I know what you're all thinking, 'Is she dying her hair again?!' - the answer to this question would be yes. Colour B4 and me never used to have the best of relationships. The first time I ever used it, it just didn't really work at all! And all I was trying to do was take out a dark brown hair dye. Now a days, it's my best friend. I generally use this product when I am trying to get rid of a stubborn colour or when I am changing quite drastically as I don't like colour build up on my hair. I also feel when you start without old hair dye in your hair, you have a better canvas for a 'true colour' at home colouring result. 

This isn't the miracle product it may look like though - It WILL rid you of the hair colour you have but the result you get at the end may not be what you are after. I was very lucky this time around that the base I put my red dye's on was an almost evenly toned bleach blonde so shrinking down the dark molecules left me with a slightly brassy blonde. Usually though, I end up with a lovely ginger/ copper looking mess that needs a dye straight away. 

If you're new to Colour B4, it basically shrinks down unwanted colour molecules in your hair and leaves you with a lighter colour. If you had virgin blonde hair, dyed red and then applied this, you should be almost back to your virgin blonde but just brassy due to most hair dyes containing peroxide it will have slightly lifted your natural virgin hair. You will NOT, I repeat NOT get back your virgin hair 100%. Be aware of this. If you have bleached hair, dye applied and then Colour B4 applied, it should take you almost back to your bleached base as this is your lightest colour.



Colour B4 Frequent Use contents, includes conditioner for frequent users of the product. You can still buy the regular strength and the Extra Strength which does not contain conditioner. They now also have a 'Fashion Colour Remover'; however the normal ones will remove fashion colours.

The 'Frequent Use' is actually a new version (I believe it's the Extra Strength as you still leave for 60 minutes as a posed to the Regular Strength which is 30 minutes - Online does state it's a 'Mid Strength') which you can purchase here at Boots online or it's available in most superstores. I didn't actually leave mine for 60 minutes as stated on the instructions but only because I was going to use a Mahogany dye after the process and I could see the colour had lifted enough to give me the base I needed. I would recommend you follow instructions however as I am not a hairdresser but I know how my hair reacts to dyes and Colour B4 due to using multiple times before. 

The 'buffering' process is a little tricky to do and if you don't do this right - the colour molecules will actually recolour in your hair overnight and thus the process being undone. I would advise the buffering process you do in the shower if you have one as this will be much more comfortable. It basically consists of washing your hair for 5-10 minutes depending on the length of your hair and you vigorously rinsing your hair. You then apply the first half of the buffering solution to your hair, massage and leave to soak up for 1 minute. Again, you rinse for around 5-10 minutes to wash out the buffer. You will notice no colour leaves your hair, I'm not quite sure where the colour you had before goes but it's magic. Your hair WILL start to feel dry and matt up a little but this is okay - we will fix that in a minute. You then add the second half of the buffer, let soak for 1 minute and rinse again. If you are using the Regular or Extra Strength, you are then done after this. However if you are using the Frequent use strength, you will have to put half the conditioner on your hair, leave for 3 minutes, rinse, put the other half on, leave for 3 minutes, rinse. 

Sounds like a lot of washing and rinsing right? It's worth it though. You then proceed to dry your hair and see the finished result! You can then either leave your hair or proceed with a colour process but the instructions suggest you only use a demi permanent (8-10 washes) dye and do not permanently dye your hair for around 4 weeks. Again, I am naughty and know what my hair will take and I proceeded with a permanent colour mask dye. (I will share the results in another post)

Have you ever used Colour B4 before? Which strength do you prefer? To find out more visit http://www.colourb4.com/ to read about the different strength and to see others before and after results.