If you dye your hair pretty often, you might have had that sad experience when, after washing your hair or after mixing the dye in a not quite correct manner (for example, without adding a conditioner), you get that weird smurf-like blue tint in your hair!
Of course, everyone who has ever faced this issue wondered how to get rid of that bluish tint, and also, you were definitely curious about why it showed up at all.
And since walking around your neighborhood with sky-blue hair is not the best solution, as we suppose, we are here to help you out and tell you more about the existing options of stripping the blue tint off your strands easily and with the minimal damage to the tresses.
So read on, dear ladies, and you will learn why your hair gets that wonderful shade after you wash it.
Also, we will share a few methods of its removal with you, and finally, you are going to find out what actually makes your locks turn blue or greenish-blue after you wash your mane.
How to Get Blue Tint Out Of Your Hair?
Discovering that blue tint in your hair is definitely not something that you want to see one day when looking at yourself in the mirror! However, this is what quite many girls go through when trying different hair dyes and hair coloring methods, especially if they do it at home without professional help.
You might think that dyeing your hair is very simple: you just need to buy a box dye of the desired color and mix all the ingredients, and apply them onto your locks according to the instructions.
Well, that’s basically how it works. But! We often tend to forget that there are tons of additional factors and nuances that we must take into consideration prior to applying anything – and especially the hair dye! – onto our manes.
Yep, we are now talking about color theory and colorimetry.
See, you might not be aware of this fact, but our hair actually has memory! Every hair product that we apply onto it, whether it is a shampoo, a developer, or a dye, leaves a sort of “imprint” in the memory of our hair. And so, every time we apply a new hair color, our locks memorize it.
And in terms of colorimetry, it is all about pigments. So if one day you find out that your hair has suddenly turned blue, that simply means that some residual product pigments are now taking the central stage!
In even simpler words, this blue tint shows up because your hair was previously treated either with a blue hair dye, a toner, or with a shampoo.
All right, you may say, that’s the case. But how am I supposed to get rid of it now?! Well, this is why er have prepared a few handy solutions for you below.
How to Get Rid Of Blue Tint In Your Hair With the Use Of Lemon Juice?
You might have heard that taking blue tint out of your hair is possible if you make use of either lemon juice or citric acid. However, we would not recommend you opting for this method!
See, first of all, it might work if you have a very light blue tint on your locks that is barely noticed. And even then, the chances are pretty low that the juice will cope with the problem and remove the color completely.
Naturally (and multiple attempts prove that), this natural method is useless for dealing with a deep blue tint.
And in addition, applying lemon juice or citric acid to your hair will make it extremely dry! So as a result, you will not only end up with the same blue locks, but they will also be dried out. Not the best scenario, right?
Related: How to Dye Blonde Hair Black Without It Turning Green?
How to Remove Blue Tint From Hair With Vitamin C?
To get rid of the tint of blue in your locks, you can give it a chance and try to use vitamin C. This option is cool for those who are on a tight budget and can’t buy a color remover.
However, if you are in a hurry and you have no time to go to a store to buy a remover, but you have some vitamin C at home, this solution is also right for you. In addition, using vitamin C on your hair is way less harmful for the tresses unlike the chemical color strippers.
So, what you need to do is to grab some shampoo, pour it into a plastic bowl, and mix in one or two tablets (or capsules) of vitamin C. If you have tablets, just grind them until you get a powder-like substance, and then simply mix it into your shampoo.
If you have your vitamin C in capsules, you might need to open them somehow to add the content to the shampoo, so this option might be a little bit more tricky.
Darshan Gajara, via Unsplash.com
Once you stir the mixture, apply it like you are applying hair dye.
Make sure it gets on every strand! Then, apply a shower cap (or anything to cover your head) for twenty minutes to an hour, and remember checking on it every 5-10 minutes.
When the time runs out, simply rinse the treatment out with water and apply your usual conditioner.
This method works best on semi-permanent to permanent hair dye. Now, it may not fully remove your hair dye, so try for another attempt if it doesn’t fully remove the blue tint.
Related: How to Dye Over Purple Hair?
Stripping Blue Tint Off Your Hair With the Help Of Color Remover
Another option that you can try out is to make use of a color remover. If you decide to stick with this one, you will need to consider a few important things first.
There are two kinds of color removers to choose from: color reducers and color strippers. Color strippers are a bit risky, we would say, as they work like bleach to remove your hair, which may be great if you are trying to figure out how to get rid of blue hair from toner, but if you want a less damaging option, opt for a color reducer instead.
With a reducer, you will be able to get rid of a permanent dye without damaging your natural hair color!
Also, you should keep in mind that color removers all have quite a strong smell!
So we would recommend you turn your ventilation fan on in your bathroom while applying this product, and also open the window if you have it there.
Like this, you will not get soaked with the odor and it will not spread into other rooms in your home.
Related: Astonishing Green Hair Color Examples
How to Get Blue Tint Out Of Hair Using an Anti-Dandruff or Clarifying Shampoo?
This kind of shampoo is normally used for removing any buildup whether it appears on the scalp or on your hair, which is why it works on hair dye, specifically for semi-permanent dyes.
This method is better if you are just trying to fade out your hair rather than removing it, so this works best if you have a fuller blue hair color than faded.
Also, you need to take into consideration that this method is a little time-consuming in comparison to others that we have described. It may take more than just a few washes so be patient if you want to use this method!
Getting Rid Of Blue Tint With the Use Of a Dish Soap
On the one hand, applying dish soap to your hair for removing the blue tint can work pretty well since the soap works similarly to clarifying shampoo, and the application process is also the same.
In addition, dish soap has cleansing agents that help to cope with the unwanted tint effectively.
However, this method has its downside.
When using it, do keep in mind that dish soap can be more damaging as it can dry out the hair due to its high acidity!
So if you plan on using this method, we ask you to make sure that you have good hair products that can repair your hair afterward!
If you are going to strip the blue tint off your hair with dish soap, you can make use of one of the two mixtures that work.
They are using one part shampoo and one part dish soap or one part shampoo and one part baking soda. Just spread it normally on your hair, and then rinse it out with hot water.
Just like the clarifying shampoo method, it may take several washes to see results, so be patient.
Get Some Sun!
If you are not in a hurry and you don’t need to strip that blue out of your hair immediately, you can opt for slower and way less harmful color removing methods. One of them is exposing your hair to the sun.
Of course, this method will only work in summer if you live in an area with many sunny days. Yes, this process is very slow, but the most natural if your hair is especially damaged.
By the way, this approach works especially well if you are trying to figure out how to remove blue tint from black hair, especially if it wasn’t bleached beforehand. Just go on a long walk or relax at the beach with your hair exposed to the sun.
The UV rays will do the work for you. So the only thing that you should bother about is to make sure that you don’t get sunburnt!
Try Out Bath Salts
Bath salts can not only be used for relaxing in a scented bath, but also for quite a successful color removal! The procedure is super simple: you add your favorite bath salt into the bathtub and dunk your tinted hair in!
The dye will most likely be drawn out, and in addition, your hair will get a pleasant aroma!
Of course, because of the salt, your locks may feel dry after you take them out of the salty water, so remember to rinse your hair after this procedure.
Swimming May Also Help!
If you like swimming, you can use your passion for helping you with the blue tint removal. See, the water that is used in swimming pools contains a high level of chlorine.
Chlorine can dry your hair easily, but if you swim often, pool water will definitely fade out that blue tint in your hair, especially if the dye is semi-permanent.
If it’s a permanent dye, repeated exposure to the pool might work.
Bleach
This is another method for dealing with the blue tint on your hair. But before you start bleaching, we want to remind you that bleach is a highly aggressive solution that can damage your hair pretty badly!
On the other hand, it is the quickest and the most effective method, so you decide whether you are ready to take that risk.
But if you have considered all pros and cons and you made your choice, make sure you have gloves and mix one part bleach powder and one part developer ranging from 10-30 since a 40 developer will damage your hair a lot.
Apply the mixture all over your head and make sure to get all strands of hair.
Cover with a shower cap or plastic bag for a maximum of half an hour, checking every 5 minutes to see the progress.
Dye Your Hair With an Opposing Color
If you don’t mind trying another color on top of that blue tint, you can try and color your hair with another dye.
This option can also work well for those who want to try a new color rather than go back to your natural hair color.
Dying with colors that are opposite of blue in the color wheel will create a new shade!
This works especially if you are trying to find out how to neutralize blue hair. Use red or orange dye and watch it do its magic on your tresses!
So, these were all the methods we know that can be used for removing the unwanted blue tint from your dyed hair.
Since some of them are rather harmful for your hair (such as bleaching), we recommend you take the current state of your hair into consideration. Otherwise, there is a high risk of damaging it even more!
Why Does That Blue Tint Show Up At All?
This is a common question that comes from those who have ever faced this problem. And there are quite many reasons for this to happen in fact.
- Your hair could be porous on the parts where it was over processed
- The color has reacted due to touching metal
- You could mix the components of the box dye improperly
- You dyed your hair ashy without using a conditioner
In any case, if you dyed your hair on your own and it turned out bluish, we recommend you show up at the salon and ask a professional colorist what you should do. Otherwise, if you continue to experiment, you can make things even worse!
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