stripping—from common household products to clarifying shampoo—Papanikolas says that ultimately, nothing is quite as powerful as bleach. "Using a bleach or a bleaching color remover are the ideal methods to remove color up to nine shades lighter," he explains.
Sulfates are harsh chemical surfactants that dry out hair and can strip away color. The best piece of advice from Dr. Joe: “When it comes to shampoo, take away the sulfates. And if you want the cleanest, healthiest hair and scalp, take away any ingredients that have nothing to do with cleansing.”
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.
Stripping color from your hair almost always includes the use of bleach, which is inherently damaging to your hair's structural integrity. There's a big difference between you bleaching your fragile mane over your bathtub and a trained salon professional doing it—and the two are entirely different experiences.
What ingredients should you avoid if you have color-treated hair? The most important part of caring for color-treated hair involves avoiding the following ingredients, as shared by pro colorist Richy Kandasamy: sulfates (SLS or SLES), parabens, sodium chloride, and petrochemicals.
What makes Head & Shoulders special is the addition of dandruff-fighting active ingredients such as Piroctone Olamine that protect your scalp in-between washes. These active ingredients do not strip hair colour. Does Head & Shoulders remove hair dye? It doesn't!
The two best ways to dye your hair brown naturally involve using henna or coffee. Whichever method you use, spread the dye onto your hair using your fingers after you've mixed it, making sure it covers each strand thoroughly.
Purple and blue shampoos help neutralize brassy tones in your hair, helping to lighten dyed hair and create a more desired shade.
That's right: One of the biggest reasons for faded hair color is hard water. The same hard minerals that cause limescale around your home can also strip away hair dye. The more you wash your hair with hard water, the worse the problem will get.
Sulfates are essentially detergents that give a shampoo that satisfying lather. Unless you have an easily irritated scalp, they're completely safe to use — but they're strong and can be stripping. That's why I would advise most people with treated hair to avoid them as they can cause color to fade faster.
Sulfonate and sulfates are related but distinct from one another. While a sulfate links directly to the carbon chain via an oxygen atom, a sulfonate links sulfur straight to a carbon atom. Although they do share several characteristics that make them more likely to irritate the skin, this chemical is not a sulfate.
Use a clarifying shampoo.
When you do later up, do so with a clarifying shampoo. These deep-cleansing formulas are designed to remove buildup from the hair and scalp and may aid in fading your color faster (just be sure not to choose a color-safe variety, as these are specifically designed not to strip color).
The acidity of white vinegar will help to remove the dye. Laura Martin, a licensed cosmetologist, advises: "Depending on the type of dye, vinegar may cause the color to fade, but it probably won't remove the dye completely. However, be sure to avoid using vinegar to remove red dye from hair."
Washing your hair with any shampoo — whether traditional or clarifying — will cause color-treated to fade. Although clarifying shampoo can remove color through repeated use, it isn't specifically designed for that purpose.