How To Remove Hair Dye The Right Way, According to Hilary Duff’s Stylist

In the great big book of amazing celebrity hair transformations, Hilary Duff’s chameleon tresses might be the first entry. In just one year, the actor and entrepreneur has gone from teal blue hair, back to blonde, then another pit stop at bright, sky blue, finally landing on her most recent “Rapunzeled” platinum blonde. It’s an impressive feat, even before you consider how difficult it is to correctly remove hair dye.

Since — spoiler alert — it can be incredibly tough and require a serious amount of time. According to Hilary Duff’s hairstylist, Nikki Lee, the pro used two rounds of color remover to help take out the notoriously tricky blue tones. “It took 8 hours to get the blue out of her hair, but her hair looks and feels amazing thanks to Crystal Cashmere,” Lee explained in a press email, referring to the Crystal Cashmere treatment from Lee and Riawna Capri’s hair brand, In Common ($50 per at-home kit).

On an Instagram post following the blue-to-blonde transformation, Lee broke down the process further: “Slow and steady wins the race. Since Hilary already had blonde underneath the blue I really just needed to get the blue out, not blast her hair again. In between each wash I did the @incommon#CrystalCasmere treatment for added nourishment and strength before moving on to the next process.”

The moral of the story? Everyone involved needs to go slow, whether you’re attempting to remove hair color at home or you’re sitting in a colorist’s chair at the salon. After that, Lee followed up with Redken hair color products, including an all-over gloss, and Rapunzel-worthy hair extensions. “We (Lisa Satron and I) used a Great Lengths combination of tape-in and individual keratin bonded extensions in 18 inch and 20 inch for the perfect look,” Lee added. “Great Lengths' Tapes Plus adds that extra dose of perfection. We mixed the rooted and bronde tape-ins in the back of the head and individual keratin tip extensions in front and sides for the most moveable effortless look.”

Unsurprisingly, Duff called Lee a “hair fairy goddess” on her own Instagram page, and wrote a post thanking the stylist for the “hair-ventures” they’ve shared. “Especially for all the tender loving care you treat my hair with when you have to undo what I make you do,” she added. Below, the In Common Crystal Cashmere treatment, so you can give your own hair some TLC.

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