The other day, someone asked me if it was a good idea to mix shampoo and hair dye.
It was barely six in the morning and the question took me by surprise.
It’s just that I’m one of those that needs to drink a mug and a half of coffee to wake myself up. Yes, I know, all that coffee can be toxic, but I have to have some vice.
The question left me, how do I say it?
Perplexed.
Because they didn’t explain why they wanted to mix the dye with the shampoo.
I have a lot of imagination, so I tried to imagine all the possible reason that they would want to mix dye and shampoo.
What do you think?
Let’s see if you have as much imagination as I do.
A person could mix shampoo with hair dye to:
- Extend the life of the dye in your hair
- Get a new color in your hair
- Dye your hair with less damage
Of the three answers that I have given you, two are correct, to say it that way.
Which ones are they?
Did you say a and b?
Correct!
You have a Good intuition. Congratulations.
Now, do you want to know why those two answers are correct?
Now I’ll tell you.
But before, let’s completely throw out answer c.
Mixing dye with shampoo to avoid damage to your hair simply won’t work.
Box dyes come prepared in just the right portions to get your hair the color you want.
And yes, unfortunately, to change the natural pigment of your hair, you need to process it with some chemical ingredients like hydrogen peroxide for example.
If you mix shampoo with a dye when you dye it, you run the risk of the new color not being deposited evenly over all your hair fibers.
That means, you will be playing with fire, and your hair can end up like the skin of a dalmatian.
Are you looking for spots of color in your hair?
Then mix the dye with your shampoo.
Do you want to protect your hair when it comes time to dyeing it?
Then, simply do a deep nourishing treatment the night before, for example, applying coconut oil on your hair.
If you don’t have much time, you can even apply coconut oil an hour before you dye your hair from the middle to the ends.
The coconut oil will not interfere with the dye’s absorption and minimize the damages.
Now, do you want to know in what cases it works best to mix the dye with shampoo?
Keep reading, but I’ll tell you now that it isn’t a good idea.
They are for those, let’s say, momentous solutions.
Do you want to know why?
I’ll tell you know.
Let’s start with the answer a: lengthen the life of the dye in your hair.
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How to extend the vivacity of the color in your hair
I don’t know if you have noticed that there are those shampoos specifically prepared to extend the color in dyed hair.
They are shampoos that include color molecules in their formulas that revive the color in your dyed hair.
Primarily, they are shampoos meant for hair dyed blonde or red.
In the case that your hair is dyed blonde, there are shampoos that care for your blonde hair, neutralizing the yellows and oranges that appear after a few washes.
But the force of these shampoos stops there.
Because to maintain color, you should dye your hair again after twenty or twenty-five days, inevitably.
Now, what happens with people that color their hair black, for example, or with fantasy colors?
You can mix part of the color with your shampoo, and you will get the same effect that the shampoo for hair dyed red produces.
It will revitalize the color of your dyed hair, but nothing will prevent your roots from growing in and your natural tone reappearing.
So you will simply have to dye your hair again.
Meaning, that this method will revitalize the color of your dyed hair, but it won’t dye your hair.
Do you remember option b?
Answer b was to get new color in your hair.
No, I’m not crazy.
I know that I just told you that mixing dye in your shampoo doesn’t dye your hair.
And it’s true, but there is a tiny trick.
Do you want to know what it is?
Mixing the shampoo with dye to dye blonde highlights fantasy tones.
And now I will tell you how to do it.
Mixing dye with shampoo to dye your blonde highlights fantasy tones
This method is definitely meant for those people that have blonde streaks or highlights in their hair.
Meaning if you have blonde highlights and you want to surprise people at a party by showing up with sky blue streaks instead of blonde, it will work.
But it is simply a temporary coloring.
You will need to use a semi-permanent dye like the well-known Maniac Panic, for example.
You should mix equal parts shampoo and permanent dye and apply it to the pieces of your hair while protecting the rest.
It will also work in dark hair with light streaks.
But I repeat, it is just a temporary effect, since washing your hair will cause the color to fade. Even though it could take one or two washes.I know what you are asking.
And if I use it on my whole head?
I don’t advise it because you could run the risk of staining your whole hair with fantasy color.
If you want to dye your hair a fantasy color, simply use fantasy dye.
This method is like a special effect for a special occasion.
Do you want to know one last trick?
- If your ends are very dry and you are dyeing your whole head, don’t put the dye on the ends.
- Instead, three minutes before rinsing your hair, add two drops of the shampoo that is left in the bottle.
- Shake it and apply the mixture to your ends.
This small trick, dilutes the dye, minimizing the damage to your ends, giving them shine and color.
Conclusions
As you can see, mixing the dye with the shampoo isn’t a coloring method.
Instead of a method, I would call it a trick.
A trick that can revitalize your color or create the illusion of a fantasy tone for a short period of time. Nothing more than this.
As I always say, if you don’t have any experience dyeing your hair, consult with a professional.