I've seen several posts over the last few months asking about colour b4, how it works, what it does etc. I thought it might be a good idea to have a whole thread dedicated to it so anyone with any questions can pop in here and ask.
Colour B4:
What does it do?
Well first of all it takes the dye out of your hair and tries to get it the colour you were before - hence the name "Colour B4".
How does it work?
The idea is that it takes out the colour by shrinking colour molecules, allowing them to slip out of the hair strand.
So will it restore my natural hair colour?
Only if that was the colour you were before you dyed your hair. If your hair was bleached then dyed Colour B4 will take your colour back to bleached.
I just tried it and my hair went from brown to ginger, why?
If you used a box dye it probably had peroxide in it which lightened your natural hair colour while it was adding the new colour. Colour B4 will only remove coloured dyes, it has taken the colour out and left you with a bleached base to work from.
So if I bleached my hair and I want it back to my natural colour will Colour B4 do that for me?
In a word, NO. Bleach has already taken the colour out of your hair so Colour B4 has no hair colour molecules to latch on to.
I have un-dyed, natural dark brown hair, can I use Colour B4 instead of bleach?
No, it won't remove your natural colour, only colour that has been added with a dye.
I'm trying to remove my colour, should I bleach first then use Colour B4?
It's actually better if you work it the other way around. Colour B4 is less damaging than bleach so don't bleach at all if you don't have to.
I've tried it but there's still some colour left in, what do I do?
You can use Colour B4 up to three times in a row so try again. If after 3 attempts you still have colour in your hair then it's unlikely that it can do any more than it has already done. Your next option would be a bleach bath.
You said it wasn't damaging but my hair's all dry and weird. Has it done damage?
Colour B4 is drying to your hair because in taking out the colour some of the natural oils have been stripped as well. You simply need to condition your hair regularly and it'll be back to normal in no time.
My hair is a bright colour, will Colour B4 work on bright dyes?
Well, the official answer is "no it won't" but several people on the forum gave it a go anyway. Some people, even with the same dyes, had very different results to each other so on some people it works, on others it doesn't. My advice is always to give it a try first, before bleaching because then you can avoid bleach if it works. But basically it's a bit hit and miss. Don't rely on it to work on your bright hair, have some bleach handy just in case.
I have dyed my hair with Schwarzkopf dyes, and I heard they are incredibly difficult to remove. Is it even worth trying Colour B4?
The answer is yes, as the silicone in XXL only becomes a problem with excessive (and excessively hot) heat styling. This boils the silicone from the dye into the hair shaft, effectively turning your hair into a coloured plastic. With minimal heat styling, this is not a problem and they behave like any other box dye. Several people on the forum have had great success with B4 removing Schwarzkopf dyes.
These are just some of the questions that people have asked, if anyone can think of any more or anyone wants more information please reply in this thread and we'll answer you as soon as we can.
