Beauty question...has anyone ever stripped their hair color? how?

[FirstLight]

I'm trying the Dandruff shampoo/vitamin C method... trying to pull out the pigment and see how my "natural" gray looks...

Been coloring my hair in some way since forever. Went red a long time ago and always felt it was my little "attitude enhancer"

But I recently have been following a lady on Instagram who has doen the transition back to gray and she looks amazing, so I thought for my bday this year I'd give it a try

I'll be 51 tomorrow

[Wawannabe]

1. Happy Birthday

No tips for ya. I turned 50 in Oct and adore the silvery look that some young people sport. I am dirty blond but it goes super brassy when I color. Which I stopped doing cuz I think the color resembles idiot in chief and idiot daughter’s hair. Blech 🤮

[FirstLight]

3. lol...yeah, that's definitely NOT the look Im ging for either!

Hence the no bleach approach...the red would make my hair orange grossness!

thanks for the bday wish

[lisa58]

2. I wanted to do that when I decided to let my silver shine...

I just wanted silver highlights until it grew out (I have long hair). Everyone I asked told me stripping my color out would just fry my hair and force me to cut it. So I just grew it out. It was gorgeous at every step - as my silver grew in and my color got brassier I has a self-imposed ombré that people would compliment and ask me ‘who did that for you?’ It took me a year and a half and I couldn’t be happier.

Good luck

[FirstLight]

4. I was goinna try to grow out but Im not that patient! lol

I might even do a stripping shampoo and just super condition after. My hair is pretty long, so growing out would take a year or so!

[lisa58]

5. I have a friend that grew it out and used Spray color...

And then cut it all off- Good luck and let us know how it turns out

[Buzz cook]

6. This guy seems to jnow

[FirstLight]

12. love brad!

The dandruff shampoo was not enough, didnt even touch it...

gonna play with a test strip and see what else I can do... probably need to buy a good stripping shampoo

[MLAA]

7. If at all possible I would go to a salon.

It requires bleaching out your hair and plenty to go wrong at home. Unless your hair is super, super short, I would t risk it at home.

Once bleached it will look yellow. They then apply a toner. From then on you can use a purple shampoo that will keep brassiness/ yellow at bay once or twice a week.

I had it done about 6 months ago.

[MLAA]

9. Forgot to add....

The results will also depend on what color your natural hair is. For example if salt and pepper, it will look weird for a while until all the bleached hair grows out or you will have to go have the new hair bleached every 5 or 6 weeks. If you are mostly white or the same color of gray all over it can look good right away after the toner. Another option is just cut it super super short and let the colored hair grow out. Quarantine is a perfect time to go this route 🙂
Another good reason to go to a salon is to figure the best way for you. You can also find plenty of videos on line.

[Fla Dem]

8. I just let it grow out. As did my sister.

We both get compliments on our natural gray/white hair color. Best thing I ever did letting it grow out. Started going gray in my late 20's. Colored it for the next 30+ years. Finally stopped when I wasn't working full time anymore. A little older than you are now. Best decision I ever made. Made my life so much easier. Depending on how fast your hair grows, just let it happen naturally. It's not like you'll be going to a lot of events in the next few months.

Happy New Year AND Happy Birthday.

[Niagara]

10. I've never had to strip hair coloring before.

Although, many years ago I had to strip rust out of my hair with mayonnaise and crushed vitamin C after leaving on about 20-30 minutes.




How exciting that you're a New Year's baby. Do you know if you were the first born at the hospital for New Year's? Happy 51st Birthday, FristLight!

[FirstLight]

13. Yes! ... fifteen seconds after midnight!

First baby of the Decade in the Bay Area!

I had show & tell fodder for years... lol

[Niagara]

16. That is neat!

Not everyone can say that they're a New Year's baby!


That's definitely an interesting fact about you.

[frazzled]

11. I'm surprised you'd go silver at 51

I know some people do, though.

Me, I have 2 decades on you (I turn 71 in a few months), and I started coloring my hair at maybe age 63 or 64, because my medium brown hair wasn’t getting nice and gray at all, just mousy. I’ve only ever had my hairdresser use a toner (not permanent dye), which just fades out naturally after 8 weeks or so of shampoos. I liked it because it matched my brown hair but turned the few graying strands sort of golden.

Come the pandemic, I did it once or twice at home, but decided since about August to just see what my hair is doing on its own. It’s still mostly brown with a bit more dull, colorless streaks in a few places. No nice silver at all!

Transitions are hard. (My Mom ‘s hair didn’t turn mostly silver until a few years ago, and she’s 95!). I may continue the semi-permanent color and fading, until I get enough gray to look nice. It could take a loooooong time!

[FirstLight]

14. when I look at my roots, there's a LOT of white/silver!

I think I have been graying for a decade or two... my dad went gray and silver early too!

[Fla Dem]

18. See my post #8. Started going gray in late 20's. Totally great by late 30's.

[FirstLight]

15. dandruff shampoo mix didnt really do shit after one hour...

doing a test strip with a bleach wash now...20 mins to set... and I do have some purple toner shampoo too... if I can lighten the strip enough I could do the whole head...

since I have been coloring my hair since I was 16, at least I'm good with technique

[musette_sf]

17. I'm just going to wait until I can go back to a salon.

I've been coloring my hair for nigh on 50 years... until March of this year. I was pretty sure, from watching my root color change over the years, that by now I was mostly white on top, and frowsy mixed brown/grey in the back. And that is exactly what it is. It's also longer now than it's been since the late 80s.

When this is all over I think I will go to a just-below-chin-length bob, instead of the shorter bob I've had for years. I've been wearing old-school cellulose headbands to keep my hair back and I am kind of liking them.

As for color, when the time comes, I'm not as lucky as those who have naturally gorgeous grey or white hair and never have to dye again. The brown/grey in the back is really a buzzkill. So I'm considering either stripping it all out for white all over, or doing a lighter blonde tint than I was doing prior to March. I'd hoped to escape the coloring routine but for me it is not to be.

[Wicked Blue]

19. Sorry I can't offer advice about gray hair. I color mine with henna

I'm sensitive to a lot of chemicals including many cosmetics, shampoos, etc. Used to color it blond, but stopped to avoid chemicals in the dyes.

Also my family goes gray very slowly, if at all. Instead of going gray or white, my hair at the roots is turning mousy light brown with a few strands of white or gray. Used to be dirty blond.

I started buying henna at one of the local Indian grocery stores years ago. Now I buy it online. The henna makes my hair a warm medium brown with reddish highlights. It also has more body and shine. It is possible to have allergic reactions to henna - the packages warn you to do a patch test.

Just putting that in in case you or any other DUers might be interested.

Have a wonderful birthday!

[appalachiablue]

20. The henna coloring sounds interesting, is it from an

online salon or more general outlets. Thanks.

[Wicked Blue]

21. This link is to a site that sells henna and related products

but also has lots of information about henna and how to use it. I've bought from them, but sometimes I buy plain henna from Amazon.

https://www.ancientsunrise.blog/

[appalachiablue]

22. I'll check those out, thanks and happy birthday.