The short answer is “NO.”
You cannot lighten hair dye before you apply it. In a few moments, I’ll tell you why.
- If you lighten hair dye before you apply it, you’ll only get an uncertain color. Also, you’ll never know how it’ll react in your hair fiber.
- So, you shouldn’t lighten hair dye with toner, peroxide, nor any product or element, even less if you have no experience in hair coloring.
- The best option is to search within the color ranges offered by leading hair-coloring brands if you want a lighter color. When you choose one, consider that it should never be more than two lighter shades than your usual color.
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I’m going to be totally blunt regarding whether you can lighten hair dye before applying it.
Only professional colorists can do it because they know about ratios, how colors react when mixed (to lighten or darken them), and understand the combination of products.
- Are you a professional colorist?
- Have you studied at any styling academy?
- Do you understand colorimetry?
Then, there’s the answer to your question.
You shouldn’t lighten any hair dye before you apply it. It applies to both permanent and semi-permanent hair dye.
Professional colorists use toner to lighten or darken hair dye. You can only learn the necessary information to do it at a styling academy.
Otherwise, your hair may end up with any color. If you don’t use the exact ratios, the result will be uncertain.
Apart from all this, why would you lighten your hair dye?
If you want a lighter color, you will certainly find it at the corresponding store. All hair dye brands offer an almost infinite range of colors.
You can even find colors with only half a tone difference. So, it wouldn’t be necessary for you to do anything to the dye.
Do you have some hair dye left from your color touch up and want to use it, experimenting with a lighter color?
I understand these are tough times when we need to maximize our resources without going against our hair health. That’s why I insist that , you should buy the color directly to use instead of trying mixtures yourself.
Remember that manufacturers have teams of color technicians who create dyes with exact ratios for perfect balance.
If you add colors for the dye to lighten or darken, you alter the pigments proportions.Do you think that you can get a brown dye if you mix black and blonde dyes?
I’m sorry to disappoint you. This is not art, but calorimetry and things don’t work like that.
If you lighten black hair dye with blonde, you’ll get red at most. Then, if you apply it to your hair and you don’t like it, you’ll have to bleach it. Not one but several times to get rid of it.
To call a spade a spade. If you want a lighter dye, YOU HAVE TO BUY IT.
Are you still there? I invite you to stay a few more moments because I’ll tell you:
- How to choose a lighter color
- How to lighten hair with dye depending on the base color.
If you don’t want to change your hair’s color range, but you’d like a lighter color, this is your chance.
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How to choose a lighter color
The first thing you have to do is know the number of dye you want. Then, you’ll be able to select lighter colors without having to create odd mixtures that may ruin the dye.
The hair colour numbering system goes from number 1, corresponding to black, to 10, corresponding to extra light blonde:
- Black 1
- Darkest Brown 2
- Dark brown 3
- Brown 4
- Light brown 5
- Dark blonde 6
- Blonde 7
- Light blonde 8
- Very light blonde 9
- Lightest blonde 10
These colors form 3 groups: dark, intermediate and light.
Dark colors:
- Black 1
- Darkest Brown 2
- Dark brown 3
Intermediate colors:
- Brown 4
- Light brown 5
- Dark blonde 6
- Blonde 7
Light colors:
- Light blonde 8
- Very light blonde 9
- Lightest blonde 10
Once you identify the group of your desired color, you’ll be able to choose a lighter color. This way, you won’t need to lighten the dye before applying it, and you’ll achieve the exact color you selected.
Also, as the difference between colors is very little, you’ll be able to move along the chart without having to lighten the color.
For example:
- If your hair is very dark and you’re tired of it, you can apply darkest brown 2 to change your black.
- If your hair is intermediate and you’d like it lighter, you can go with light blonde 8.
- If your hair is light and you wish extreme colors, you may try the lightest blonde 10.
This scale will help you lighten your hair with dye up to two levels. If you’d like to lighten it more than 2 levels, you’ll need to bleach your hair beforehand.
For example:
- If your hair’s brown 4, you cannot apply blonde 7 because it won’t lighten the color. The same will happen if your hair is dark blonde 6 and you apply very light blonde 9.
If your hair’s very dark and you want to get a much lighter color, you’ll have to remove the dark pigments firstly.
So, to be sure about what color to choose to lighten your hair according to your base color, keep reading.
How to lighten hair with dye depending on the base color.
For hair color to look perfect on your hair, you must make sure you don’t need to bleach it. This takes us back to what we said before.
You cannot apply light blonde 8 on a brown 4 base. You’ll only get your roots to be lighter than the rest of the hair.
So, I’ll tell you what base color needs bleaching according to your desired color.
If you want to apply intermediate colors and your base color is:
- Black 1
- Darkest Brown 2
- Dark brown 3
You’ll need at least 3 bleaching sessions to get an intermediate base and lighter hair.
If you want to apply light colors and your base color is:
- Brown 4
- Light brown 5
- Dark blonde 6
- Blonde 7
You’ll need at least 2 bleaching sessions to get a lighter base and a perfect new color.
Therefore, you’ll have to bleach your hair firstly if you want to apply a color that is more than two levels apart from your base color.
Conclusions
Don’t try weird mixtures with hair dye. If you want a lighter dye, look for it in the leading hair beauty companies' wide color range.
Remember that you’ll always have to consider your base color to select a lighter hair dye. Hair dye can only lighten up to two levels.
If you want to lighten your hair more than two levels, you’ll have to bleach it previously.
- Black 1
- Darkest Brown 2
- Dark brown 3
- Brown 4
- Light brown 5
- Dark blonde 6
- Blonde 7
Light colors:
- Light blonde 8
- Very light blonde 9
- Lightest blonde 10
Once you identify the group of your desired color, you’ll be able to choose a lighter color. This way, you won’t need to lighten the dye before applying it, and you’ll achieve the exact color you selected.
Also, as the difference between colors is very little, you’ll be able to move along the chart without having to lighten the color.
For example:
- If your hair is very dark and you’re tired of it, you can apply darkest brown 2 to change your black.
- If your hair is intermediate and you’d like it lighter, you can go with light blonde 8.
- If your hair is light and you wish extreme colors, you may try the lightest blonde 10.
This scale will help you lighten your hair with dye up to two levels. If you’d like to lighten it more than 2 levels, you’ll need to bleach your hair beforehand.
For example:
- If your hair’s brown 4, you cannot apply blonde 7 because it won’t lighten the color. The same will happen if your hair is dark blonde 6 and you apply very light blonde 9.
If your hair’s very dark and you want to get a much lighter color, you’ll have to remove the dark pigments firstly.
So, to be sure about what color to choose to lighten your hair according to your base color, keep reading.
How to lighten hair with dye depending on the base color.
For hair color to look perfect on your hair, you must make sure you don’t need to bleach it. This takes us back to what we said before.
You cannot apply light blonde 8 on a brown 4 base. You’ll only get your roots to be lighter than the rest of the hair.
So, I’ll tell you what base color needs bleaching according to your desired color.
If you want to apply intermediate colors and your base color is:
- Black 1
- Darkest Brown 2
- Dark brown 3
You’ll need at least 3 bleaching sessions to get an intermediate base and lighter hair.
If you want to apply light colors and your base color is:
- Brown 4
- Light brown 5
- Dark blonde 6
- Blonde 7
You’ll need at least 2 bleaching sessions to get a lighter base and a perfect new color.
Therefore, you’ll have to bleach your hair firstly if you want to apply a color that is more than two levels apart from your base color.
Conclusions
Don’t try weird mixtures with hair dye. If you want a lighter dye, look for it in the leading hair beauty companies' wide color range.
Remember that you’ll always have to consider your base color to select a lighter hair dye. Hair dye can only lighten up to two levels.
If you want to lighten your hair more than two levels, you’ll have to bleach it previously.
- Light blonde 8
- Very light blonde 9
- Lightest blonde 10
- If your hair is very dark and you’re tired of it, you can apply darkest brown 2 to change your black.
- If your hair is intermediate and you’d like it lighter, you can go with light blonde 8.
- If your hair is light and you wish extreme colors, you may try the lightest blonde 10.
This scale will help you lighten your hair with dye up to two levels. If you’d like to lighten it more than 2 levels, you’ll need to bleach your hair beforehand.
For example:
- If your hair’s brown 4, you cannot apply blonde 7 because it won’t lighten the color. The same will happen if your hair is dark blonde 6 and you apply very light blonde 9.
- Black 1
- Darkest Brown 2
- Dark brown 3
- Brown 4
- Light brown 5
- Dark blonde 6
- Blonde 7
