Can you put one hair dye on top of another? If I do, will it darken or lighten my hair?

Yes, you can use one dye over another dye.

What you need to keep in mind is what you want to get out of doing it.

Do you want to lighten your hair? Do you want to darken it?

Let’s take a look at each of those options.

 

 

Say you have medium brown hair, which would be level 5, and you want to use a dark blonde level 7 dye on your hair. You can do it because that would only be two levels lighter.

But, if you wanted to use a blonde 8, you’d need to bleach your hair.

 

When it comes to hair coloring, there are three simple rules you need to follow:

 If you follow these three rules, you’ll be able to get to the hair color you’re looking for. 

 

And now I want to tell you a little bit more about how dyes work, in which cases you can use dye over-dye and many other secrets that you’ll find interesting.

Let’s get started!

 

 

Which color dyes can you use directly on your current hair color?

Like I said at the beginning, to be able to lighten your hair without needing to bleach it, you need to follow the two-level rule.

What does that mean?

 

 The difference between your current color and the color you want to get to shouldn’t be more than 2 levels. 

That is because if you lighten your hair more than that, you’ll switch groups of colors. For example:

You see? The two colors are always within the same range.

 

Now what would happen if you used a color more than 2 levels away from your current color?

Let’s say your hair is a dark brown 2 and you want to use a blonde 8 on it.

In this case, there are 5 levels of differences, so all you’ll end up doing it make your dark brown hair fade because of the peroxide in the dye. Then, you’ll be left with an unpleasant color with many reddish or orange tones.

So now you know that if you want to use color more than two levels lighter, you’ll need to bleach your hair.

 

If you’re looking to darken your hair, it’s a whole different story.

In this case, to dark your hair, you don’t need to go through any extra processes.

You can darken your hair as many shades as you want, but I should warn you that it’s not a very good idea to darken your hair more than two levels at a time.

You’re probably asking yourself, “Why?”

 

It’s because of two very simple reasons:

 

So, take my advice and don’t darken your hair too much all at once.

It’s a better idea to darken your hair gradually, so that way you can get used to your new look as you go through the process.

 

How do you lighten your hair? Which dyes should you use?

When I started this article, I told your 3 basic rules about coloring your hair.

One of those rules was, “Color on color doesn’t lighten your hair.”

What does that mean?

 

You should know the difference between lightening your hair and increasing your hair color a few levels as a way of lightening your hair.

The only way to lighten your hair is to bleach it. That process gets rid of the natural or artificial color in your hair.

To increase your hair color level as a way to lighten your hair, you’ll have to do it very gradually.

For example:

That way you’ll lighten your hair using dye.

 

But you’re probably asking: “Why can’t I use a lighter dye on my hair?”

Here is where that rule I told you about in the beginning becomes important.

 

Say your hair is a dark blonde 7 and you use an extra light blonde 10 on it.

The extra light blonde won’t lighten your hair. All it will do is make your dark blonde 7 fade and your roots will turn out a different color.

Do you understand? Color on color doesn’t lighten your hair.

 

If you want to use an extra light blonde 10 dye on your dark blonde 7 hair, you’ll need to bleach it.

Two levels should always be your maximum:

Follow these instructions to choose your ideal color that will look perfect in your hair.

 

What dye should you use to darken your hair?

Another one of the rules I told you about is that you don’t need to bleach your hair to darken it.

The easiest thing to do in the hair coloring world is darken your hair.

That’s because dark colors don’t need a light base, as blonde colors do.

 

 If you want to darken your hair, I recommend you choose a color that is only two levels fewer than your current color. 

Imagine you have light blonde 9 hair now, and you use a dark brown 3 on it.

That would be 6 shades darker!

 

It would be very odd to see yourself in the mirror afterward.

On the other hand, if your hair is a light blonde 9 and you use a dark blonde 7 on it, your hair will still be in the same range of colors, without needing to darken it too much.

Keeping that in mind, you can choose the color you like best and all you’ll have to do is use that darker dye on your hair.

You’ll get the results you were looking for since you don’t have to do any preparation beforehand like you do when you want to lighten your hair.

 

Conclusion

Lightening and darkening their hair is something most women do at some point in their lives.

All you have to do is choose your ideal color and use it on your hair.

But you need to be very careful not to make any mistakes that you’ll regret later.