When I first dyed my hair red last year I really struggled to find blog posts on how to stop the red from fading because anyone who has ever dyed their hair red will no it fades pretty much after one wash. I found myself having to dye my hair every 3/4 weeks and in between that time being a weird ginger colour and wrecking my hair in the process. Split ends galore! Everything in this blog post is things I've learned myself or tips and tricks I've picked up on the internet.
Red hair dyes I have used and would recommend:
I'm a big lover of Garnier when it comes to red hair dye. I personally think that they have the best range of red shades. I've used all the red hair dyes below but there are even more shades than this! Garnier Olia has no ammonia in it so this is really good if you're trying to keep your hair as healthy as possible. I'm currently using Garnier Olia Dark Garnet Red 4.62 which has given me this amazing red wine colour which you will have seen in my latest photos.
Maintaining red hair:
I didn't think there was anything you could do to maintain red hair other than dye it all the time however, after browsing in Savers I came across Smart Beauty Colour Boost Vibrant Red. This little red hair life saver is an absolute god send. It lifts your colour dramatically and looks as though you've just dyed your hair. It contains no ammonia or PPD which means it doesn't cause any damage to your hair. It even says "no hair damage" on the box itself.
How'd ya use it?
Whilst showering after you've shampooed and squeezed out all the excess water in your hair apply a 1/4 of the bottle into the palm of your hand and apply it to your hair like shampoo. Try and make sure all your hair is covered. Leave it in for 3 minutes, rinse it out and then apply conditioner. It's as simple as that. No mixing, no carry on. However, if you wish you can apply it like a hair dye using gloves and leave it for 30 minutes to get a more intensive colour but if it's just to top up your already dyed red hair then there's no need.
Just a wee warning though, you will look like you've murdered someone in your bath, it will stain your towels and your hands (a little bit). So use black towels and clean your bath and hands quickly after use.
How to remove red hair dye without using harsh colour removers:
I absolutely hate those Colour B4 kits with a passion. Katie Price promotes it, says it all really. They not only wreck your hair but they absolutely stink and just leave your hair ginger and all kinds of fucked up. I removed my red hair all naturally by myself and went from bright red to brown hair with highlights for my graduation back in June. My hairdresser was stunned when I told her I had dyed my hair over 5 times red + topping it up with colour boost and still managed to get every last trace of it out.
Get yourself a giant bottle of the minty Head and Shoulders and a big bottle of conditioner. Wash your hair every single day with Head and Shoulders shampoo. It's a really harsh shampoo full of chemicals but because of this it strips the colour out of your hair. This will dry your hair out a little bit so make sure you apply lots of conditioner afterwards each time. Once you've been doing this for a week or more you'll be left with that weird washed out ginger colour. So, the next thing you want to do is tone all of this out so you're left with a natural brown colour as a base to work with for your next colour of choice. You will need green food colouring and more head and shoulders shampoo ( and now you're probably thinking "wtf"). The reason for green food colouring is green cancels out red the same as violet cancels out yellow/orange which is why you get violet toner for blondes which I mention in my how to maintain blonde hair post.
Get a mixing bowl. Fill the mixing bowl with Head and Shoulders shampoo, apply the green food colouring and mix together until it becomes a dark green mixture. Apply this all over your hair like you would if you were dying your hair and leave it in for 15 minutes or more depending on how bad the red tones are in your hair. Once you've done this wash it all out and apply conditioner. Your hair will now have some green tones in it. Next thing you want to do is buy an ash brown hair dye. It has to be specifically ASH brown because ash brown hair dye has green undertones in it which will help to cancel out your red tones and give you an even colour. Apply this to your hair and you should be left with normal brown hair. Ta-dah! :)
Gina xo
