Do you flat iron your dyed hair too often? Hmmm… then it’s a good idea that you keep read this.
Because if you have dyed hair, you can use the hair dryer or flat iron, but very, very carefully.
Do you want to know why?
For various reasons.
- First, because excess heat strips out the natural moisture from your hair, leaving it dry, straw-like and more prone to split ends.
- But if in addition to dyeing your hair, both the hair dryer and flat iron open the cuticle of the hair, making it so the pigments of the color disappear.
Do you think I’m exaggerating?
Actually, I also thought the same when I read and heard how hair tools that use heat damage the hair.
I thought high temperatures could damage the health of your hair but from there, ruin the dye, it was a bit of a stretch.However, life threw me flat on the floor and left me crying for not taking things seriously.
Six months ago, I decided to change the color of my hair.
And that need to change my hair color had to do with breaking up with my boyfriend of five years and I needed to find myself again within me.
Five years in the life of a person is a lot of time. We separated on good terms. I think our worst enemy was routine.
And also, understanding that we, who we were then, weren’t the same. He had changed and we needed different things.
In addition to signing up for a coaching course to channel myself on a spiritual plane, I decided to also make a few changes physically. I signed up for a gym and I and I made an appointment to see a stylist to change my hair color.
I wanted to look different. I needed to look different.
The truth is that in the salon, I felt for a few minutes, like a movie star. They treated me so well, the stylist showed me the different alternatives to choose which would go best with my appearance and taste, and finally, the magic happened.
My hair, before a common, dark brown, now was two tones lighter and some highlights gave it a shine and happiness that I never had seen in my hair.
Everyone congratulated me on changing my look, even my ex-boyfriend, who I continue to have a good friendship with.
But unfortunately, after fifteen days, I started to notice how those highlights started to become dull, turning kind of orange which started to scare me.
I also noticed that the brown lost its vivacity.
I went to the salon, were they had treated me so well, and the stylist assured me that it had nothing do with her doing something poorly.
She asked me three fundamental questions.
Do you use a special shampoo for dyed hair that is sulfate-free? My response was yes.
Do you moisturize your hair deeply at least once a week? My answer was yes.
Do you flat iron your hair? My answer was yes, every three days.
Here, her fase was something like, “Bingo!”
And for me it was something like, “Damn, that’s where I went wrong.”
Do you want to know why?
Then, keep Reading, because I will tell you:
- Why the excess heat can ruin your dyed hair
- Do you use the hair dryer frequently on your dyed hair? Change your drying routine right now.
- How to use the flat iron on your dyed hair to not damage the color
Tabla de Contenidos
Why the excess heat can ruin your dyed hair
There we were, my stylist and I, crying over spilt milk. We had found the reason why the color in y hair had faded and my highlights were more like chicken yellow feathers, instead of highlights.
I had abused the hair dryer and the flat iron. And it took its toll on the dye.
With lots of patience from my stylist, she explained how hight-temperature tools act with dyed hair.
It’s not a secret that excessive heat affects our hair. Proof of this is that the hair product industry invented solar hair protector, to protect the hair from the effects of ultraviolet sunrays.
Can you imagine what the heat of the flat iron can do your hair?
Although it is incredible what you can do to your hair using a curler or a flat iron, when you have dyed hair, you have to take precautions.
And this is true for all textures and dye colors, even the lighter tones are much more vulnerable to higher temperatures.
Exposing the hair to more than 160 degrees, a temperature that most curlers and flat irons can pass easily, can make the lighter hair color acquire a yellowish tone in just 2 minutes.
In addition, using the flat iron for 30 minutes can cause even more dramatic color changes.
Do you want to know why that happens?
Because the heat decomposes some pigments deposited by the dye in the cuticles of the hair.
If also, in addition to your hair changing color, you went through a bleaching, the high temperatures react with the fragments of melanin that remain as residues in the hair after bleaching with hydrogen peroxide.
At high temperatures, the pieces of decomposed melanin group together, reforming the pigment and creating a grainy, dark color in the hair.
At this point, my stylist and I didn’t know if we should hug or cry uncontrollably or buy ourselves plane tickets to visit a Buddhist temple and regain our interior peace.
Since none of those options would have solved anything, we decided on two things.
- We made another appointment to dye my hair again.
- And the second, she explained to me how to use the flat iron and hair dryer, so that the same thing wouldn’t happen again.
As I waited anxiously to dye my hair again, I’ll tell you the secrets that she told me to preserve the color of my dyed hair.
Do you use the hair dryer often on your dyed hair? Change your drying routine right now
It seems like a small thing, but how you use the hair dryer can mark the difference between having healthy, dyed hair, and mistreated hair.
First off, don’t use the hair dryer at maximum power and temperature.
And you may be thinking, how do you know what the proper temperature is?
Simple.
Aim the hair dryer at the palm of your hand and if you can tolerate the temperature, that is proper temperature.Also, never apply the hair dryer less than twenty centimeters from your hair.
When you dry your hair, do you start at the ends?
I did it, and it’s a huge mistake. You should start at the roots to finish at the ends. That way you straighten the hair cuticle, protecting the color of the dye.
And something fundamental, don’t hold your dryer for a long time in the same section of your hair. I recommend that you divide the hair into sections and dry it starting from the neck to the crown.
Lastly, avoid drying your hair immediately after washing it. It’s always best to let it dry for about ten minutes with a towel, absorbing the excess moisture.
What will this do? Reduce the exposure time of your hair to the heat.
The flat iron also has its secrets and small tricks so that when you use it on your hair, your color doesn’t get ruined.
How to use the flat iron in your dyed hair so that it doesn’t damage the color
As you pass the flat iron over your hair, the heat will come into contact with the cuticle and react with the pigment of the dye, changing it dramatically.
This means that colors like black and brown will fade, vibrant colors can change completely, and blondes can end up chicken yellow.
- To protect your hair from the heat of the flat iron, the first that you should do is turn down the temperature dial.
Hair, actually, starts to become damaged at temperatures much lower than 164 degrees, but when you hair is dyed, this should be your maximum temperature.
- You should also use a heat protection spray, which acts as a protective barrier, protecting not just the color, but also the health of your hair.
Remember that here, we aren’t only talking about the importance of not damaging the color of your hair. We are talking about health. Too much heat can cause the hair fibers to break. And behind the broken hair fibers hides frizz and split ends.
- Have you ever flat ironed your hair without it being completely dry? That is suicide!
You should wait until your hair is completely dry, because wet hair is a lot more sensitive to damage from heat.
Also, try to use the flat iron as little as possible on each chunk of hair, and if you have to repeat the process, wait until it is cold.
Even if you are in a rush, don’t divide your hair into large sections. Be patient and use the flat iron on small sections of hair.
Now, I wait anxiously for my new section of hair.
Anxiously and with new hope. Because now I know how to use the flat iron and the hair dryer to not ruin the dye.
Did you know that the excess heat can damage your dyed hair?