How to Lighten Color-Treated Hair

Many women (and quite a few men) have boldly wandered down the hair coloring aisle and emerged with what they believe will be the perfect color for their hair. Of course, no matter how closely matched those tiny little acrylic hair samples are, they can never take into account the dozens of factors that make up your particular hair, including texture and overall health. Sometimes the warmest auburn dye can turn jet black no matter how closely you follow the directions. Luckily, there are some simple steps you can take to help lighten your newly color-treated hair.

Things You'll Need

• Baby shampoo or lemon-scented dishwashing soap
• Hot water
• Your regular conditioner
• Clarifying shampoo
• Moisturizing conditioner

Instructions

1. Wash your hair three times with baby shampoo immediately after discovering that your color-treated hair came out darker than you expected. Though baby shampoo has an adjusted pH to avoid irritating eyes, the formula is actually relatively harsh because it has to battle serious grime like food, gum and anything else children may get in their hair. You can also use lemon scented dishwashing soap instead of baby shampoo.

2. Condition your hair normally. You may suffer from the frizzies while you're going through this lightening process, but some heavy conditioners actually seal the hair shaft, and this will prevent the dye from leaching out, making this process much more difficult.

3. Use the hottest water you can tolerate to wash and rinse your hair. This actually forces the shaft of the hair to open up and let the shampoo draw some of the dye out. Rinsing with hot water will cause the shaft to remain open after it is dry, letting some of the dye come out on its own.

4. Repeat steps 1 through 3 again the following day.

5. Wash your hair on the third day with a quality clarifying shampoo. Clarifying shampoos are designed to strip your hair of any styling gels or oil buildup due to regular styling. The higher acid level in the shampoo will help pull the last bits of loose color out of your hair, allowing it to lighten as much as possible get without consulting a professional.

6. Slather on a professional salon grade moisturizing conditioner after washing on the third day. You can usually pick up a single-use packet of these conditioners from your local salon supply store. Of course, if you color your hair regularly, then you'll want to get into the habit of deep conditioning your hair at least once a month as well as after you have color-treated your hair each time.

7. Consult a professional hair care specialist if you need to lighten your color treated hair any more. Call the hair dye manufacturer's customer help line for color troubleshooting help. Often they can assist you by suggesting another specific color to re-dye your hair with to create the shade you were originally after. If they are unable to help you, then contact your favorite salon and make an appointment within three days of your initial disaster.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't panic! Remember that no matter what kind of disaster you run into, your hair will grow out and you can start all over again. In the meantime, if you can't lighten it enough for your tastes, then wear a hat or try a daring new short haircut to lessen the impact.

• Do not use bleach or peroxide to lighten color-treated hair. This leads to some seriously scary colors like neon greens and oranges and can also cause great damage to your hair.