Do you also want to know if you can bleach dyed hair?
The quick answer would be yes. You can bleach already dyed hair.
But before you do it, let me ask you some questions:
- Is your hair dyed a dark color, like black, or a lighter color?
- How long ago did you dye it? Two days, a week, a month?
- Are you careful with your hair, or do you not pay that much attention to it?
Do you want to know why I’m asking all these questions?
Because I’m tired of attending to people in my salon that wreak havoc on their hair and then after come to me so that I can fix the disaster.
Let’s agree on something.
Bleaching is not a child’s game. It’s a chemical process, and that’s why it needs to be taken seriously.
Now, a girl comes to mind, and honestly, I don’t remember her name, who wanted to bleach her hair dyed black because she didn’t like the color.
That same day, she decided to get rid of it and bleach it.
Can you believe it?
She dyed and bleached her hair in the same day!
The result was truly disastrous. Never in my life, as a colorist, had I felt so helpless.
The girl didn’t stop crying, and her cries became uncontrollable while I tried to tell her that there was nothing I could do for her hair at that moment.
Because her hair was completely burned, and I’m not exaggerating.
There is dry hair, mistreated hair, hair with split ends, but this was literally burned.
For a moment, I was afraid that she would have a heart attack. She was so depressed.
Then, I remembered some breathing exercises that I did in my yoga class, and I got her to calm down.
When I finally got her calm, I could explain to her why I couldn’t do anything for her at that moment. But that if she came back in a month, we could correct the color.
I don’t know what happened to the girl. She never came back, but that is the difference between an honest hairstylist and one that isn’t.
Sometimes, we cannot even fix the disasters that people do to their hair because they saw a video on YouTube or a photo on Instagram.
That’s why I want you to understand that when people ask me these types of questions, like if you can bleach your dyed hair, the answers will depend on many things.
In reality, the only thing you should worry about is if you can bleach dyed hair and that it stays healthy with the least amount of damage as possible.
And that’s what I’m going to tell you about today here.
Because in the end, it’s important to be conscious that your hair is an important part of your life. It is also important to understand that certain processes are irreversible.
If you are thinking about bleaching your hair, pay attention to what I’m going to tell you.
Or don’t. In the end, it’s your hair. And your life. But don’t say that I didn’t warn you.
That’s why I’m going to tell you:
- Everything that you should know before bleaching your dyed hair and how to prepare your hair to bleach it
- How to bleach your dyed hair in 7 steps
- 5 tricks to prevent your hair from breaking after bleaching it
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Everything you should know before bleaching your dyed hair
We are going to analyze some things before I tell you how to bleach your hair.
Only this way will you be able to determine what’s best for you.
- Hair dyed dark, can you bleach it?
My advice is that if your hair is dyed a dark color, like black or dark brown, and you want to lighten it, almost platinum blonde, you should arm yourself with patience.
Because you won’t get there in just one bleaching session.
Dark hair, in general, in one bleaching becomes orange.
So, you’re going to have to bleach it again if you want to get to blonde.
You should let at least two weeks pass between one bleaching session to the following one so that your hair doesn’t end up completely fried.
There are two powerful chemicals involved when bleaching: Hydrogen peroxide and ammonia.
These chemicals dry out the hair and leave it very fragile.
Thus, you should prepare your hair for bleaching during these two weeks by using deep hydration masks and even coconut oil.
Apply a deep hydration mask 48 hours before bleaching your hair. In this way, you will give it a hydrating shock that will benefit your hair.
If you prefer to use coconut oil, apply a few drops from roots to ends five hours before bleaching.
So your hair will be hydrated from the inside. Coconut oil is a great ally during bleaching as the hair fiber absorbs it quickly.
On the other hand, if you have your hair dyed in lighter colors, you don’t need to bleach it. You could try to change the color with another dye.
- Is it the same bleaching your dyed hair with a temporary dye and a permanent one?
It’s also important to know what type of dye to use. Temporary dyes fade on their own, just with washing.
In that case, I don’t recommend bleaching. It’s too aggressive of a process to eliminate a dye, which will end up fading on its own.
However, if your color hasn’t completely faded, you can opt for bleaching. Before doing so, assess the health of your hair so as not to ruin it completely.
If you have used a permanent dye, I recommend that you wait fifteen days to bleach.
Because permanent dyes also use chemicals, like peroxide and ammonia, that leaves the hair fragile.
- Before bleaching your dyed hair, look it over carefully.
This is a fundamental step to prevent two things from occurring: That you lose your hair and leave it destroyed.
First, check over your ends. If there are a lot of split ends, that’s not a good sign.
This means that your ends are dry and if you apply bleach, they can burn or directly break.
If you apply coconut oil before bleaching your hair, your ends will be stronger and more hydrated. So you can carry out the process with peace of mind.
But hold on! Don’t cut your ends before bleaching either. It is best to cut them afterward to get rid of the bad ends and leave only healthy hair.
Then perform the following test to confirm whether or not your hair can withstand the bleaching process.
- Take a section of your hair from the back – just a small section!
- Apply some of the bleaching mixture and wait 30 minutes
If when you rinse it, your hair doesn’t go back to its normal form, that’s a bad sign, my friend. Your hair has the consistency of gum, and it isn’t a good idea to bleach it.
This happens when hair loses all hydration and burns. If this occurs on a strand, it means that you cannot bleach your hair.
If you still want to continue with the process, it is your responsibility.
I advise you to hydrate it with coconut oil daily, deep hydration masks once a week, and trim your damaged hair. So in a short time, you can bleach it without problems.
- Do a strand test
Many people unconsciously throw the bleach on their hair, whether it’s dyed or not, without doing a strand test.
This test is fundamental; even professional colorists do them to determine how long you should leave the bleaching mixture on your hair to get the results you want.
Very well, now that you have evaluated your hair and done a strand test, I’m going to tell you how to bleach your hair.
How to bleach your dyed hair with the least amount of risk possible
First and foremost, prepare beforehand all the materials that you will need.
Materials:
- Gloves
- Plastic bowl
- Dyeing brush
- Clips to section off or divide your hair
- Bleaching powder
- 30-volume hydrogen peroxide
- Blue or purple toner depending on the bleaching results
- Coconut oil
- Sulfate-free shampoo and conditioner
Step by step
Divide your hair into four sections: two in the front part and two at the back of the head, and hold them up with some clips.
In the plastic bowl, mix the bleaching powder and the peroxide in a proportion of 1 to two.
Add 20 drops of coconut oil to the mixture to protect your hair during the process.
Now comes the hard part because you will have to work quickly, not to overprocess your hair.
Start at the back of the head, applying the mixture with the help of a brush, always from the ends to the roots.
For the moment, don’t apply the mixture to the roots because those will bleach much faster.
After applying the bleaching mixture to the four sections of the hair, apply it to the roots, careful not to apply the product directly to the scalp.
Cover your hair with a shower cap or nylon bag. Remember that bleaching is a chemical process that needs heat to progress evenly.
Leave the bleaching mixture to work for a maximum of 30 minutes. Check your color frequently to see if the bleaching is progressing.
Once your hair has reached the color you are looking for or reach the exposure time limit, rinse your hair.
Rinse your hair without leaving any trace of the bleaching mixture. Keep in mind that the mixture continues acting in your hair if you leave any residue.
Wash your hair with a sulfate-free shampoo and continue to apply some deep mask.
Maybe you see that in your hair, there are some chicken yellow chunks. Use a purple toner to neutralize them. If your chunks are orange, use a blue toner.
Now, you’ve bleached your hair.
But the work isn’t done yet.
If you don’t want to start losing your hair, you should take good care of it.
Now, I’ll explain what you should and shouldn’t do.
5 tricks to prevent your hair from breaking after bleaching
You have processed your hair. You have put it through some pretty toxic chemicals. Therefore, your hair lost natural oils and nutrients, which are very important to restore.
First and foremost, forget about other treatments or changes in color for some time.
No straightening treatments, brushings, or all of those things that we love.
Using heat tools on hair that’s been recently bleached is similar to a knock-out hit to your hair.
sar herramientas de calor en un pelo recién decolorado es parecido a darle un golpe de noacaut a tu cabello.
Your hair is already fragile from the bleaching. When you apply the heat from the hairdryer or the flat iron, the only thing you’ll manage to do is weaken it even more.
Then, your hair will get to the point that the strands will be so fragile that they’ll end up falling out, maybe while you are showering or brushing your hair.
The only way to avoid this is to take really good care of your hair after bleaching and avoid using heat tools.
Very well, up until here, we’ve talked about the things you should avoid doing to your recently bleached hair.
Now, let’s talk about the few things you can do to gain back your hair’s strength and health.
Many women think that to care for their hair, they should use a ton of masks.
They think that the more products that they use and the more money they spend, the better. Nothing farther from the truth.
To care for recently bleached hair it’s enough to use a few products that are good-quality.
To wash your hair, I recommend that you use a sulfate-free shampoo.
Simply check the label of the shampoo to be sure that it doesn’t have this ingredient.
After, as a second product, I recommend that you use natural oil twice a day, for example, coconut oil.
One of the two times, use the oil in your hair like any mask. Let it sit in your hair for 10 to 15 minutes, and then rinse it out.
But the second time, and here comes the interesting part, apply the oil before you go to bed and let it sit in your hair overnight. This will work as a moisture injection for your bleached hair.
And those are all of the products that I would use for the moment.
Of course, as your hair becomes stronger, you can go back to using the products you are used to using.
I’m not trying to start a war against the use of hair products. We are simply trying to find the best way to get back your hair’s health that has gone through a delicate process like bleaching.
Lastly, if you have any doubts, if you feel that you could damage your hair when you bleach it, ask a professional.
Because if you hadn’t realized it, bleaching is a very serious topic and even more so when it comes to already processed hair.
Have you ever bleached your dyed hair?
