vitamin c |

Hey!

So I’ve realized that I in fact have some pretty useful information under my belt that I would love to share. A while back I decided to dye my hair auburn. It was nice … (for a few weeks) and then I became increasingly agitated and start to feel like I wasn’t myself. The auburn turned into a rusty colour and my confidence was shot (I looked like I had dyed my hair with some dodgy £2 kit dye). I needed to get back to blonde but without completely wrecking my hair and at a cheap price. Here’s the steps I used:

Step 1: I started using the natural stripping method, which has been dubbed the ‘Natural Hair Dye Remover’. You create this by getting about 500mg of vitamin c, in any form. This can be the powder, crushed up vitamin C tablets or crushed up effervescent tablets. I would opt for either the powder or the tablets because I used the effervescent tablets and although it worked it created a HELL of a mess! FOAM EVERYWHERE.

Here’s my foamy mess. Yes. That is the foam erupting over the side of the cup.

You will also need a strong shampoo with sulfates in it. I chose Head and Shoulders (Original) just because I heard that’s the best for dye stripping. So here, for the people who are skim reading.

You will need:

500 mg of Vitamin C ( either powder, crushed pills or crushed effervescent tablets).
A squirt or enough to make a paste of high sulfate shampoo, such as Head and Shoulders.
A bowl
A mixer. ( I think I used a pair of scissors … I’m very disorganized)
You will also need a shower cap or a plastic bag… something to prevent the liquid from getting in your eyes because that occurrence is painful and I don’t want any of you guys to experience that!

You basically mash all of this together in the bowl and massage it into your hair like shampoo and leave it on your hair for 45 minutes plus. I must have kept mine on for a few hours just because I like to do things in excess but realistically had I left it on a bit less I probably would have seen the same results. You then just wash it out as normal and will probably see your old colour wash down the drain…my experience with this looked like a murder scene. You can repeat this as much as you like, I did it 2 times and I know it’s popular to do it 2-3 times just to get all of the colour out. I wouldn’t necessarily do it one after the other, straight away just because your hair will need some time to release natural oils to stop it from getting too dry so leave it a day or two. I love this method as it really doesn’t damage your hair. It in fact has been known to leave people’s hair in better condition due to the vitamin C.

Tips: Try not to massage heavily into the scalp as that can become painful and tingly. You may experience some tingling anyway ( I did) but it should be alright… obviously if it becomes really painful then wash the mask off.

When I first had it done I really liked it but in order to keep it up I’d have to dye it every three weeks.

My hair then kept fading to a rusty colour and for some strange reason I decided to cut my hair short around this time also.

This was taken after the stripping process. Here (although the photo doesn’t show it well, my hair was a mousy brown. The reddy tones had died down LOADS.

Step 2: Get HIGHLIGHTS. Do not, I repeat NOT go in with a full head of bleach. It’s such a bad idea. Obviously, if you really want to, you can do it but I really don’t advise it. The best way here is to work your way up. It’ll take longer but you will end up with far better results. Here’s a picture of me after my first full head of highlights:

Step 3: Start using Purple Shampoo. This is a God send. It really eradicates the brassy tones in hair and will start to give your hair the ashy tones that you’ve been looking for. (If you would want more of a honey blonde, don’t use the shampoo).

Step 4: After a month of having semi – ginger hair book an appointment to get another full head of highlights. After this time you should be able to see a real difference and have blonde hair again. Here’s my hair after my second load of highlights:

I use a purple shampoo regime, to keep my hair less brassy.

CHEAPER OPTION: You can obviously use home dying kits as well. The best ones for highlights will probably involve a cap and if you want to do it twice, make sure you leave an appropriate amount of time between uses as hair can be so fragile and once it starts to break, it’s so difficult to get it in good condition again.

I recommend: Pro-voke ‘Touch of Silver’ treatment. It’s really cheap and they have a whole maintenance range available. I use the concentrated shampoo once or twice a week and then use the maintenance shampoo and conditioner daily and then when I want to deep condition I use the deep conditioner.

All of these are super cheap and can be purchased here: http://www.boots.com/en/Touch-Of-Silver-Silver-Shine-Shampoo-Weekly-Treatment-150ml_1047911/

I am also currently conditioning my hair once or twice a week with olive oil concoctions, if you want to know more about them check out my ‘Hair Diary’ page. I’ll be putting up the conditioning masks I’m using soon.

If you’ve enjoyed this post and want to keep updated on my other stuff just follow my blog and if you’ve liked it please give it a like or a share. If you’ve had any similar dye experience post some pictures or write a comment about it in the comment section! I hope this’ll help some of you as I know how frustrating it can be when you can’t get the hair you want, when you want it. But don’t worry you will be able to get blonde hair back!

Thanks for reading 🙂

Emily X