Can I Dye My Hair Twice in One Week? No! You’ll irreversibly damage it

woman looking scared when she thinks if she can dye her hair twice in a week

You can’t dye your hair twice in one week for two reasons.
Reason 1: you’ll irreversibly damage your hair because the chemicals will remove most of your hair’s moisture and keratin.
Reason 2: you’ll saturate your hair with color. So, none of the dyes will be fixed inside the hair. In a few washes, they will fade. I’ll tell you why below.
If you dyed your hair and aren’t happy with the color, you can color it again with a semi-permanent dye.

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You may not like the answer you found, but as a professional hairdresser, it’s the only one I can give you. You shouldn’t dye your hair twice in one week.

I know that social networks show amazing videos of people who dyed their hair twice in one week.

Believe me, if you find a video about someone who dyed their hair twice in one week and has gorgeous hair, you’re looking at an extraordinary event.

It would be interesting to see a video with that same person a week later showing their hair with the results of two coloring sessions in one week.

You’ll discover the truth. The hair will be damaged and look faded and dull.

uneven hair color after dyeing it twice in a week

That’s the truth behind many videos online. Most of them don’t show real situations.

I’m not saying that this is always the case. However, when it comes to showing miracles with chemical processes on the hair, I can assure you that many unpleasant things are hidden behind those videos.

I’m widely experienced in hair matters. People are willing to do crazy things to their hair to get ten more followers on their social media.

Without going any further, a week ago a quinceañera came to the salón. She had bleached her hair twice in two days and wanted me to help her because her hair was falling out.

I couldn’t do anything. Her scalp was completely damaged, so I suggested she visited an emergency dermatologist.

Those are the risks of applying chemical processes to your hair twice weekly. Although bleaching is much more aggressive than coloring, if you color your hair twice a week, things can go wrong.

Here’s why.

Why you shouldn’t color your hair twice in one week

woman applies second dye in a week

There’s a lot of science behind coloring because it’s a chemical process at the molecular level inside the hair. Let’s see.

When you prepare the dye, you mix ammonia and a developer.

The developer opens the hair cuticles for the dye to penetrate and lodge in the hair core to deposit the molecules of the new color.

This whole process takes 72 hours. So, you shouldn’t wash the hair for three days after coloring. Then, the cuticles will close and retain the color.

It takes fifteen days for the color to fully settle and expel the excess dye that the core couldn’t absorb.

This is what happens when you dye your hair. Are you planning to color your hair again in a week? What do you think will happen?

Remember that the cuticles are still open, and the dye from the first coloring session is settling into your hair.

If you color your hair again, a part of the hair cuticles will break because the developer will open them even more. The core will absorb the dye, but it’s already saturated. So, it’ll expel the excess.

Therefore, when you rinse your hair, you’ll lose some of the color from the first dye you applied and all of the color from the second dye.

To make matters worse, your hair will end up damaged and dry. The cuticles will break and the core will be weak. What does this mean?

split or dead ends from dyeing your hair twice in a week

Detangling your hair will be almost impossible
The ends will be open or dead.
Frizz on sunny or humid days
Significant hair loss due to breakage.
Dull and coarse hair
You’ll spend fortunes to repair your hair

If you’re willing to face this scenario, go ahead. Make your decision. Otherwise, wait at least a week to recolor your hair.

However, there’s always a light on the horizon, let’s see what it is.

If you dyed your hair and are not happy, you can color it again with a semi-permanent hair dye

semi-permanent dye to dye hair twice in a week

A semi-permanent hair dye does not penetrate the hair because it doesn’t contain ammonia and isn’t applied with a developer. Therefore, your hair won’t have to endure a new chemical process. Instead, the semi-permanent dye coats the outer part of your hair with color.

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Let’s say you applied a permanent hair dye and the result is an uneven color. You can apply a semi-permanent dye of the same color to even out the color.

Alternatively, if you applied a light brown 5, and you wanted a lighter color, you can apply dark blonde 6 dye to lift your color.

You can reapply the permanent dye once the semi-permanent dye fades with washes.