Blue hair is iconic. With everyone from Beabadoobee, Rihanna and Billie Eilish wearing ocean-hued hair over the years, it's also been a longstanding favourite with Bleachers at home and in the salon.

At the same time, blue and green dyes can stain blonde hair and are sometimes tricky to fade out – tricky but not impossible! Senior Bleach stylist Freddie's created an easy guide to getting rid of the blues, with product tips and pointers that'll make your fade journey a little easier.

The base line

The fade journey that blue hair goes on depends on a couple of things. First, the amount of yellow in your bleached and toned blonde base. The lighter your blonde hair is, the less yellow there'll be for the blue dye to react with.

When bleaching, try to lift your hair as light as possible (check out our bleaching 101 here) and follow with White Toner to neutralise the yellow from your bleach base before applying blue dye: this'll help you get a truer shade of blue and stop it from fading too green.

On a yellower base, you'll create more of a turquoise, which will fade with green tones. Head to our guide for getting your dream hair colour at home to find out more about how your bleached blonde base impacts your final hair colour.

Second, the shade of blue you used will define how it fades. A darker shade will take longer to fade than a lighter blue. Turquoise-hued dyes contain green tones, which will start to appear as the colour fades.

A white blonde base is best for true blue colour

A yellowy base will result in more of a turquoise/green finish

Shampoo and conditioner

The best way to banish unwanted lingering pigment is to wash, wash, wash! Use a nourishing cleanser like Beer Shampoo for this. Pigment will be washed away with every shampoo so the more you do this, the quicker the colour will fade. But, beware! Excessive shampooing strips the hair and scalp of its natural oils and can really dry out bleached hair, which needs to hold on to as much moisture as possible. The remedy? Lots of hair masks and treatments, which will help you replenish your moisture levels. You can replace your conditioner with a hair mask while you're fading your colour, as well as leaving it on for an extra treat. Products like our Reincarnation Mask and Beer Mask are packed with strengthening, hydrating ingredients that'll help keep your hair healthy!

Another trick to speed up the fade is to use very warm water when you wash (not so hot that it hurts though!) Heat opens the cuticle, which is the layer surrounding the hair fibre and is where the pigment hides. This'll help stubborn dye to leak out. Blue or green staining won’t disappear in a few washes, though. It takes time, so enjoy all the different colour changes it goes through. You can also take progress pictures to track how the colour's fading and be reassured that it is.

Blue fade journey

Starting from a medium blue, washing your hair 2-3 times a week using Rosé Shampoo & Conditioner

Week 1

Week 2: hair starts turning a lavender shade

Week 3-4: hair stays lavender, lilac, silver as blue pigment fades at different speeds.

Week 5-6: purple-blue shades are replaced with pink. If it's too pink, switch Rosé Conditioner for Pearlescent Conditioner

Week 7: start alternating pigmented shampoo with Beer Shampoo to turn the pink paler and paler. Stop using toning conditioner.

Week 8: you’re almost there! Dilute pigmented shampoo with Beer Shampoo every wash, so you're not adding more colour than you need.

Enter the tone zone

Toning shampoos and conditioners are your best friends when it comes to fading blue or green stains. As well as cleansing and conditioning hair, they serve up a double hit of washing out and removing stains while also adding fresh pigment to neutralise unwanted tones. Our stylists' favourite toning duos for the job are Rosé, Pearlescent and Silver. Here, we'll run you through how they work and what the fade usually looks like.

Before you stock up, take a look at the shade your blue is fading to: is it going more green or leaning towards a paler blue/silver?

If your hair's going green, Rosé is best. It'll neutralise green tones to blue, and then turn blue to lilac and eventually light pink. It also looks great over pale blue/ silvery fades – it'll turn your hair to lavender, then pearl and finally blonde

Pearlescent is ideal for cleaning up murkiness and neutralising greens while keeping silver/blue tones fresh. You can also switch out your Rose shampoo for this halfway through if you feel like you’re going too pink.

Silver is great if you want to stay in the world of cooler hues. It'll fade your blue to a steely silver tone, as long as you don't have any green appearing. If you do, it'll fade your hair to a turquoise/minty hue.

Think pink! And purple!

If you’re really ready for a new shade and you’re not in a hurry to go back to blonde, vivid pink and purple Super Cool Colours are great for transitioning away from blue. The Big Pink is a favourite, but you can also try Burnt Peach, Gobby Pink, I Saw Red, Bruised Violet and Aubergine Dream. Do a strand test before you apply colour; just add a dot of product to your hair and pull it close to your face to make you like it!

We normally recommend letting one colour fade completely before applying the next, because the existing colour on your hair will affect the colour you're applying and you can also create a build up of pigment over time, causing your blonde to look darker. But if you’re a colour dye-hard, you’ll probably enjoy all the different shades and not worry too much about the blonde underneath!

Cleansing

We don't recommend that anyone but a trained professional tries cleansing, but it's good to know that the option of having a stylist take over is there if you really, really want to get rid of leftover blue or green colour.

Cleansing is the process of applying bleach powder mixed with shampoo onto towel dried hair to shift stains. It's risky for a few reasons, namely that it can be stressful on your hair, so don't try it at home! Book a free video consultation with one of the Bleach stylists if you've tried everything else and they'll be able to give you the best advice.

The base line

The fade journey that blue hair goes on depends on a couple of things. First, the amount of yellow in your bleached and toned blonde base. The lighter your blonde hair is, the less yellow there'll be for the blue dye to react with.

When bleaching, try to lift your hair as light as possible (check out our bleaching 101 here) and follow with White Toner to neutralise the yellow from your bleach base before applying blue dye: this'll help you get a truer shade of blue and stop it from fading too green.

On a yellower base, you'll create more of a turquoise, which will fade with green tones. Head to our guide for getting your dream hair colour at home to find out more about how your bleached blonde base impacts your final hair colour.

Second, the shade of blue you used will define how it fades. A darker shade will take longer to fade than a lighter blue. Turquoise-hued dyes contain green tones, which will start to appear as the colour fades.

A white blonde base is best for true blue colour

A yellowy base will result in more of a turquoise/green finish

Shampoo and conditioner

The best way to banish unwanted lingering pigment is to wash, wash, wash! Use a nourishing cleanser like Beer Shampoo for this. Pigment will be washed away with every shampoo so the more you do this, the quicker the colour will fade. But, beware! Excessive shampooing strips the hair and scalp of its natural oils and can really dry out bleached hair, which needs to hold on to as much moisture as possible. The remedy? Lots of hair masks and treatments, which will help you replenish your moisture levels. You can replace your conditioner with a hair mask while you're fading your colour, as well as leaving it on for an extra treat. Products like our Reincarnation Mask and Beer Mask are packed with strengthening, hydrating ingredients that'll help keep your hair healthy!

Another trick to speed up the fade is to use very warm water when you wash (not so hot that it hurts though!) Heat opens the cuticle, which is the layer surrounding the hair fibre and is where the pigment hides. This'll help stubborn dye to leak out. Blue or green staining won’t disappear in a few washes, though. It takes time, so enjoy all the different colour changes it goes through. You can also take progress pictures to track how the colour's fading and be reassured that it is.

Enter the tone zone

Toning shampoos and conditioners are your best friends when it comes to fading blue or green stains. As well as cleansing and conditioning hair, they serve up a double hit of washing out and removing stains while also adding fresh pigment to neutralise unwanted tones. Our stylists' favourite toning duos for the job are Rosé, Pearlescent and Silver. Here, we'll run you through how they work and what the fade usually looks like.

Before you stock up, take a look at the shade your blue is fading to: is it going more green or leaning towards a paler blue/silver?

If your hair's going green, Rosé is best. It'll neutralise green tones to blue, and then turn blue to lilac and eventually light pink. It also looks great over pale blue/ silvery fades – it'll turn your hair to lavender, then pearl and finally blonde

Pearlescent is ideal for cleaning up murkiness and neutralising greens while keeping silver/blue tones fresh. You can also switch out your Rose shampoo for this halfway through if you feel like you’re going too pink.

Silver is great if you want to stay in the world of cooler hues. It'll fade your blue to a steely silver tone, as long as you don't have any green appearing. If you do, it'll fade your hair to a turquoise/minty hue.

Think pink! And purple!

If you’re really ready for a new shade and you’re not in a hurry to go back to blonde, vivid pink and purple Super Cool Colours are great for transitioning away from blue. The Big Pink is a favourite, but you can also try Burnt Peach, Gobby Pink, I Saw Red, Bruised Violet and Aubergine Dream. Do a strand test before you apply colour; just add a dot of product to your hair and pull it close to your face to make you like it!

We normally recommend letting one colour fade completely before applying the next, because the existing colour on your hair will affect the colour you're applying and you can also create a build up of pigment over time, causing your blonde to look darker. But if you’re a colour dye-hard, you’ll probably enjoy all the different shades and not worry too much about the blonde underneath!

Cleansing

We don't recommend that anyone but a trained professional tries cleansing, but it's good to know that the option of having a stylist take over is there if you really, really want to get rid of leftover blue or green colour.

Cleansing is the process of applying bleach powder mixed with shampoo onto towel dried hair to shift stains. It's risky for a few reasons, namely that it can be stressful on your hair, so don't try it at home! Book a free video consultation with one of the Bleach stylists if you've tried everything else and they'll be able to give you the best advice.

Think pink! And purple!

If you’re really ready for a new shade and you’re not in a hurry to go back to blonde, vivid pink and purple Super Cool Colours are great for transitioning away from blue. The Big Pink is a favourite, but you can also try Burnt Peach, Gobby Pink, I Saw Red, Bruised Violet and Aubergine Dream. Do a strand test before you apply colour; just add a dot of product to your hair and pull it close to your face to make you like it!

We normally recommend letting one colour fade completely before applying the next, because the existing colour on your hair will affect the colour you're applying and you can also create a build up of pigment over time, causing your blonde to look darker. But if you’re a colour dye-hard, you’ll probably enjoy all the different shades and not worry too much about the blonde underneath!

Cleansing

We don't recommend that anyone but a trained professional tries cleansing, but it's good to know that the option of having a stylist take over is there if you really, really want to get rid of leftover blue or green colour.

Cleansing is the process of applying bleach powder mixed with shampoo onto towel dried hair to shift stains. It's risky for a few reasons, namely that it can be stressful on your hair, so don't try it at home! Book a free video consultation with one of the Bleach stylists if you've tried everything else and they'll be able to give you the best advice.