8 Best Hair Color Removers to Erase Bad Dye Jobs
Whether you need to nix red hair, black hair, or bright tones, let's forget that bad dye job ever happened.
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Sometimes the perfect hair color doesn't turn out quite as planned, whether you tried at-home hair color or not. Maybe the red hair color you picked looked amazing in photos, but doesn't necessarily flatter your skin tone. Maybe your color turned a shade or two (okay, or five) darker than you had hoped. No matter what happened, if you're wishing there's an undo option for your dye job, hair color removers help fix color mishaps.
When shopping for hair color removers, celebrity hairstylist Kiyah Wright says that you should try to avoid harsh ingredients (like bleach and ammonia) to avoid damage to your hair and prioritize a product's gentleness. Read the individual packaging to determine how to apply and how long to let the product sit on the hair, as every formula is different: Typically, you can't just douse on your head and call it a day. "Apply it section by section, just like color, on the hair shaft," says Wright. Keep in mind that color removal isn't a blanket fix — you likely won't be get back the color you started with, and the dye may only fade instead of disappearing entirely.
We vetted user reviews and tapped Wright's expertise to find the best hair color removers on the market, whether you used temporary dye, natural hair dye, or otherwise. Below, the picks that will help you erase even your most egregious hair color mistakes. Removers often have a strong smell, so apply in a well-ventilated area, and be sure to follow up with a hair mask to renew moisture as hair color removers can dry out your strands!
Katie Berohn is the Beauty Assistant at Good Housekeeping, Woman's Day and Prevention magazines, all part of the Hearst Lifestyle Group. She graduated from the University of Colorado, Boulder, with a major in journalism and minor in technology, arts, and media, and earned her Master’s Degree at NYU’s Graduate Program of Magazine Journalism. In addition, Katie has held editorial internships at Denver Life Magazine, Yoga Journal, and Cosmopolitan, a digital editorial internship at New York Magazine’s The Cut, a social good fellowship at Mashable, and has freelanced for HelloGiggles. When she’s not obsessing over the latest skincare launch or continuing her endless search for the perfect shade of red nail polish, Katie can be found in a hot yoga class, trying everything on the menu at New York’s newest restaurant, or hanging out at a trendy wine bar with her friends.
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