There are many methods for removing hair dye, but the best ones are affordable, natural, and easy to DIY. With that in mind, let’s explore how to remove hair dye with oil.
Hot oil can be used to gradually remove hair dye. This natural method is a better alternative to strong chemicals and bleach that result in dry, dull, and damaged hair.
Using natural oils is a double win because it safely removes unwanted color while nourishing and protecting your hair.
Is Oil Good Or Bad For Hair?
Natural oils are good for hair health.
They contain many nutrients essential to hair, and their moisturizing properties help strengthen and protect hair.
Most natural oils are emollients, meaning they help your strands lock in more moisture.
Hair oiling involves coating your strands with oil and massaging the scalp. The top benefits of doing this include having stronger, shinier, and softer hair.
Your scalp naturally produces sebum, which is supposed to travel down the hair shaft and protect your hair from damage.
This often doesn’t happen because the scalp produces less and less sebum as we age, leaving your hair dry and prone to split ends, brittleness, and breakage.
Supplementing with natural oils minimizes frizz and keeps your hair tough and hydrated.
However, although oil is generally good for hair, excessive oiling can interfere with your scalp’s natural oil balance, which can worsen dandruff.
It attracts dirt and causes buildup that blocks the pores of your scalp. Over-applying oil also makes your hair look greasy. The oil will weigh down your hair, making it look limp and lifeless.
One last thing – it’s best to go with plant-based oils if you want the most benefits for your hair.
Avoid mineral oils for the most part as they weigh down your strands and can lead to buildup on the scalp.
What Oils Are Good For Hair?
Oils have different properties, and the best oil for your hair depends on your hair goals.
Typically, with color-treated hair, the following types of oils will be more up your alley:
Moisturizing oils
Moisturizing hair oils like coconut oil, avocado oil, and olive oil trap and lock in moisture and help your locks retain moisture for longer.
This is essential because color-treated hair tends to have high porosity and has a hard time retaining moisture.
Protective oils
Coconut oil can help prevent combing damage and reduce hair protein loss.
In addition, coconut oil, sesame oil, olive oil, and peanut oil provide UV protection and prevent damage to the cuticle.
Heavyweight oils
As mentioned, color-treated hair has a higher porosity. Therefore, you need natural oils with a heavier molecular weight, for instance, coconut oil, hemp seed oil, jojoba, and olive oil.
These oils can easily fill in the gaps in the hair cuticle, repairing damage to the cuticle and helping your hair retain moisture.
Nourishing oils
There are many nutrient-rich plant oils that condition and heal hair. The list includes coconut oil, argan oil, almond oil, and castor oil.
These contain vitamins, proteins, fatty acids, and antioxidants that help your hair thrive.
Does Oil Remove Hair Dye?
Oil can help remove hair dye, but only under certain conditions and to a certain extent.
A popular recommendation for using oil to remove hair dye is to apply heated oil to your colored strands.
How does this work? The theory is that heating the oil helps to open the cuticle so that the oil can penetrate inside the hair shaft more easily.
Once the oil settles in the cortex, it fills in the spaces between the hair dyes, helping to push the dye molecules out of the hair shaft where they can be washed away.
Natural oils like olive oil can also help remove hair dye more effectively because of their cleansing properties.
While most hair experts suggest olive oil for removing hair dye, you should get results with other natural oils like coconut oil, almond oil, and castor oil.
But, as far as hair dye removal methods go, using oil isn’t one of the most effective options. It takes time, and the results will not be remarkable even then.
That being said, oil is still the healthiest option for removing hair dye from damaged hair.
Should You Use Oil To Remove Hair Dye?
There’s generally no harm in using oil to remove hair dye.
When it comes to removing unwanted hair color, the choice lies between harsh chemicals that give you immediate results and gentler methods that take time.
So, even though using oil to remove hair dye takes time, it’s often recommended because it’s natural and kinder on your hair.
Coloring your hair weakens it, and further use of harsh chemicals will cause your strands to become brittle while promoting frizz, split-ends, and breakage.
When removing hair dye with oil, you’ll need to repeat the application several times.
With each application, you get the chance to nourish and condition hair. The oil coats and lubricates your strands, reducing tangling and breakage.
Hair oiling also protects your hair from damage by penetrating the hair shaft and preventing excessive water absorption.
This helps to reduce excessive swelling that damages hair (hydral fatigue).
The oils also prevent the penetration of harmful substances, such as surfactants. Using a natural oil for dye removal isn’t only healthier for your hair.
It’s cheaper because you can easily implement the solution at home, whenever you want.
How To Use Oil To Remove Hair Dye
Follow the next steps to remove hair color using hot oil:
- Heat oil in a microwave (the oil can be olive oil, almond oil, coconut oil, or any oil of your choice).
- Make sure the oil is warm, not hot, before applying.
- Wet your hair using warm water to open the cuticle and allow the oil to penetrate.
- Pour the oil on your hair and massage onto your scalp and from roots to the ends.
- Use a shower cap to cover your hair.
- Leave for up to 30 minutes or more to give the oil enough time to penetrate your hair.
- Rinse in warm water because it will help with removing some of the dye molecules.
- Use shampoo to help remove excess oil and avoid greasiness.
- Allow to air dry. There’s generally no need to apply conditioner since the hot oil treatment also works to moisturize your hair.
Tips For Using Oil To Remove Hair Dye
- Avoid too many hot oil treatments, which can weigh down hair and cause buildup. Instead, repeat the process about once every 10 days until you get the desired results.
- The sooner you do the hot oil treatment after coloring your hair, the better. That’s because dye molecules are harder to remove from hair if they have had more time to settle in.
- You can combine hot oil treatments with other natural hair dye removal methods for better results. These include baking soda, which can remove hair dye because of its high pH. Vitamin C is also another solution that contains acid, which oxidizes and fades hair color.
- If you need another effective method for removing hair dye, consider using clarifying or anti-dandruff shampoo. It may not be as natural, but it’s still better than using harsh substances.
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