Got Green Hair? Try these tricks to remove the green from your blonde
Green hair go away and don’t come back another day. Try as I might to prevent otherwise, each and every summer I notice my daughter’s hair growing a darker and darker shade of green. It's like with each dip in the pool, her hair takes on more and more chlorine buildup. The guiltiest offender is her grandparents’ pool. They must have stock in copper because that pool always turns her blond locks a deep green. Listen, there is no way I am keeping my Pisces from her water, nor would I ever try. Instead, I have turned to some fancy, and not so fancy, hacks to get my girl’s green hair back to its luscious blonde in time for school pictures.
Shampoos That Work:
If it is a shampoo you are looking for, look no further, I have tried them all. Below are my two favorites that seem to do a decent job of either preventing the green or at least cutting the green once it has set in.
So Cozy Swim collection - They have a great Swim Leave in Conditioner that I use as a preventative. I spray it all over the ends of my daughter’s hair before she goes swimming to help combat the chlorine buildup. They also have a 3 in 1 shampoo that does a pretty good job of helping to cut the green tones in my daughter’s hair after swimming. The So Cozy collection is free from parabens, sulfates, phthalates, formaldehyde, synthetic colors or dyes, and propylene glycol. It smells like heaven and includes Activated Charcoal, Vitamin B5, and Suflower Seed Extract that leaves my daughter’s long hair feeling soft.
Paul Mitchell Shampoo Three - This shampoo is a bit more pricey, but I feel like it does a pretty good job of toning down the green from chlorine buildup. It helps to keep hair from turning "chlorine green.” It is “ Ideal for swimmers, it deep cleans hair and removes chlorine, iron and minerals that can give hair a greenish tint. It washes away dulling buildup, strengthens strands and minimizes future buildup. Excellent to use before deep conditioning.”
Malibu C - I have never tried this product, but many people I know have and swear by it. It is a bit on the pricey side, at $38 a bottle for the shampoo alone, but the ratings are pretty darn good on their products.
At Home Hacks:
Not everyone knows this, but the greening of hair from swimming pools is not caused by the chlorine in pool water or by the water reacting to your hair if you color it. Your hair turns green from the presence of hard metals (copper, iron, and manganese, in particular) in the pool water. There are a few at home hacks that you can try to bring that shine back to dull tresses and remove that green.
Baking Soda: This process had moderate outcomes at my home. However, my daughter’s hair gets a pretty deep green by the end of the summer. To use, take 1/4 to 1/2 cup baking soda and mix with just enough water to make a paste. Wet the affected hair and then Cover the green areas with the paste mixture. I let it sit on my kid’s hair for about ten minutes and then rinse out. After, I shampoo and condition as normal. This process may need to be repeated more than once depending on the severity of the green.
Lemon juice: You can use those lemons right off the tree or just buy some pure lemon juice from the store like I do. Wet the hair and squeeze the lemon all over the affected area. Leave it for 5 minutes and then rinse and shampoo and condition as normal. Some people swear by this method. For me…it had meh results. It smelled good, but didn’t really work all that well.
Ketchup/ Tomato Sauce/ Tomato Juice: It may sound gross….and it kind of is…but the VERY best way to get the green out of my daughter’s hair is by using tomato sauce or tomato juice. I get my Bloody Mary and my kid gets the green out of her hair. It can get pretty messy in the bath, but it works like a charm. Take your tomato juice or sauce (or ketchup) and completely cover the green hair. I let that stuff sit for a good ten minutes until we are all craving pizza for dinner, or maybe a nice pasta meal. Then, I rinse the sauce out, and shampoo twice and then condition. It works like a charm! The green is gone and my kid’s hair is back to being its vibrant summer blonde self.
Words of warning - take it from me if you are thinking of using your own purple shampoo to combat that green, ashy hair. It has the opposite effect and will do nothing to help beat the green. Don’t waste your precious purple shampoo on the green hair curse. It will NOT work.
Happy Swimming!