- First, hair dye should NOT be applied on wet or damp hair.
- Because if you apply dye on wet hair, the color will fade and you’ll also damage your hair. I’ll tell you why later.
- So, to answer your question, you should leave dye on DRY HAIR for 45 minutes. Time from the moment you finish covering your hair with the coloring mixture.
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Are we on the same page? Okay.
For any clueless women out there, let’s reroute, just like the GPS does when you get your route mixed up.
Even for those who think they can leave hair dye in all night.
The question you should be asking yourself is not, “how long should I leave dye in wet hair?” The question you should be asking yourself is, “how long should I leave dye in dry hair?”
And the answer to that question is that you should leave dye on dry hair for 45 minutes.
And at what point should you start monitoring that 45 minutes of dye exposure?
Well, here’s a little game for you. If you guess, you win a healthy answer for your hair. Pick one answer:
- You should start to time the exposure time of the dye from the moment you mix the developer and the dye together .
- The exposure time of the dye starts from the moment you start coloring your hair .
- The exposure time of the dye starts from the moment you finish coloring your hair .
What’s your answer?
Very good!
The correct answer is number 3. You should start timing how long you leave the dye on dry hair from the moment you finish covering all your hair with the dye mixture.
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Answer 1 is wrong because you can’t start timing the dyeing process if you haven’t applied it to your hair yet.
Why? Because the dye won’t have started to generate the chemical reaction to change the hair color.
And answer 2 is incorrect. And besides being incorrect, it reflects one of the most common mistakes women make when coloring their hair.
Because if you start controlling the dye from the moment you start applying it to your hair, it will act longer in some areas and less time in others. Therefore, the color will be uneven.
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Having clarified the issue of how long to leave the dye on, I think it’s important we return for a moment to the confusion that brought you to this question.
Do you remember it?
Why you shouldn’t apply hair dye to wet or damp hair
There are several reasons why you shouldn’t apply hair dye to wet hair.
If you apply hair dye to wet hair, the color will fade
Why is this? It’s because the chemicals in the dye, which are peroxide and ammonia, are diluted by water. But when your hair is wet it’s also full of water molecules.
If you apply dye to wet hair, the color molecules won’t have room to settle in the inner layer of the hair. The water molecules won’t give even half a millimeter to them.
And in this battle between molecules, I can assure you that the water molecules will win.
Therefore, if you apply dye on wet hair, when you rinse the dye out and your hair dries, you’ll see the color is faded and dull. You’ll have to renew it shortly.
That brings us to the next reason.
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If you apply dye on wet hair, you will damage your hair
It’s true that nowadays, most coloring kits include post-coloring treatments to moisturize your hair after coloring.
However, remember that dyeing is a chemical process, which will always dehydrate your hair.
If you apply dye to wet hair, the color will fade. Therefore, you will need to recolor a few days later.And your hair will then have gone through two chemical processes in a very short time. So, what you should do is apply the dye to your dry hair and leave it on for 45 minutes.
How to apply dye correctly to dry hair
- Comb your dry hair, separating it into four sections, from the forehead to the nape of your neck and from ear to ear. Hold each section with clips.
- Put on gloves and mix the developer and dye included in the kit in the applicator container. You can also use a plastic container if this is more convenient. Then apply the dye with a brush.
- Start applying the dye from one of the back sections, applying it from the roots to the ends. Massage the strand to make sure you cover all the hair.
- Continue with the application in each section of hair.
- Once you’ve covered all your hair with the dye, cover it with a shower cap to help heat the reaction so it progresses evenly.
- Leave the dye on for 45 minutes.
- After the exposure time, rinse your hair and let the water run through it for five minutes.
- Remove the excess water from your hair with a towel and apply the post-color treatment.
- Rinse again and drain your hair.
- Remove the excess water with a towel and let your hair dry naturally.
Conclusion
You should always apply dye to dry hair and leave it on for 45 minutes. You should start to time the exposure time from the moment you finish covering all your hair with the dye.
