Can I Dye My Hair After Bleaching it the Same Day? How long should I wait?

dyeing hair caramel after bleaching

You can only dye your hair after bleaching it the same day if you do the porosity test and the results are favorable. I’ll tell you how to do it later.
If the porosity of your bleached hair is medium, you should wait for at least two days to color your hair.
However, if the porosity is high, you won’t be able to color your hair either the same day you bleach it or after three days. You should wait for at least three weeks to color it. In the meantime, do intensive nourishing treatments.

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Of course, this is my professional advice.

You can take it or leave it.

But the truth is that if you bleached your hair, it’s no longer the same. All chemical processes have consequences.

In some cases, the consequences will be almost unnoticeable.

However, in other cases, they can leave your hair on the verge of breakage. And if that’s your case, the hair dye will irreversibly ruin it.

As you’re not a stylist and you may not be able to tell the difference in your bleached hair, do you have any tool to know if you can dye it the same day after bleaching?

The answer is yes, you do.

You can perform the porosity test.

It shows your hair’s capacity to absorb nutrients, moisture, proteins, and any product you apply to it, including hair dye.

Once you do the porosity test, you’ll know if your hair has low, medium, or high porosity.

That’s what will determine whether or not you can dye your hair after bleaching it the same day.

I’ll give you another example to show you the importance of doing this test.

Imagine your hair is a house with shingle roofing. The shingles protect the inside of your house, maintain the temperature, and prevent the inside from being battered by rain, wind, and sun.

However, after a big storm, the roof of your house is missing some of those shingles because they’re broken, blown off, or lifted off.

Then, you start to notice that the temperature changes and your furniture gets wet when it rains.

The same thing happens to your hair after bleaching.

The cuticles, which are the shingles of the house, open up with the chemical process. Many of them break and the vast majority of them are left open.

At that point, the porosity of your hair increases. When it does, your hair is damaged.

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If the porosity of your hair is low, you can dye it the same day. I’ll recommend some hair dyes that you can use.
If the porosity is medium, it means that although your hair isn’t seriously damaged, it’ll be weakened. Don’t panic. You only have to wait for two days to dye it.
If the porosity is high, forget about the hair dye for at least three weeks.

So, I repeat.

Tabla de Contenidos

Do the porosity test before dyeing your hair after bleaching it the same day to avoid irreversible damage

low, medium or high porosity

All you’ll need for the test is a glass and water

The process is simple.

Fill the glass half full with water, brush your hair, and look for a hair strand.

Place the hair in the water and watch.

Does it float? Good for you because your hair has low porosity. It means you can dye it immediately after bleaching.
Does it sink to the middle? Well, you won’t be able to dye your hair the same day after bleaching, but you’ll only have to wait for two days.
Did it sink all the way down? This is bad news because your hair has a high porosity. It means that it’s pretty much ruined after bleaching. Therefore, you’ll have to wait for three weeks to color it.

Of course, your hair won’t repair itself. You’ll need to do some intensive moisturizing and nourishing treatments with different products

keeps hair hydrated

You can apply coconut oil twice a week on lengths and ends.
If you have a small aloe vera plant at home, you can extract the gel from the inside of the leaves and apply it once a week on roots and growth.
And don’t forget to use micellar water on lengths and ends two or three times a day.

If you implement this routine during those three weeks, your hair will recover the moisture lost during bleaching. Then, you’ll be able to color it using the semi-permanent or permanent hair dye you want.

Now, if your hair has low porosity, you can dye it the same day you bleached it. Then, you need to take into account some issues when choosing the hair dye. And that’s what I’m going to talk about next.

Which hair dye to choose to color your hair the same day you bleach it

tinte de caja despues de decolorar

Even if your hair is healthy enough to apply a hair dye the same day after bleaching, you should be careful.

Don’t forget that you used a 30-volume developer to bleach it.

Now, if you choose a permanent hair dye, you’ll use a 20-volume developer.

So, you’ll have used a 50-volume developer on your hair at the end of the day. So, can you dye it?

Yes, but you should moisturize your hair with hydrating masks after coloring. For instance, you can use the Elvive Total Repair 5 mask at least twice a week.

What you should NOT do is use a high lift hair color on your bleached hair because they work with up to a 40-volume developer.

In that case, you would be applying a 60 to 70-volume peroxide in a single day.

If you want my professional advice, it’s best to choose blonde hair dyes that aren’t too light. Then, gradually get to the whiter ones. Some of the best brands of hair dyes are:

L’Oreal
GarnierNutrisse
Revlon
Wella
Koleston
Igora

blue, green, yellow, pink, purple

And if you’re thinking about coloring your hair in fantasy colors you should choose a semi-permanent hair dye because they don’t contain developer or ammonia.