Can you flat iron your hair after dyeing or bleaching it? How can you avoid damaging your color?

After changing my look various times, I started to straighten my hair with no restraint at all.

Yes, you read that right.

 

Yes, you can flat iron dyed or bleached hair.

It’s not a myth.

 

 However, over time, I noticed that my hair’s color started to deteriorate over time. 

And my hair got a lot more fragile.

It was almost like looking at it could damage it.

And I had thought that the heat would never catch up to me… How naïve!

 

Once you’ve dyed or bleached your hair, it will never be the same again.

But, don’t be scared, I don’t mean that as a bad thing.

Let’s think about it from another point of view.

 

 Once you’ve dyed or bleached your hair, you have to do a few extra steps to take care of it that you probably didn’t have to do when you had an all-natural head of hair. 

All because the chemicals that dyes contain weaken our hair.

And, then, we color it anyways… Yikes!

 

Those are the consequences that we have to suffer.

You know what they say… “Beauty is pain.”

 

In my case, I didn’t have anyone to give me any advice about it.

I didn’t have any other option except to crash and burn when I should have done something.

That’s how I started talking to the best professionals and researching on my own.

 

Of course, if and when you take care of it in the right way.

 

When it comes to your hair, you shouldn’t skimp out.

Your hair deserves the best flat irons to avoid damaging your color.

Let me tell you ‘cause I’ve been through many times when I want the earth to swallow me whole since I dyed my hair.

 

 

I know it’s not easy to find trustworthy information on this topic.

And that’s why I’m here today.

 

You’ve finally come to the right place.

So, let’s get down to it. Let’s start with the million-dollar question…

 

 

Which are the best flat irons for dyed hair? How should I use it, so I don’t damage my dye?

This is the most frequent question.

That’s why I’m calling it the “million-dollar question.”

 To be able to straighten dyed hair, you should take into consideration a few things if you don’t want to damage your color.  

 

It has to be a straightener with ceramic plates.

Those plates will help to distribute the heat over the entire surface of the flat iron and make straightening more straightforward and quicker.

And, they damage your hair less and avoid frizz.

 

Those kinds of straighteners work with negative ions that work on our hair to prevent it from frizzing up.

And so, it looks brighter and silkier.

 

It’s true that in general, they are stronger.

They heat up more, and the final product lasts longer.

But, that’s not really what we’re looking for.

 

 We’re more interested in finding a straightener that we can use to maintain our color and avoid damaging our dyed hair. 

Plus, we need a straightener that protects the natural keratin that our bodies secrete.

That’s why a ceramic straightener is the best option.

 

So, if you’ve already got it, let’s move on to item number 2: how to use the straightener.

 

How to straighten dyed hair

Let’s say that you’ve already bought the perfect straightener for your dyed hair.

But, you keep using it on the highest heat setting, and you use it on the same part of your hair over and over again.

You’ll have thrown all our work down the drain.

 

If it’s not that curly, you can even lower the temperature a few degrees.

 

Straightening the same part an infinite amount of times or using the straightener on the highest temperature won’t make it straighter.

On the contrary, you’ll only be absorbing all of your hair’s brightness and damaging its color.

 

Now, you can also keep in mind another method for protecting your hair when it comes down to straighten it.

That method is: using a heat protector.

 

Okay, let me repeat in plain English:

Using products that protect your dyed or bleached hair when you’re about to straighten or blow-dry it.

 

What products should I use to protect my hair when I straighten it?

I was one of those girls that never used anything to protect my hair.

I mean those heat protectants that you use before you straighten your hair.

My routine was kind of all over the place, if you were wondering.

I have to admit it.

 

I’d come out of the shower, dry my hair with a blow dryer, and straighten it.

And I didn’t even mention that I used whatever flat iron with the temperature at the max, and I would use it on each part like a thousand times.

And I had also recently dyed my hair.

Yep, I did everything wrong. But, luckily, I retrained myself before it was too late.

Okay, that’s it for the drama.

 Let me tell you about using those famous heat protectors. 

And how they changed my life forever.

 

Heat protectors’ job is to reduce the damage that heat does to your hair.

That’s not to say that they prevent damage 100%.

Although, that would be amazing. The invention of the century.

 

 Even considering straightening your dyed or bleached hair without a heat protector is a crazy idea.  

And you don’t want to try it out yourself. I can tell you that much.

 

And, if that weren’t enough, they also diminish the damage that heat causes.

You can even use some of them as daily protectors against all the potentially harmful agents that our hair comes into contact with.

 

Don’t just choose the most expensive one or the cheapest one or the first one you come across.

 Remember that what worked for Jane with curly hair might not work for you if you have straight hair. 

 

However, heat protectors aren’t the only products that you can use to protect your dyed hair from heat.

 

Other products you can use to protect your hair from the heat of a straightener

Unlike a heat protector, you should use these before drying your hair.

As in, when it’s still damp, while you should use heat protectors on dry hair.

 

Color protectors are specifically for protecting your hair against hot air.

So, if you’re one of those girls that can’t live without her hairdryer, don’t hesitate to buy one of these.

It’ll protect your hair’s color from heat and other external agents like solar light.

 

 These kinds of protectors are also helpful for protecting from straighteners, not just hair dryers. 

And, if memory serves, they might be cheaper, too.

That’s how it is ladies, we’ve got to learn to protect our pockets, too.

 

And, to finish it up, one final piece of advice.

 

Conclusion

Don’t make a cocktail of products and throw them into your hair to protect it from the straightener.

Don’t do that.

 

It’s about caring for it with the appropriate products for your hair type and needs.

Sometimes less is more, and your dyed hair will thank you for it.