Vitamin C Hair Colour Removal [Attempt One: Method]

I've had my red hair for a while now and to be honest a change is long over due. Due to work commitments I had to keep it red or go a natural colour. I wasn't ready to commit to a natural colour so red I went. Now I don't want the red anymore so I'm gonna dye it the colour I want and then buy a wig to wear for work (I work in an office which I barely leave so I should be able to get away with it :3).

Lemme just say: this red is a pain to get out. I've been trying for a while to fade it and although it fades, it doesn't fade fast enough. - but its no where near as stubborn as the blue I went before this - I needed it to come out faster but I didn't want to bleach it and hurt my hair so I found the Vitamin C method which is supposed to strip the colour without damaging it any where near as much as bleach does.

The next to posts will tell you how to do it and my experience with it. PLEASE NOTE: This is only attempt one. I have at least two more attempts yet before I can give a good review with noticable results.

METHOD! And Equipment!

This is the equiptment I used along with a rubber glove (that broke so I ended up not using it), my shower (duh), two plastic shopping bags and a mixing bowl (the one for dyes is just fine :3).

My Vitamin C tablets were cheap ones I bought from my local Co-Operative (£1.69). You get 30 tablets and I used roughly 12 / 13 tablets but some of the mixture was left over so if you have regular thickness and medium length hair like mine *inserts photo below* you should be okay to use less. I also picked up some tablets from the 99p store which were (obviously) 99p. I haven't used them yet so I don't know if they'll work any differently but both boxes came with 30 tablets and each tablet was 500mg.

My shampoo is anti-dandruff shampoo also from the 99p store which was (you guessed it!) 99p. When doing this method anti-dandruff shampoo is the best to use as it strips the colour more than regular shampoo (you can use clarifying shampoo also but in my experience its hella expensive and you get a lot less).

You're also gonna need a good conditioner just to restore and repair your hair. Even though this method is a lot less damaging than bleach I assume its still going to cause minimal damage so why not look after and pamper your hair with a repairing conditioner afterwards? I got mine from Savers and it was £2.49 (I think).

So now that you have all your equipment, lets get on with the method!

1.) First you have to crush your tablets into a fine powder. Kinda like cocaine. Don't snort it. SIDENOTE: I was stupid and forgot to do it before hand so whilst my hair was dripping wet from my previous shampoo (see next step) I was crouching over the floor crushing tablets into a tissue using my shampoo bottle. If you're smart and organised unlike me, put 10 - 15 tablets (change the quanity to the length and thickness of your hair) into a resealable food bag and crush them into a fine powder with a hammer or a rolling pin - or just do what I did ^ idm - preferably outside so you don't ruin the kitchen counter.

2.) Wash your hair normally with warm water and anti-dandruff shampoo over the bath but DON'T condition it - that's for later.

3.) Put the powdered tablets into the mixing bowl (tbh you could buy the tablets pre-crushed but I couldn't find any and was getting too lazy to walk around the shopping centre anymore :3) - See it looks like cocaine? Not that I have first hand experience with cocaine...I just watch a lot of TV

3.5.) Add enough shampoo so that it covers the powder completely and so it will cover your whole head of hair adequately.

(<- Like so)

4.) Mix the two together. I used my fingers (covered in a glove) for this part because it doesn't harm the skin (or so I found (see later steps)) but you could use a tint brush or old paint brush or wooden spoon - idc - to mix them both together. Mix until well blended! SIDENOTE 2.0: I think the mixture smells quite nice afterwards but my nose isn't yours so watch out for the smell :3

5.) Pile it onto your head so that you can lather it and feel the bubbles in your hair. SIDENOTE 3.0: I used my bare hands for this because my glove broke (stupid glove ;-;) and it didn't seem to hurt or irritate me. If you put an adequate amount on and really rub it in your hair is going to feel really thick and saturated in it but thats cool I guess - the more the merrier? Idk...that's how I did it anyway :3

6.) Once you finished applying the product you're gonna need to cover it. A shower cap will do but you'll ruin it with hair dye stains so I'd use a trusty plastic shopping bag. Wear the fashionable accessory like so. *inserts photo*

SO FASHIONABLE AND STYLISH!

7.) Now for this next bit: I'd stay in the bathroom or stand in the garden or the bath itself because the dye is going to start dripping everywhere *inserts another

photo*

Honestly it looks like I have a really bad head wound.

You gotta keep it sitting in your hair for like half hour to an hour or more (idc its your hair - do what you think is right) so it can process and really get into the pores of your hair. My colour dripped in a lot of places but HEY at least I knew it was working. I left mine on for half an hour, I intended to leave it on for longer but Dad needed to pee. Great timing Pa! :3

8.) Simply take the bag off when your time is up and wash it out with warm water. Make sure all the bubbles are gone and then load it up with conditioner but don't rinse it out yet.

9.) Get a clean bag (or shower cap) and shove that on your head mainly to keep the weirdness of conditioned hair out of your face and daily duties but also to catch the drips that fall every so often.

10.) Let some time go by (I sat with the conditioner in for half hour (I think) whilst typing up this method but now I'm gonna go wash it out) and then rinse it out with warm water. Blow dry it or let it air dry and taa daa!

Now lets see my results! Only kidding -- They're going to be on my next post that will be up shortly otherwise this one would just be too long and boring!

Thank you for reading :3

Littlehelp3r