Maybe you’ve gotten bored of your hair color or ended up not liking a dye job. So you want to remove it with Color Oops, a well-known hair color remover.
But then you read about negative tales of Color Oops all over hair forums and blogs, some of them screaming, “Color Oops ruined my hair!”. Now you’re having second thoughts.
Or perhaps you just used it, and your hair ended up dry and damaged more than ever.
Did Color Oops do all the damage by itself? And if it did, can you still save your hair? Read on to find answers.
But first.
Is Color Oops damaging for your hair?
It may damage your hair to an extent but not irreversibly.
Whatever you may have heard from the rumor mill on your way down here, Color Oops is merely a color remover.
Like any other color remover, there’s a set of instructions and warnings you must follow to a T because failing to do so will lead you to unexpected results. Most of them are tales of varying horror.
Color Oops contains hydrosulfite, which reduces dye molecules so you can wash them away without any worry. While hydrosulfite may interact with your hair’s proteins to a certain level, there’s no scientific research to gauge the damage at all.
If your hair is in good health, though, there shouldn’t be a problem.
However, if you have gone through multiple sessions of bleaching and dyeing, added with the strain of heat tools and the build-up of styling products, it is highly probable that you would end up with some ruin when you use Color Oops.
What happens when you leave Color Oops on too long?
First of all, why? Why would you deliberately not follow the manufacturer’s recommendation?
Please do not do it unless you need to save a life and do a prolonged Color Oops experiment despite the potential hair loss.
Color Oops works with a time limit— of 20 minutes. After that, it loses its power, aka it will not remove any more hair dye.
Not much of a superhero, unfortunately! However, you can always apply it repeatedly until you get what you want.
Hydrosulfite weakens the disulfide bonds in keratin present in your hair. Leaving it for too long will continuously dismantle your hair’s protein bonds which eventually weakens and breaks it.
Does Color Oops have bleach?
No, it doesn’t have bleach or ammonia.
Aside from hydrosulfite, it contains hydroxysultaine, which can act as an irritant, especially for those with sensitive skin.
The sulfur-based chemicals in Color Oops contribute to its rotten egg odor. It also contains citric acid, which may increase dryness and brittleness.
Can Color Oops make your hair fall out?
No, it won’t.
Color Oops isn’t a potion from the witch’s forest. It won’t turn you into something you are horrified by at the snap of a finger.
However, one of the causes of hair fall is over-processed hair. According to WebMD, frequent or severe chemical treatment will lead to brittleness which eventually breaks the hair from the skin’s surface.
So by now, there’s only one thing you can do: assess the health of your hair. If you are still confused, here are some considerations you may take so you can judge if using Color Oops may be a step closer to brittleness and breakage.
Hair Type
Oh, life is not fair for the curly-haired gals! You get all the small praises, yes, but you also get the expensive maintenance and the unexpected results!
Kinky and curly-haired people struggle with dryness.
Their natural oils in the scalp aren’t able to efficiently coat their hair, leading to dryness and tangles.
It is why you must take particular caution when using Color Oops since there have been complaints of it drying the hair too much.
High Porosity
When you have porous hair, your strands absorb and lose moisture quickly, making it prone to breakage.
Most naturally curly people have high porosity, but it can also occur in straight-haired individuals.
Genetics aside, it can also be caused by chemicals and heat since it opens the cuticles during the process.
Color Oops may cause concern for individuals with raised cuticles or high porosity hair.
The color removal process requires you to rinse repeatedly and thoroughly. Wet hair is extra vulnerable to moisture and the stripping effects of shampoo.
The Bleached Hair
It’s no longer breaking news at this point.
Bleaching destroys the melanin, your hair’s color pigment.
Yes, destroy. It is a big word for a definitely harsh process that breaks down your hair’s protein bonds.
Hence, further stripping it with a drying color remover like Color Oops will worsen the state of your hair.
The reverse also is true.
After removing your hair dye with Color Oops, you shouldn’t dye nor bleach your hair on the same day.
Let your hair breathe, and your natural oils come back and protect it from another drying process.
There’s one more thing you must know about bleaching and Color Oops— it will not give you your natural hair color back.
Bleaching will remove the natural pigment, and down it goes the drain. Bye-bye forever!
If you dye over it, Color Oops will take out that color and leave you with bleached hair.
You have to be clear about what you want your hair to be. The worst case is that Color Oops won’t work for you and will leave you with breakage-prone hair. Not very fun, isn’t it?
Will Color Oops remove old hair dye?
Well, not just any hair dye.
It works explicitly for permanent hair dyes because the coloring process requires an oxidizer to deposit color.
What Color Oops does is reverse this process by introducing a reducer, hydrosulfite.
In other words, it does not work on direct dyes— ones that do not need peroxide or any oxidizing agent.
As for the question of time, according to Color Oops, it can remove hair dye that’s a day or even a year old! That’s good news!
Their claims aside, there may be personal complications from years of dyeing. In this regard, Color Oops may not be as effective in getting out all the dye or giving you the results you desired.
This, of course, may lead to unexpected color results— honestly, one of the ways a color remover can ruin your hair and your day!
It doesn’t mean you should avoid Color Oops entirely! Oh, not at all.
It just means it may take Color Oops plus a lot of elbow grease and patience or even hair treatment hacks to supplement your hair goals so you can get from A to B.
Color History
If you have colored your hair with the same shade for several years, especially an intense one, you may have difficulty removing that hair dye in one go.
However, please don’t conclude that it isn’t working!
Sometimes it needs multiple applications to get all the dye out. A black dye may also leave dirty, in which case, it cannot be removed at all by the color remover.
For the sake of your hair, though, three is the charm. After the third time, if Color Oops isn’t working for you, it’s better to consult a hair specialist.
Re-oxidation
Nothing spells “unexpected” than looking at your hair in the mirror and realizing you are back to the color you wanted to get rid of. By now, your life may feel like a sitcom, and you have cursed Color Oops to oblivion.
One important thing you must understand is this: your hair will re-oxidize if you do not give it time to get rid of the dye molecules.
Color Oops may have reduced all the dye molecules, but they may hang around and chill in your hair even when you have rinsed them.
So if you bleach your hair back within a week, it will re-oxidize your hair and ta-dah! Your enemy returns.
That’s why when it instructs you to rinse, it means rinse like you are getting paid for it!
Intense black
Black is a tricky color to deal with. It has undertones that can range from blue to red.
Even Color Oops may leave splotches and sections of undesirable color. Aside from that, one brand may be more difficult to remove than the other.
You can consult a professional or rely on DIY hacks to help you. Good luck!
How can I restore my hair after Color Oops?
If you have determined that Color Oops, and it alone, has damaged your hair, then rest easy because it is reversible.
However, before you fly fast to the solution, you should get the FYI that any damage before Color Oops will remain even after your restoration process.
You won’t be able to resurrect the virgin, healthy hair you started with long ago.
You should note an important reiteration: make sure you rinse all the dye molecules. That is not a step you can lightly take.
If you do not want it to re-oxidize, wash your hair thoroughly for a week, at most. Even masks and protein treatments may trigger the oxidation process again.
If you have dotted the i’s and crossed the t’s in washing your hair, it’s time to get into business!
Most complaints against Color Oops revolve around dryness and brittleness. Treating it means you have to moisturize your hair deeply.
It wouldn’t be challenging to buy a hair mask nowadays, but hey, DIY works the same and costs less.
For starters, you can use coconut oil and a honey mask if you think there’s milder damage like frizz and dry ends from your Color Oops session.
- Combine both ingredients with equal proportions. If your hair is long, make sure you have enough to cover it all. Ensure that you have mixed it thoroughly.
- Divide your hair into sections so it is easier for you to wholly and evenly coat your hair with your DIY mask. Be attentive, especially to the dry patches and ends.
- Cover it with a disposable shower cal and let it sit for 20 minutes.
- Rinse thoroughly afterward with shampoo and conditioner.
You can choose other hair masks which target dry hair. These could include eggs, lemon, yogurt, and even bananas! Don’t also forget to check out other oils like jojoba and almond oil.
However, if there’s extreme damage to your hair, it is wiser to lean more into commercial products with specific ingredients that can address the damage faster.
Olaplex is a great example to start with. It’s not to say you should ditch the DIY! Instead, it would be best to create a hair routine that incorporates both.
Speaking of hair routines, you might as well stay away from sulfates by washing your hair less and using sulfate-free products. Friction and heat are your enemies too!
While your hair is recovering from damage, keep your hair free from additional stressors as much as possible.
CHECK OUT: Does color oops damage hair
Bottom line
Don’t be afraid to try Color Oops, even if it may take more elbow grease and patience than average.
If you have assessed your hair’s level of damage and made sure you followed instructions, there’s less probability of damaging it. It’s also wise to research a post-removal treatment to nourish your hair again.
I’ve read a few articles on color oops that I wish I had read before using the product itself. I’ve run into a different problem after using color oops. While my hair has become dry and brittle I also change colors often rarely do I bleach but I did so before dyeing my hair blue. I was not pleased with the blue and wanted to return to my usual magenta. I did wait a week or two before using the color oops and I read the packaging and instructions I even commented to a coworker about the box saying that it wouldn’t work for unnatural color such as blue. I decided to try anyways and didn’t expect much but hoped for more. I followed the instructions to the letter minus the time spent washing and rinsing I did more I couldn’t stomach the smell. I used a deep conditioner after. The blue became a pretty silvery blue and had the top of my head not turned orange I wouldn’t have redyed it. I use the same brand of dye so I don’t think the dye will be the cause of this but the color disappears from my hair it has been 2 months and I’ve added dyes and tints to fix the color but it will not last a week I just dyed my hair a beautiful purple and was thrilled with the results the next day my hair was a bit blueish purple and on the 3rd die no color on the top of my head and no indication of purple whatsoever. I don’t know what to do about this.If I failed to completely rinse the color remover out the first time and each time I washed my hair then I would understand but I wash and condition my hair daily so that can’t be the problem. I don’t know where to turn for help and I can’t afford a professional and if I am able to come up with the money I would be scared that the color would still disappear