JoBaz Max Strength Hair Colour Remover | Review

So a couple of days ago I picked up a box of Loreal Excellence Creme hair dye in Dark Golden Blonde, planning to try to achieve a more natural looking blonde.

Disaster.

I had it on for just under 10 minutes and it came out as a bit of a neutral/ashy light brown. I was devastated. I'd spent so long, and so much on getting my hair back to blonde, and suddenly I was basically back where I had started.

What my hair looked like after applying Loreal Excellence Creme in Dark Golden Blonde.

As you can tell in these pictures, my hair still looks relatively light. This is due to the fact that the sun was glaring as I took these, in person it was much darker but these are the only pictures I took. I took these snaps in the car on the way to Priceline, where I picked up the JoBaz Max Strength Hair Colour Remover for $29.99. The price was steep, but totally worth it.

JoBaz Hair Colour Remover comes in two strengths, Normal and Max. I considered using Normal because I was only going from a light brown back to blonde without any colour build up, but after speaking to the lovely lady at Priceline decided to go with Max strength just to be safe.

This product basically works by breaking down the colour molecules that hair dye deposits into your hair so that they are able to simply be washed away, leaving your hair at it's lightest colour. I say lightest, because it's not always possible to return to your natural colour. If you've ever bleached or highlighted your hair, then that is the colour it will return to as it is not possible to remove bleach. The same goes with box dyes containing peroxide (bleaching chemical), as sometimes darker colours still contain peroxide so when you darken your hair, you're also unintentionally bleaching it. It's also worth noting that JoBaz Colour Remover cannot remove cuticle staining, which can be caused by using fashion colours or henna dye.

Anyway. The process.

So the box contains three parts; Part A (the developer), Part B (the applicator) and Part C (the buffer). Parts A and B are combined and then applied to your hair. You've got to make sure to soak your hair in this stuff so that you don't end up with any uneven patches. Once you've done that, you'll want to wrap your hair in some sort of plastic to conserve heat (allowing the mixture to develop faster). I used an old plastic bag.

My hair after application, wrapped in plastic at the start of the development period.

You let this develop for a minimum of 30 minutes. You're supposed to ensure you're in a warm room with no draft so as not to slow down the development process, but seeing as though it was about 6*c at the time and there's no heater in the bathroom, I improvised and heated my hair using the hairdryer. 

At the end of the development period, just before rinsing.

The next step is simple. Rinse. Rinse, rinse, and rinse. And do it well. This is really important, as if you haven't rinsed properly you're not gonna loosen up all of that unwanted colour. You need to rinse for at least 5 minutes, but 10 minutes is recommended. I rinsed for almost 20. You follow this by applying Part C (the buffer) like a shampoo. Lather, leave it on for a minute, then rinse for 5. This is literally the make or break of the entire process, as the buffer is the vital step that will grab hold of and remove all of the now-broken-down colour particles. Do this well.

After rinsing, you repeat the process with the rest of the buffer, and you're done. If your hair is feeling a bit dry then you can condition it, however just remember that this is supposed to make it harder for colour to stick to your hair so you won't be able to recolour immediately. If you do plan to recolour, stick to temporary or semi-permanent colours. This is essential, as permanent colours contain peroxide which will cause your hair to re-oxidise itself - meaning it'll go back to the darker colour.

The results post-JoBaz Colour Remover, back to blonde!

All in all, the process was relatively simple (quite similar to the process used for most box dyes) and the results were seriously great! I'd definitely recommend this product to anyone going through a hair crisis and hoping to remove a darker colour from their hair, or remove years of colour build up in preparation for recolouring.

Before and after!

As for me, I might recolour after a week or two when my hair is softer and healthier again. But this time, I'm sticking to light blondes. If/when I recolour, I'll be sure to make a post about it!

Have you tried JoBaz Colour Remover?
What were your results?

xx Chontelle Louise