I recently started getting my hair dyed blonde (because why not!) but noticed that the rich blonde color always started to fade right from the first shampoo. Though it got me a bit furious, it left me a lot more curious – how do I get rid of brassy hair without damaging my hair or messing up its color?
Thankfully, some of my beautician friends pointed out an excellent way to kick out the brassiness in a quick, safe manner right from the comfort of my home. And the best part is that this isn’t any half-baked solution (trust me, you’ll find a million of them online) – it works perfectly fine and is highly effective in getting rid of the much dreaded brassy hair.
If you are also a victim of brassy hair, then stop worrying and read on to find out how to manage your blonde hair flawlessly in few simple and easy to follow steps.
But remember to follow each step just as mentioned and not to experiment – after all, your hair only deserves expert care!
What You Will Need to Fight Brassy Hair
Before jumping into the specifics of the method to fight brassy hair, please study the list of all the things you will need, shared below, carefully. Most of these things should be readily available at your home (check all the cabinets thoroughly!). Even if not, you should be able to spot these items in any leading supermarket near your home.
- Violet or purple food coloring. If this is not available, you will need three other food colorings – blue, green and red.
- Any regular shampoo or conditioned that you use to wash your hair.
- A clean, dry cloth or towel.
Since the proposed method makes use of food colorings which are usually made from all natural and non-toxic ingredients, expect this method to be gentle on your hair.
To ensure that you don’t miss any of the above items before starting to treat your brassy hair, I strongly recommend that you save these items in a list format on your phone or tablet.
This way, you can quickly access it when at the supermarket. Or you can simply bookmark this page on your browser and use it when ordering the necessary ingredients from any online marketplace.
Step by Step Instructions-How to Get Rid of Brassy Hair
Now that you have all the required ingredients, let me share the whole process step by step. Read each step carefully and follow just as specified, for best results.
In case you are doubtful that one or more ingredients stated above may cause any kind of allergic reaction, I suggest you first contact a dermatologist and seek advice.
Step 1
You will have to begin by mixing 2 to 3 drops of the violet or purple food coloring to a bottle of shampoo or hair conditioner. If you share the bottle of shampoo with someone else at your home, it may be better to buy a separate bottle for yourself.
If the shampoo looks perfectly violet, you are good to go. However, if the shampoo’s violet shade also includes a reddish tinge, you need to add 1 drop of blue food coloring to correct it.
Do not add more blue or violet drops under the assumption that a brighter purple color with speed up the process – it will not.
Step 2
If you do not have violet or purple food coloring available, then you will need to change the color of your shampoo using an alternate method.
- What you will need to do is add 2 drops of blue food coloring, 1 drop of red food coloring and 1 drop of green food coloring to the bottle of shampoo or conditioner.
The new color of the shampoo should be more bluish – violet than reddish – violet. However, if the color turns out to be red-dominated, then add just one more drop of blue food coloring to achieve the perfect shade.
And another important thing to remember is that the amount of blue food coloring added should always be more than the amount of green food coloring added.
Step 3
This next step is routine and simple. All you need to do is take the apt amount of shampoo and start applying it to your hair. Massage your hair thoroughly across the entire length of your hair, and even near the scalp.
Like most people, you may not wait long before rinsing your hair after applying shampoo, but you’ll have to make an exception in this case. Leave the shampoo on for a few minutes before rinsing it off.
Step 4
This step is only for people who chose to add the food coloring to the conditioner instead of the shampoo. Wash your hair with the shampoo as you usually do and then apply the conditioner with the added color.
Make sure to apply the conditioner evenly across the length of your hair for best results. But do not apply any conditioner on your scalp as this can leave the scalp dry and flaking. Leave the conditioner on for a few minutes before rinsing.
Step 5
In this last step, all you need to do is pat your hair dry using a clean, dry cloth. You may want to use a dark colored cloth just to ensure no residual food coloring stains the white towel.
Remember not to dry your hair by rubbing the towel aggressively over your hair – just dab and pat gently, and let the hair dry naturally after that.
If you are in a hurry, you can sit under a fan to dry your hair quickly. If you do rub the towel aggressively over your hair, you will risk hair breakage and damage.
Pro-Tips to Manage Brassy Hair
Yes, the method shared above is highly effective and is safe for all hair types. But my curiosity also yielded some pretty exciting and simple pro-tips that I’d love to share with you guys. So, here they are:
- If you have a party to attend in a few hours, and not enough time to carry out the process described above – do not panic. All you need to do is find a parlor nearby and ask them to apply a violet or blue-base toner on your hair. Toners are much gentler than dyes, so you do not need to worry about damaging your hair either.
- If you want to fight the brassy hair problem at the grassroots level, this tip is for you. Brassy hair is usually caused due to the iron and chlorine present in water you use to wash your hair. The iron, especially, adds a strong reddish tinge to your hair. To filter out the iron, chlorine and other impurities from the water, you can invest in a showerhead filter that replaces them with healthy, PH balanced potassium ions. The only downside is that these filters are usually quite expensive.
Conclusion
I would once again like to mention that the method described above, to get rid of brassy hair, is completely safe to use for all hair types. Adding food coloring to your shampoo or conditioner will not leave your hair in a damaged condition. The pro-tips shared above are also good ways to tackle brassy hair, but will cost you a bit of money.
I hope this guide on fighting brassy hair in a safe and effective manner will help you get back the flawless blonde look in no time. In case you have any queries or suggestions to share, please feel free to use the comments section below. Please do share this article with your friends if you think it may be of any help to them.
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