My hair has been dyed black for the last couple of years always with a semi permanent dye usually Casting dye in liquorice. I recently decided I wanted to change to a dark purple. I was hoping to get away without bleaching first so I waited until my existing dye was really washed out and then tried a violet Live permanent dye hoping I'd get like a purple tint to my existing black. It dyed my roots purple but the ends of my hair stayed just plain black from the years of over dyeing. I don't think colour remover will work since its a semi permanent which means there is direct dye staining in there. So I figure I'm going to have to bleach it out. I've bought a box of Nutrisse truly blonde pre lightener and I'm currently sat with a load of coconut oil in my hair. I intend to bleach with the oil still on so I don't fry my hair. Then when its bleached I'm going to try and dye it with Feria Violet Vendetta. Anyway the bleach came with a sachet of anti brassy conditioner which is apparently a toner, it says it contains colourant. None of the bleaches i used in the past had this. Does anyone know if I actually need to use that if I'm planning on covering it up with another dye?
It's just like the small conditioner samples you get with box dyes, except with a blue/purple tint in order to avoid a orange/yellow tone. They're usually no good in my experience and if you're only going to lift your hair a little from black, it's probably not going to have any effect.
However, I would try with a colour remover first! It might not work on the semi's but the XXL dye is permanent, right? I wouldn't go straight to bleaching either if the goal is just to lift some colour - I'd try the colour remover first, then proceed with coconut oil bleach baths in order to minimize damage.
Definitely try colour removers first. They will get some of the colour out at least, and are far, far less damaging than bleach. I've found that Scoot Cornwall Decolour Remover works best. You can use it up to three times (although that's admittedly pricy) - once you've used that give your hair a few good cleansing washes and see what you're left with before hitting the bleach.
Oh cool, actually I have some colour remover already, I'd just assumed I couldn't use it because the black build up is from a demi permanent dye and I thought the removers worked only on permanents.
I'll try the colour remover and see how I get on. Can you use them with coconut oil in your hair or should I shampoo that out first?
colour removers work less reliably on semis and demis but it is most definitely worth trying first.
You need super clean hair, so wash out the oil with a clarifying shampoo. I'd give at least three shampoos to make sure everything has gone.
OK so I'm going to wash the oil out and then use colour remover. I have one box of pro:voke extra strength which came from I think B & M and one box of Colourless Max Effect which was from Superdrug. Do you think it matters which one I use?
Not really. I've had good results from both. Make sure to dry your hair after washing too π