Regardless of whether or not you want to fade the hair dye that you have recently put in your hair because you weren’t wild about the results, or just because you’ve had it in your hair for long enough and are looking to change things up once again makes little difference – trying to “revert” your hair color back to something neutral can be a real uphill battle.
Most people are aware of the fact that dying your hair over and over again (without first stripping out the established chemical hair color that was placed down first) will eventually end up destroying your hair – right at the roots, in fact – and you’ll even run the risk of having all spots later down the line. Obviously, most people don’t want to trade a hair color for dry, stringy, crunchy, patchy hair (the kind of hair they will end up with if they continue to “over dye their hair”). But that’s exactly why you’ll want to turn to a high quality dandruff shampoo.
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So do dandruff shampoos really fade hair color? Believe it or not, most (but not all) dandruff shampoo options out there are incredibly effective at helping you fade out the hair color that you already have on your head. It won’t fade away your natural hair, but will work to destroy the chemicals of the hair dye that you have used in the past – no matter how recently (or how long ago) you colored your hair!
The truth about dandruff shampoos and fading hair dye
For years and years, people have been talking about just how effective a solution dandruff shampoos are when it comes to stripping and ripping out old hair done.
However, most people (understandably so) believed that this was nothing more than an old wives tale – including those that have tried it firsthand and not gotten the kinds of results that they were looking for.
Well, there are a couple of different things we’re going to cover in this quick guide, but it’s important for you to understand that it is in fact possible for a dandruff shampoo solution to get rid of or at least fade out the hair dye that you already have on your head.
Why do people report next to no results with a dandruff shampoo?
There are a couple of different reasons that people may report having a less than glowingly positive results out of using dandruff shampoo to fade their hair dye, but the number one reason is that they aren’t using a suitably strong solution to get the job done – and they may not be leaving the shampoo in long enough or following the step-by-step directions necessary to maximize this chemical solution.
You see, if you want to really fade your hair dye (we are talking about almost eliminating it completely), you’re going to have to do a couple of things to really boost the inherent properties of a high quality dandruff shampoo. And that’s where the entire process begins: getting your hands on a high quality (almost pharmaceutical grade) dandruff shampoo!
The Internet (and your dermatologist) is your best friend
Before you jump ahead and start using a dandruff shampoo (any old off the rack solution at your local department store, for example), you’ll want to try and get your hands on a potent and powerful option – one that is just about pharmaceutical grade in its potency.
You’ll either want to speak to your dermatologist (an initial diagnosis that you do in fact have dandruff will probably be necessary before they will give you the “green light” for one of these high quality options, but a call can’t hurt) or you’ll want to jump online, fire up Google, and look for a “powerful dermatologist recommended dandruff shampoo”.
Regardless of the approach you take, you’ll end up walking away with a high quality solution that has the perfect blend of chemicals you need to destroy your hair dye without crippling the your hair (especially at the roots) – a win-win situation if there ever was one!
Other alternatives and options for fading your hair dye
If, on the other hand, you are like a slim minority of people out there that just aren’t able to get exactly the results they’re looking for, just by using a dandruff shampoo, you may have to “call in reinforcements”.
Bleaches, vitamin C capsules or gels, “color removal” solutions, swimming in chlorinated water, or just good old-fashioned exposure to the sun are all different options you can use to fade your hair color as well – though some of them (most of them, really) are probably going to take a lot longer to get rid of your hair color than you might be content with.
This is why you should use your dandruff shampoo in conjunction with some of the options above.
Obviously, you’re not going to want to mix bleach with anything else (and some of the color removal options out there also shouldn’t be mixed with absolutely anything during use), but you can use your dandruff shampoo with vitamin C capsules and gels, swimming in chlorinated water, or getting extra sun exposure on a day to day basis with zero negative side effects.
At the end of the day, it’s all about doing whatever you are most comfortable with to “get the job done”. It’s important that you understand just how defective a dandruff shampoo can be at fading out your hair color, which is why you’ll want to be careful using it if you’re trying to keep your “new look” around!
In regards to type of anti-dandruff shampoo, I’ve found two over the counter kinds. I’m wondering if one works better than the other for fading semi-permanent hair color. Type #1’s special ingredient is selenium sulfide. Type #2’s is pyrithione zinc. does anyone know which one works better for fading?
Hi Hope, thanks for your question. Selenium sulfide and pyrithione zinc are both very strong active ingredients found in most of medicated dandruff shampoos. There is no proof that one or another works best. Leave the anti-dandruff shampoo a bit longer on your hair before washing it. And use Warm to hot water – it works best for stripping hair of semi-color. Finally, you hair may be dry, so make sure you put a nourishing treatment in afterwards.
Does anybody know WHAT ingredient(s) in Head & Shoulders dandruff shampoo specifically causes the hair fading?? I have scoured the internet with no luck so far.
Hi, I probably responded to you on email already, but will do it here to so others can read it. The ingredient that makes the hair dye to fade is Sodium Lauryl Sulfate.
This molecule, which often goes by SLS, is a surfactant, a.k.a. a cleansing agent. Its most important use is to cleanse the hair and scalp—and, as a bonus, it produces that foamy lather that makes a good hair-washing seem so luxurious. However, this family of sulfates has also been the topic of controversy. Though sulfate-based shampoos do effectively clean the hair, they can also strip the hair of essential oils as well as irritate the skin. Think of how a too-strong face cleanser can strip skin and thus irritate it—same thing happens with sulfates. They are harsh enough to fade hair color.
So any good medicated dandruff shampoo will be good to strip hair dye away. After this you must use a good, nursing hair mask.