Bleach or Colour B4? Help!!

I just got rid of my poppy red. I ended up super-fading it because I didn't want to bleach. I used 1 cup clarifying shampoo, 1 cup dish soap and 1/2 cup bicarb soda on my hair for 2 hours in 2 sessions. My hair is now close to blonde with some patchy barely pink bits at the roots. My hair was really dry, but after a good dose of reconstructor and conditioner it's feeling back to normal.

If you wanted to do either bb or b4, I would at least try b4 first. You never know, it could possibly work. Then maybe try a bleach bath.

The problem I find with trying to fade my hair is that my colour just does not fade. Whilst it is brilliant when I want to keep a colour, it's a real pain in the bottom when I want to get rid of a colour  🙁
I've tried many things girls on here have suggested before resorting to colour b4 or bleaching, just doesn't seem to work.

I'm just confused as what to do as I bleach my roots before I put the poppy red in so colour b4 would only return it to the bleach and obvs bleaching would add more bleach. Although a bleach bath is looking more attractive to me as it's softer and will attempt to strip the leftover colour.

If you wanted to do either bb or b4, I would at least try b4 first. You never know, it could possibly work. Then maybe try a bleach bath.

So if I used b4 and then kept shampooing and taking extra care with my hair, would I be able to put a permanent colour on next Sunday evening or does it have to be a semi-perma colour? It's most due to graduate job interviews sadly. Waving goodbye to my bright red hair 🙁

If you wanted to do either bb or b4, I would at least try b4 first. You never know, it could possibly work. Then maybe try a bleach bath.

So if I used b4 and then kept shampooing and taking extra care with my hair, would I be able to put a permanent colour on next Sunday evening or does it have to be a semi-perma colour? It's most due to graduate job interviews sadly. Waving goodbye to my bright red hair 🙁

Yep you could do that for sure

I would give it a good few washes with Fairy liquid to get rid of any 'excess' red dye, and dye over the top. I did it a few months ago for my grandpas funeral, and the red just gave the brown a nice mahogany colour instead of a flat, fake brown. I loved it. For a week! And then had to COlour B4 that bad boy and go back to red!

Going to attempt Stephanies mixture tonight as Pippa suggested lemon juice, head and shoulders and a shower cap (I didn't have any baking soda grr) and it's taken some of the colour out towards the ends. So I'm going to pop to the shop before work this morning and attempt to do so as I didn't spot you used the exact same day and it worked for you in 2 sessions! Must learn not to skim read, naughty me 🙁

I would give it a good few washes with Fairy liquid to get rid of any 'excess' red dye, and dye over the top. I did it a few months ago for my grandpas funeral, and the red just gave the brown a nice mahogany colour instead of a flat, fake brown. I loved it. For a week! And then had to COlour B4 that bad boy and go back to red!

Did you use a permanant box dye when you did the brown? And did the colour take?

Thank you so much for the advice ladies! First time going back to an actually naturalish colour so I'm scared as!! Eeep!! Will update later tonight hopefully ^_^

I used a semi permanent box dye, can't remember which one, but it worked just fine. The faity liquid does leave my hair really dry though, so had to do a good deep condition and wait over night to dye it. Good luck! Hope it all goes to plan!

This might sound like a really stupid question as I know hair is easier to work with when towel dry due to pores etc but do I put it onto towel dried or dry hair?

Hopefully going to get colour out over the next two days and dye it next Sunday evening so will have a weeks rest inbetween ^_^

we applied to dry hair, but added water to the mix, so it went like a mouse consistency

Last night I used recipie Pippa gave me (minus the bicarbonate soda as didn't have any in the house last night) and this is the result of having that on for half an hour:

Today I used the recipie Steph gave me, left on for 2 hours on towel dry hair and this is the result so far...

Not sure about results from tonight as doesn't seem too different to the original result, but going to try Stephs one again tomorrow as she seems to have had success with it after a second use!

Anymore thoughts?

I definitely had a higher lift on the second go, so hopefully it works! At least it's moving some of the colour for you.

Here's hoping! It did surprise me that even though I covered the whole of my head that it's stripped away more from a bizarre section (I went to work with it on Saturday morning and recieved a few Paramore related comments - not what I wanted!)

Haha, I actually really like the two colour effect you've got going on there! Good luck with shifting some more though. 🙂

2 hours 40mins later (got caught up in jobs around the house)

The upper red isn't budging at all so not sure what to do. The lower end is fairly gingery still (though when I bleach before putting red on I don't overbleach it so only get it to a ginger blonde so I'm not expecting it to go blonde!)

Not sure what to do from here. Had 3 goes at taking the colour out with soda/fairy liduid/shampoo but just doesn't seem to be doing much to the upper lengths.
Suggestions for the next move?