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Extreme hair color and punk dye has its time and place, but what happens when you're tired of it? Even when the color lightens, the stain it leaves behind seems to last forever. And you can't go about with lime-green hair forever! Fortunately, there's a way to remove the dye -- even if it is a stain at this point -- and get your old color back. If your hair is darker than the dye, you can simply color over it. If you have blond hair, you have to get a bit more creative.
1.
Take a color bowl -- any bowl will work if you don't have one, but the handle on the side makes it easy to hold while you apply the color -- and dump equal parts hair lightener and 20-volume color developer into it. Blend the two into a smooth consistency with the bristle end of the color brush.
2.
Brush the lightener onto the punkish portions of your hair. Break each section down into small sections so that the lightener will penetrate and saturate all the hair.
3.
Wait 15 minutes or until the hair appears blond without any traces of whatever color you punked yourself up with. Shampoo the lightener away. Towel dry your hair, but leave it wet.
4.
Pick a blond or light color that matches the rest of your hair. Mix it up with an even amount of 5-volume color developer in a color bottle.
5.
Squirt the color onto your wet hair -- it doesn't matter if it gets on all your hair or not. Just make sure you get all the spots you lightened.
6.
Wait 15 to 20 minutes. Shampoo and condition.
When you strip your hair, you damage it. Repair your hair after every chemical service with a weekly deep-conditioning treatment. Go to the salon or get an at-home conditioner that you can do yourself. Do it weekly for at least four weeks.
