Can You Dye Your Hair With Box Dye After Bleaching?

Doubting Caucasian girl takes her head

Yes, you can dye your hair with box dyes after bleaching it.

However, remember some tips:

If you have previous processes (keratin, botox, straightening, and others), your hair may be too weak to dye.
Alternatively, if you bleached your hair more than once to get to your current color, it’s probably too weak to dye it again.
If you have health issues (thyroid, diabetes, or anemia among others), your hair may not tolerate a new color session.
If you don’t moisturize your hair before bleaching (cream baths and moisturizers), it may be too porous for a new dye, and you may have to wait.

In this article, I’ll give you a porosity test so you can evaluate if you can use a box dye after bleaching.

If you want to go directly to the porosity test to evaluate your hair health before dyeing it, click here

Alternatively, you may prefer the 4 tips to keep your bleached hair looking fantastic

Have you been to the salon because you wanted to go blonde or lighten your hair but you didn’t like the result?

The color isn’t what you expected, and you want a new color?

You may think that dyeing it again can cover up bad bleaching, but… Is it advisable to apply a box dye after bleaching?

As I was saying, you can dye your hair with box dyes after bleaching, but you should consider some things before.

In this article, we’ll look at each case in depth. I’ll also give you tips to keep your bleached hair super hydrated.

But first, do you know what happens in a bleaching process?

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What’s the bleaching process like?

mix of High Lift dye and developer

Simply put, bleaching “expels” the natural and artificial pigments from your hair to leave it as if it were “naked.”

Oxidizing products are used to penetrate the hair root and bleach it.

They lift the hair scales on the outer cuticle of the hair shaft. They protect the hair.

Lifting the protective layers causes the hair to lose its moisture. Guess what?

By removing the protective layers, the hair becomes porous, brittle, and likely to break.

But there’s more. There’s a word we need to add to this explanation: PH.

What is PH?

It measures how acidic/basic a substance is. The range goes from 0 to 14:

7 is the neutral value.
pH of less than 7 indicates acidic.
pH of greater than 7 indicates basic or alkaline.

What does this mean?

Healthy hair’s natural pH is somewhat acidic. It’s around 5 and 6.

Therefore, we can say that, like skin, hair is acidic by nature.

When the PH of our hair is between 5 and 6, the cuticle is closed. So, it looks shiny and elastic.

On the other hand, if the pH rises above 6, the cuticles open, and our hair looks porous and dull.

You may be wondering, what does pH have to do with bleaching?

Bleach can open the cuticles because it’s alkaline. So, it can open the cuticle. For this reason, our hair becomes defenseless after bleaching.

There are several ways to balance the pH of your hair.

Can I color my hair after bleaching? Yes, but…

lady with bleached curls with a happy gesture

Hair dye is ALSO alkaline because it needs to open the cuticle to deposit the new color.

Now, imagine the following situation: You take a piece of newspaper and you wet it. What do you think happens?

It becomes weak. You have to be careful when handling it because it can break. What happens if you get it even wetter and continue moving it?

It’ll probably disintegrate when it gets wet.

Just as a newspaper disintegrates when wet, your hair weakens if you bleach it and, then, apply a dye.

So, can I color my hair or not after bleaching?

The answer is YES. Really?

Yes, you can still do it. Anyway, remember that you have alternatives to grow out your bleached hair gracefully without having to dye it.

But if you do want to color it, you’ll want to keep these 4 factors in mind to care for your hair.

4 factors to consider before coloring your hair after bleaching it

Hair care before bleaching: you may try alkaline treatments (such as straightening, perms, keratin shocks, botox, and others).

Remember that you balance your hair’s pH with those treatments.

How many bleaching processes have you had to get to your current color? If you had more than one bleach, your hair is probably VERY weak.

Your hair health: some diseases influence the quality of your hair. For example, uncontrolled thyroid, diabetes, or anemia, among others.

In these cases, hair tends to be thin and prone to breakage.

Have you taken care of your hair before bleaching? (applying cream masks and moisturizers)

Pampering your hair before an aggressive process as bleaching influences the result.

So, how do I know if I can color my hair after bleaching?

How long should I wait to color my hair after bleaching?

To clear your doubts here is a super easy test for you: THE POROSITY TEST

Hair porosity test

if it sinks it is porous

As I told you before, bleaching your hair opens the cuticles and increases its porosity.

To measure the porosity of your hair, simply follow these steps:

Take a bleached hair strand. Place it in a glass (make sure it’s clear glass so you can see through it) filled with room-temperature water.

Check if the hair floats, sinks just a little, or if it sinks to the bottom. What does it mean?

If it floats, you can dye your hair because it won’t break.
If it sinks just a little, you shouldn’t dye it right away, but there is hope! You can dye it in a few days.
If it sinks to the bottom, you should give up dyeing it. Instead, wear your current color to prevent further damage.

4 tips to keep your bleached hair looking flawless

hair products with argan oil

You already know that you can color your hair after bleaching it as long as you pass the porosity test.

Now, it’s time to give you 4 tips to keep your bleached hair in the best condition.

Whatever the result of your porosity test, you must NOURISH AND MOISTURIZE your bleached hair.

Follow these tips:

Moisturizing masks for damaged hair.

They moisturize and return light to your hair. You can use them once or twice a week according to your hair condition. Apply them from mid-lengths to ends, and avoid the scalp.

Argan oil. It’ll help you recover the softness and shine of your hair and reduce split ends. You can use it after every wash.

Coconut oil. It moisturizes your bleached hair in depth if you have a lot of frizz. You can use it once a week and leave it on for about 20 minutes. Then, rinse.

Flax ampoule. This is my favorite option because flax is restorative and moisturizing.

It can be applied once or twice a week. It doesn’t leave hair feeling greasy or heavy and gives a spectacular shine to your bleached hair!

However, undoubtedly, the best recommendation is to go to the salon.

Although you can get many good quality box dyes to color your hair at home, it’s always better to go to a professional hairdresser.

Professionals diagnose your hair and find the color that best suits you.

Conclusion: you can dye your hair after bleaching as long as it’s healthy

In this article, we have seen that you can color your hair after bleaching if you pass the porosity test. However, if your hair is very porous, you can moisturize it with the tips I’ve given you.

You’re already an expert. “Tell me how you wear your hair, and I’ll tell you who you are.”