With the number of hair products available these days, it’s no wonder some of us ladies find ourselves getting lost and confused with what each one is for. From hair color correctors and depositors to masks and removers – we wouldn’t be surprised if you kept a secret list of what each one is for!

How Do Hair Color Removers Work?

Let’s talk about hair color removers. As color remover products say on their package, they work to target permanent hair color, “shrinking dye molecules, allowing them to simply be washed away.”

Despite the popular misunderstanding, hair color removers are not the same as bleach. They’re a mixture of non-damaging color-removing solvent and oftentimes a conditioner that you rub into the hair like dye, except the results yield your natural hair color, giving you a clean slate for a new coloring.

If you’re wanting a fresh start for your mane, a color remover is for you. As long as your hair wasn’t bleached or lightened, using a color remover is a cheaper option you can do right from home. While you’ll see better results from using the product on recent color jobs, it also works for color jobs that are months older.

Many women opt for visiting their hairstylist to have the color professionally removed, but there are an equal number of women who see beautiful results from using an at-home boxed color remover.

Things to Consider about Hair Color Removers

However, playing with hair chemicals is a risky business, and many of us ladies need to know that the way a hair color remover works greatly depends on several factors.

So before you go purchasing the first color remover you see in stores instead of visiting the salon, keep these 8 things in mind to make sure you use them correctly:

Don’t Try It on Lightened or Bleached Hair

The way hair stylists explain it, color remover won’t work on hair that has been bleached or lightened because the natural pigment under the color has already been altered.