Why Can't I Lighten My Hair?

You can not Lighten Hair that is already Coloured with a Darker Permanent, Henna or Darker Semi Permanent Hair Colour.

For example:
You’re currently a Chocolate Brown and you want to Lighten your Hair to a Light Ash Blonde. So you apply the Light Ash Blonde over your Chocolate Coloured Hair and Natural regrowth, to end up with Lightened Regrowth and Toned Chocolate Brunette ends that haven't Lightened.

This is one of the most common at home Hair Colouring disasters, that commonly leads to an expensive trip to the salon.

When you want to Lighten your Hair, your Darker Hair Colour must first be removed.

Henna Hair Colour cannot be Colour Removed and needs to be grown out.
Semi Permanent Hair Colour needs to be washed out, back to your Natural Hair Colour.
Permanent Hair Colour can be Colour Removed out.

I want to go back to my Natural Hair Colour.

Use Colour Remover to completely remove your current Hair Colour (and Colour Build Up if you have it). Once removed, you will reach a warmer version of your Natural Colour thanks to the previous Developers you have used. Try the Toner Kit 48 hours after your last Colour Remover process to help Tone down your left over Warmth.


I want to Lighten my Hair by a shade.

Use Colour Remover on wet, towel dried Hair for a weaker Colour Removing process that will only slightly remove your Hair Colour.


I want to remove it all and start again.

Completely Colour Remove your current Hair Colour, including Colour Build Up if you have it. Do a Strand Test on a small piece of Hair to confirm that you have removed all the Colour.

Allow your Hair at least 48 hours to a week to settle before reColouring as Colour Removed Hair is very porous and will absorb Colour easily making it a shade or two Darker than expected.

When reColouring choose a Hair Colour two shades Lighter.


I want a big change and Colour clean out.

When you’re dreaming of being an Extra Light Blonde but you are Naturally Dark and have been Colouring with a Darker Shade for a long time, it can be hard to shift all that Colour out of your Hair.

Begin by Colour Removing. You can do up to 2 applications of Colour Remover a day to remove as much Colour and Colour Build Up as possible.

If you have left over stubborn Colour, you will need to Bleach Bath it out. Bleach Bathing is a slower, safer way to Bleach your Hair and remove all the Natural and artificial Colour pigment.

If you do choose to Bleach Bath, allow your Hair a few days to settle after Colour Removing, as although Bleach Bathing is weaker it can still damage your Hair.

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