Removing Lilac from Hair

I would suggest using the shampoo and bleach powder method.
This thread explains it: http://www.hairdyeforum.com/index.php?topic=13842.0

This thread also has information on fading techniques which you may not have tried:
http://www.hairdyeforum.com/index.php?topic=1704.0

Make sure to really baby your hair with moisture in between fading treatments as pretty much all of them are very drying 🙂

I would suggest using the shampoo and bleach powder method.
This thread explains it: http://www.hairdyeforum.com/index.php?topic=13842.0

This thread also has information on fading techniques which you may not have tried:
http://www.hairdyeforum.com/index.php?topic=1704.0

Make sure to really baby your hair with moisture in between fading treatments as pretty much all of them are very drying 🙂

Bleach powder sounds scary.. I'll look into it after a few more deep conditioning treatments, thanks 🙂

If all else fails, do you suppose I'd be able to a achieve a dark blonde shade without too much damage? Or is there too much purple pigment?

I would try using an anti dandruff shampoo and if that fails, use the shampoo+ bleach powder

Yeah I agree, bleach powder is best after other methods have been tried. Try the other methods in the fading thread 🙂

I have the best success with dandruff shampoo. I squidge it into just damp hair, cover with a shower cap, heat with a hairdryer, wrap in a towel to keep the heat in, leave for up to an hour then rinse with hot water.

I've had to use some of the other fading methods in the past, (dish soap etc) when my hair went a funny blue colour after a bad dye job, I want to avoid this kind of thing again, as it really irritated my scalp/skin. Even vitamin C leaves my scalp a bit dry.

Funny how I have no problems with bleach but these (less harsh) things leave my skin feeling awful!

Anyway thanks for the advice, I've purchased a really good deep conditioner and I'm going to trim the ends of my hair and be really nice to it for a few weeks, (whilst using an anti dandruff shampoo), and see where that gets me, if that fails I'll try the bleach powder and shampoo, ooh the horror!  🙁

Thank you  😀

Bleach powder on its own as a fading treatment isn't as damaging as bleach powder plus peroxide. All force fading methods are drying to both hair and scalp though. (Adding oils to the bleach powder and shampoo mix helps to combat the dryness.) The only one that isn't is a hot oil soak.
You could just be patient and wait for it to fade naturally, or tone the purple shades with a yellow toner to make it more neutral. If you are in the UK Superdrug do some good (cheap) warm blonde toners

Bleach powder on its own as a fading treatment isn't as damaging as bleach powder plus peroxide. All force fading methods are drying to both hair and scalp though. (Adding oils to the bleach powder and shampoo mix helps to combat the dryness.) The only one that isn't is a hot oil soak.
You could just be patient and wait for it to fade naturally, or tone the purple shades with a yellow toner to make it more neutral. If you are in the UK Superdrug do some good (cheap) warm blonde toners

Would it be likely to all fade naturally? Or will it be stained grey/silver? I guess it's hard to tell and different people will have different results.

I've seen the toners you're talking about, what kind of result would something like the honey blonde toner achieve? I'm kind of worried I'd end up with an even more bizarre result than I already have.

Sorry for all the questions, the help is really appreciated 😀

it has only been 6 weeks, so it should fade more with time. It is possible it has stained though, especially if your hair was really porous.
Violet and yellow are opposite colours so can be used to neutralise, usually we use violet to neutralise yellow tones, but it works the other way too. Depending on how strong either colour is you should get a more neutral grey or blondish colour, it will add a subtle brownish tone rather than silver. Obviously try a strand test first, but it should take you to a more natural colour.

So I thought I'd do an update, just in case anyone else with similar problems finds this post.

I decided to give my hair a little longer to fade, and after 2 weeks of washing my hair almost every day, (I usually wash my hair twice a week), with head and shoulders anti dandruff shampoo and leaving the shampoo in for a good 5+ minutes each time, my hair faded to a really ugly grey colour with slight hints of lilac in certain areas and a mucky blonde at the roots and ends.

I decided to follow the advice given on this thread, and bought the honey blonde toner from boots, I'm glad I did a strand test, as it turned my hair bright fluorescent green.. I really wouldn't recommend anyone to try this toner what so ever.

So, even more scared after my strand test turned green, I decided to just buy a blonde box dye (eek!), and I went with L'oreal Excellence Creme in 01 Lightest Natural Blonde. It completely covered my grey hair and almost completely covered the purple tints. My hair is now most definitely blonde, but definitely quite a bit darker and yellower than I had before ever dying it lilac, woops. I'd say I'm about a level 9 honey blonde, nothing that can't be fixed eventually I hope.

Thanks again for all of the advice telling me to wait a bit longer, it paid of eventually, but I did give in and use a box dye in the end, lots of TLC for my hair now I think!

What was the honey blonde toner you used? The one I recommended is from Superdrug, their own brand Colour Effects, it isn't sold in Boots. I have this myself, and have recently strand tested it on my own faded lilac hair, it definitely doesn't go green, just made the lilac more natural toned/blonde.
Purple dyes usually only turn green when bleached, was it a toner with peroxide in it?