i have been dying my hair black for the last 18months, and now i feel like returning to blonde for a while, plus i'm going to ghana next summer and so i dont really want dark hair for that. i'm naturally blonde so i was wondering what is the best way to go back?? should i bleach it or get it stripped?? i've never done this before so any advice is helpful. also any product recommendations would be good, but i am in germany and so most products available in the US and the UK arent available here

Hi,
See if you can get Effassor. It's a L'Oreal product so most beauty supply shops will probably cover it. In case it's called something else in Germany it comes in a pink sachet with blue writing. Alternatively the assistant should be able to find you something to strip permanent colour.
If it was my hair I would try a strand test to see if it can be bleached out without doing the colour stripper. Either way you'll need to do some strand tests before applying it to all your hair so you don't get any unexpected results.
Keep in mind that after stripping the colour you may need to do further bleaching or toning to get a natural looking shade.

what exactly is a strand test?? i've seen it mentioned loads of times on here but i cant seem to find anything on the website explaining what it is and how to do it

http://haircrazy.info/BeginnerGuides/bleaching-your-hair/
About half way down the page.
I need to make that more visible.

thanks. i found it now. i'll post pics when i eventually get it done

If your going to strip it just make sure you keep it healthy by using like special conditioners and what-not..about a year ago i got mine stripped about 4-5 times within a month(by a professional) and i had to stay way on top of keeping it healthy and it still broke off quite a bit. but you should be fine as long as you keep up the maintenance on it.

i've just been to my local hairdressers and both of them refuse to bleach or strip the dye from my hair. its now been over 6months since i last dyed it (august) and its now a dark brown with blond regrowth but they still wont do it, one even said that it would turn my hair orange. is that true? has anybody else had this problem at hairdressers?? also are there any other products i could try to bleach/strip the colour myself? and what are the risks to my hair of doing it myself where a hairdressers dare not?

If you can get your hands on some One 'N Only Colorfix, I've found that is an excellent colour stripper. I was able to get dark red/black out of one of my friend's hair with only one application, and it's easy to use with minimal damage to the hair.


I've had that problem as well. Most hairdressers tend to be very cautious about what they are willing to do, as they don't want to be the one catching the blame if the process goes wrong, and bleaching/colour stripping is one of those things that it's rare to find a hairdresser who is willing to do it. But that doesn't mean it can't be done. As I said, I've gotten my friends' hair from various shades of dark brown and black to light blonde with just one or two colour strippers and a light bleaching.

Just wanted to add. L'oreal Color zap will take out black dye. I have been dyeing my hair black for 10 years and decided to strip it this weekend. I got it from jet black to reddish blonde in 2 hours. Since then I have been bleaching it every few days to lighten it up. It still has some yellow in it but its getting there. My point is, use L'oreal Colorzap, it will take all that unwanted color out.

ive also used the One 'N Only Colorfix and it took the black out fast, one use. it didnt go light blonde instantly, but a light bleaching would have taken care of it easily.