QUESTION: Hi Rona! I have naturally auburn red hair and through the years, I am sad to say I have dyed it. At the moment I have a darker auburn red and I’m wanting to lighten it up. I have no clue what color to use. I am scared I’ll dye it and it will go darker. What should I do? Thank you!
ANSWER BY: Rona O’Connor: It can most definitely go darker if you try dying it again. It will go darker if you use the same shade levels and using a lighter shade won’t make any difference. There are 2 way you can do this naturally.
1. Try fading the color by using a shampoo that is not for color treated hair. Tip: Use baby shampoo. This will create a gentle fade, or I have often recommended dish washing liquid that is clear or cream colored as this will definitely fade your hair.
2. This next method works if you have a lot of lightening to do. It can be done more than one time to achieve the lightness you want. However, the difference from one treatment is often drastic enough to get to the color you want.
Crush 15-20 vitamin C tablets in a bowl. Crush it into as fine a powder as you can. Then, add enough anti-dandruff shampoo to the crushed vitamin C for it to become a paste that you can work through your hair. Run the paste through damp hair and gently massage like you would with shampoo. Leave the paste in your hair and put on shower cap for 1-2 hours. If your hair gets dried out very easily, only leave it on for one hour. If your hair is normal, you can do 1-2 hours.
For either treatment used, apply a mask to moisturize your hair. These options are great and easy tricks to start the process at home.
