I’m thinking about stripping the colour off my hair and would like your product choices, along with success stories and naturally, a few horror ones to keep it real......<gulp>

[saythatagain]

The title says it all really. I’ve done a quick search, but there’s nowt so good as Mumsnet for getting the good, the bad and the frizzy.....!
I’m at m’half centuary and fancy seeing what’s beneath years of colour. I’m prepared for not liking what I see and have a plan B in place. TIA.

If you strip the colour out ie a colour remover it won't just be your natural colour underneath, it will be orange ! Even dark hair dyes have peroxide in to allow the colour molecules to penetrate ( been there done that! )
Plan b for after -it will grab colour , only use a temporary colour to tone it down , semi or permanent will go much darker than supposed to be and you are back at plan A ( been there too !)
I gave up , grew two inches of roots out and chopped the lot off !!
Good luck :)

Sorry but itsaldramarama is right - it will turn orange, may also smell odd and you’ll end up adding with another dye job. Growing it out is the only way to see what’s really there but consider getting highlights/lowlights every 4 mths to break up the growth line and/or chopping off a good few inches to speed things up. You won’t regret it!

I have always removed my colours with Vosene and crushed vitamin c. (I am option making mistakes and this always works well without too much damage)

I've used Colour b4 to strip dye. It was orange underneath, not the natural dark brown I was expecting.

It will be orange, don't dye straight over it as it will re oxidise and turn back dark!

I've used colour b4 and another one I can't remember and my hair didn't go orange, just back to grey/brown.

I've been using home dye for ages.

Yes it will be orange, but I've dyed straight after colour stripping before and it didn't go black like pp, I was using it so I could go lighter and all turned out fine

I used to box colour my hair red, not bright red. I had it professionally stripped at my local salon. It went bright orange 😂 but it did enable me to colour it brown and eventually go blonde.

It’ll go orange!

Here’s mine after stripping

Yes to orange hair, but I quite liked the orange.

I used colour b4 it wrecked my hair. It made the bottom 4 inches or so feel like matted straw till I gave up and cut it off. But that was a few years ago, and now my hair is undyed.

I know someone who colours her hair at home. Wasn't getting the desired effect so did an at home colour stripper and new colour. She was able to achieve the colour on the box and was pleased with the result. I don't know what product she used but her hair is strong and thick.

Blimey, I don’t think I’m prepared to do that. Upon further investigation I came across a homemade version of mixing Head & Shoulders with baking soda (that’s bircarbonate in the UK I’ve since discovered); smear that on, leave for 30-45 minutes, violá!
If that doesn’t do anything, I’ll do what the pp recommended and let it grow out........ That’ll take foreverrrrrrrrrrr, because my hair grows very slowly. In my head I’m going to be a very youthful-looking, yet middle aged woman with fabulous salt & pepper hair. Focus. Focus. Focus.

You might be better with growing it and adding highlights&lowlights to break up the colour.

I'm glad I've never gone down the ColourB4 route, I'd look like Dennis Pennis