Color Oops Extra Conditioning Hair Color Remover, 1 Application, Hair Dye Remover Processes in 20 Minutes, Safely Removes Permanent & Semi-Permanent Dye, Ammonia & Bleach Free

I have been dyeing my hair for years and years. My natural color was auburn when I was younger but I started going gray early. Over the years, I've mostly dyed my hair some shade of auburn. I've decided I'm old enough to stop coloring my hair so I switched to strawberry blonde color to lighten up before letting my natural silver/light gray color grow in. Unfortunately, that left me with silver/light gray roots and enough lingering strawberry blond that it looked bad when my hair is wet. Since an upcoming family reunion will include pool time I didn't want that look.I decided to color my hair to closely match my natural color so it would gradually blend in. That plan went horribly wrong when a dye labeled as ash blonde left my hair gunmetal gray. So dark it was almost purplish black. I knew I couldn't go back to strawberry blonde since it was so dark and three daily shampoos with dandruff shampoo lightened it to more of a grayish brown but not enough that my light roots won't really show at the reunion. I decided to try this color remover.According to the directions, I could expect this product to remove the dark dye color but would likely leave my hair blonde even though that's not my natural color. I figured that would leave my hair light enough that my natural silver/light gray color should blend in as it grows. I applied the dark color on Monday and used this product on Saturday so the dye was new.The directions are to apply the product and put on a shower cap for 20 minutes (or maybe 25). Then shampoo your hair then rinse it for 15-20 minutes. After that you are to shampoo again then rinse it for five minutes three times. Then condition. You use your own shampoo and conditioner. My concern with doing this in the shower was that I would run out of warm water. I figured I could handle cold water on just my head so my intent was to do this in the kitchen sink but it's metal. The directions clearly say this product is not supposed to come into contact with any metal surface. I decided to do this leaning over the tub using a handheld sprayer. After ten minutes of rinsing, my knees and back hurt and I knew I couldn't continue in that position and moved into the shower. Luckily, I had enough warm water. I ended up following the directions so at the end I had shampooed four times and rinsed for a total of 35 minutes plus a few more minutes of time to condition, let it sit then rinse it out.I was left with very light blonde hair, a color I've never had. But it's light and I can see that my natural color should just blend in as it grows. I used a good shampoo (not the dandruff shampoo) and conditioner during the process. My hair was left in good condition, just a little drier than normal. I think I could color my hair again if I wanted and it wouldn't damage my hair. The product smells no worse than my hair dye did. In fact, it left no lingering odor in the bathroom.I recommend the product, but be prepared for the process. It takes a while and requires a lot of rinsing. I have short hair and one bottle was plenty for me. I'm sure for longer hair you'll need a second bottle.

Update:Okay, so I ended up having to do a lot of work to get my hair more like my natural color. After stripping the hair using this product I attempted to use a toner. As you can see in the photos it did lighten it. But it's still ended up looking really red later. I could have probably left it alone and got used to it but it was driving me crazy. So I went and picked up a box bleach (cuz I just didn't feel like dealing with powder since I don't have a second mirror behind me in my bathroom now) and then I used a different toner in a different shade (opted for a blue instead of purple toner). The last picture was the end result. And I think I got pretty close to my natural. Enough that my hair can grow out and blend better.Original Review:Unfortunately, I guess if you go red, it considers it a "lightener" and this stuff doesn't really work (because it says in the instructions that it won't work if you go lighter. It'll only work if you go darker when you color your hair). I will say that it DID lighten my hair, almost as if it bleached it slightly, but leaving that brassy yellow-orange. Ugh. I don't know if a toner can help but I guess I have no choice but to try.Yes, this IS drying. However, my hair was already pretty damaged since I used a boxed hair dye before that was on the cheaper side, and it did a number on my hair. So I can't blame this product for that. It actually did not dry out my hair as much as I thought it would. I didn't experience any shedding while applying\rinsing over what I normally experience - but that doesn't mean I won't have break off later. If the break off is really bad I will try to remember to update this post. If I use a toner and it helps I will try to remember to update this post.I will include all kinds of before and after pictures. Please keep in mind that the camera on my phone is awful and it's always adjusting the color\hues... However you can see there is a difference. Just not the result I was hoping for. Nonetheless, with it pulling out a lot of the actual red and just going lighter it might make it blend better as my natural grey grows out. So I don't think it was a total waste. Just not the results I was hoping for.One thing that I have going against me is that I was born a natural redhead. And so even when my hair was greying I still had copper highlights (you could really see them in natural lighting)... I think this hair color-stripper just brought those copper highlights out in their natural form LOL... which is kind of funny. I do notice that in a lot of the after pictures you can see streaks of white. So it definitely took the color out where I was naturally white already.

Works as described and did exactly what I wanted. I have gray hair now and often use a blond color on it. I had recently tried a medium blond that was way too dark for my skin color, plus it showed my light gray roots all the time. This product worked as described and doesn’t smell as much as people say if you get that bag over the hair quickly.1. Use a timer, because you will not be able to imagine 25 minutes in the shower.2. Make sure you have a full tank of hot water, and use only a warm temp or it will not last 25 mins.3. Don’t rub hard in the shower, no matter how concerned you are about the coarse feeling of your hair. Just gently move the hair to rinse all areas. People who lose hair are rubbing hard. I did not lose any hair.Great product. After shampooing and conditioning, my hair feels normal.

Ok so I dyed my hair red a month ago and decided I didn’t want my hair red for my best friends wedding since I’m her maid of honor and I wanted a more natural fall look… cool searched for an affordable color remover since I don’t want to spend hundreds at the salon. I stumbled on this product and I’ll say it definitely works…. But be prepared to smell like rotten eggs. I feel like I just got a perm. I followed instructions and actually showered and rinsed for 45 minutes instead of rinsing 20 and shampooing multiple times after. I took a 45 min shower only focusing on my hair because I was eager to see how it looked then took a body shower. I washed my hair probably a total of 8 times and my hair STILL smells awful. It took most of the color out but this smell is legitimately so bad and I am now stuck with yucky scented hair. Works for color but doesn’t make it feel good after.