Colour B4... or a bit before...

For some years now my hair has been getting darker after a quest to go from dark mousy blonde to brunette. All this resulted in someone black hair which was starting to make me look washed out and pale.

A chat with my hairdresser suggested it might be a pricey and time consuming affair to undo the process and me, being impatient and impulsive, decided to give it a go myself courtesy of Extra Strength Colour B4.

My first attempt was an experience not to be forgotten in a hurry! It turns out the smell of Colour B4 is akin to a bottle of rotting eggs. So bad was the smell that I actually threw up! This is not something I would recommend for those with a weak stomach as you can't escape it (the room has to be kept warm). The process is also a long one, an hour with the liquid on, head wrapped in cling film as a towel. Then approximately 15 minutes rinsing in total. By this point my hands were prune like!

The result was definitely less black, someone yellowy orange at the roots so a follow up colour was necessary. What puzzled me is that this went well initially but my hair darkened as the week went on.

I repeated the application the following weekend and my hair is still dark though not black. Is more a gingery dark brown.

If you are after reducing the harshness of a colour this does the job but really wasn't what I expected. I can live with the result for now but is not startlingly different to before and is uneven. Also, most worryingly, I experienced a lot of hair shedding.

Has it saved me money visiting the hairdresser? Probably not.

Extra Strength Colour B4 £9.99 Sainsburys

Split picture shows pre treatment and after first application.

Other picture shows after second application.

UPDATE: after two weeks 'reoxidised' hair is now virtually black and has shed a bucket load. Wouldn't let this anywhere near my hair again.