Best Ways to Remove Hair Dye From Skin, According to Pros

Table Of Content

• Rinse with lukewarm water
• How to remove hair dye from skin: Hairspray
• Hair color wipes/solution

Your toothpaste keeps cavities and coffee stains at bay, and it can do the same for hair dye. Grab a new toothbrush and your everyday toothpaste and get to scrubbing. Try this for a few minutes, with one or two rinses in between and you should see the stain lift in no time.

Rinse with lukewarm water

Ensure that you apply the barrier product generously and evenly, that way once you wipe any hair dye off, your skin will be stain free. "The skin on your face and ears can be more sensitive than elsewhere, like your hands," Thurman says, she recommends steering clear of "abrasive cleansers" to remove any stains in these areas. Instead, household items like olive oil can also remove hair dye stains from the skin. Bennett recommends massaging olive oil on the affected areas by hand and massaging it with your fingertips.

How to remove hair dye from skin: Hairspray

But even with the ease of using products you can find at home to remove hair dye from your skin, there are a few things to consider beforehand. Garshick says the riskiest at-home solutions for a DIY hair dye removal include the use of nail polish remover with acetone, ammonia, lemon, or baking soda in a cleansing mixture. If you’re dyeing a beard or any facial hair, she especially cautions against using baking soda, dish soap, and rubbing alcohol as they will be too harsh for sensitive skin. While you can remove hair dye stains from your skin, preventing them is so much better.

Hair color wipes/solution

You can use these methods to get hair dye off sensitive areas like your neck and face. “Keep in mind that how easy or difficult the stain removal process is will depend on how much color has seeped, how permanent the dye is, where it's located, and how sensitive your skin is,” says Stromberg. Many people out there choose to dye their hair and brows at home, but for those who have never done it before, the process can become quite messy. Whether it's a hairline that gets stained with dye, a face, or even hands, it seems pretty hard to get off.

Petroleum jelly

You can use soap and water or other household products to remove hair dye stains. But using certain products, like nail polish remover, may also damage your skin. "Baking soda is also effective [in removing dye], but it can be abrasive to the skin," says Shamban. "Alcohol can help, but it's also very drying. No matter what, always be careful not to rub your skin raw." However, caution is advisable, as rubbing alcohol can be harsh and drying on the skin. However, getting great results using at-home hair dyes without staining your skin can be difficult when doing it yourself.

Use a Hair Color Stain Remover

Maybe you want to cover your roots or greys because they’re starting to peek out again. Maybe this is your first box-dye and you want to ensure you’re prepared. Or maybe you’ve already started and noticed some dye past your hairline and want to get it out. Whichever situation you’re in, here’s how to get hair dye off skin – safe and easy.

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Baby Oil

However, the research involved removing hair dye stains from woolen fabric rather than skin. There is little research into olive oil’s stain removal properties on the skin. Dying hair is a potentially messy process, and staining along the hairline is common. Facial skin is sensitive, so a person should avoid using harsh chemicals to remove hair dye stains from the face and hairline.

To use this method, rub a scant amount of toothpaste along the hairline or the area where the dye has dribbled — you can rub it in with a toothbrush to help the product lift off. Just note that toothpaste can be drying, so follow it up with a gentle moisturizer or a good, hydrating hand cream. Whether it’s on your hands, face, neck, or forehead, Splat hair colors can be a real pain to remove. If you’ve ever tried to remove the dye with just soap and water, you know that it just doesn’t work. You’ll need a moist cotton pad to begin with, then add the rubbing alcohol and gently rub on the stain. It may take a few tries with fresh alcohol before the stain comes off.

Baking soda is slightly abrasive which makes them ideal for scrubbing hair dye from the skin. The biggest tell-tale that you’ve (most likely haphazardly) dyed your own hair at home in a bid to keep on top of hair trends? Hair dye stains across your forehead, ears and maybe even neck are probably giving the game away. You can purchase color stain removers that are specifically designed for ridding any residual dye from your skin. Finally, the most important tip we can give you is to never rush — always make sure you have plenty of time to dye your hair so you can be extra careful.

Apply the paste to the affected area, then wash it off and let it dry. Goebel also advocates for cleaning the hairline regularly throughout the dyeing process, as this will catch drips ahead of time. Now the hair is up and out of the way while the color processes,” she says.

Gently dab the juice-soaked cotton ball onto the stained areas of your skin and let the lemon juice sit for about five to 10 minutes. Keep in mind that lemon juice is rather drying to the skin, so you don't want to leave it on for too long. Rinse the area with warm water, and don't forget to follow up with a gentle cleanser and moisturizer to replenish your skin's moisture barrier. We don't recommend this method if you have sensitive skin since lemon juice can be too harsh. Apart from that, be careful to use lemon juice on your face — you don't want to use it close to your eyes. According to some research, olive oil has stain-removing properties.

"If you're going to dye or bleach your hair yourself, make sure you use gloves and follow directions carefully — and make sure that you're thoroughly rinsing after every application of hair dye." Mineral oil or vegetable oil may also be effective at removing cyanoacrylates from the skin. Direct skin contact with nail glue may cause localized dermatitis (skin inflammation), paronychia (infection of the skin around the nail), and allergic onycholysis (separation of the nail from the nail bed). Once you are finished with the scrub, rinse your hair and go about your regular hair routine. If using essential oils like rosemary or tea tree oil, add only a few drops, and dilute the oils with a carrier oil like olive oil or coconut oil. A scalp detox might be helpful for maintaining a healthy scalp.

But if you use it on your face, be aware that nail polish remover is a major skin irritant. Try a small area with a cotton ball before proceeding to check for a reaction. But if you forgot this precautionary measure, you can use petroleum jelly anyway.