Why Does My Hair Go So Dark When I Dye it? For these 2 reasons

woman with very dark hair clutches her head

If your hair gets really dark when you dye it, it’s because of one of these two factors:

If you notice your hair is very dark the first few days after applying the dye, it’s because it is saturated with color. SOLUTION: Wait for two or three washes and you’ll see your colored hair is lighter.
If you notice your hair gets very dark when you color it, it’s because you’re applying dye to areas that you don’t need to recolor. SOLUTION: change your dye renewal routine; I’ll tell you how to do this later.

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Does hair dye lighten after a few days and washes?

Now you know. If you apply the dye and notice your hair is very dark, it’s because it is saturated with color. This may be for the first few days of applying the dye. Or it may be because of repeated application of the same color in areas that you don’t need to dye again.

It’s as simple as that.

And the solutions are also straightforward, so in this case, you won’t even have to go to a salon.

The truth is that things can get complicated when you use hair dye if you don’t have much knowledge or experience in coloring.

And then it all comes down to the question of whether you should color your hair at home or in a salon.

Why?

Because the hair has many characteristics that can escape the unprofessional eye, such as porosity, colorfastness, pre-color saturation, and dryness. A colorist recognizes these characteristics immediately when looking at a client’s hair.

But this isn’t the time to complain. So now I will tell you how to prevent your hair from getting too dark when you color it.

After coloring your hair, wait for two or three washes to see how much lighter your hair looks

woman washing her hair after dye

Why should you wait for two or three washes after coloring your hair to really know if your hair got much darker?

Because when you apply a dye, something happens that we colorists call “color saturation.”

All the color from the dye soaks into your hair fiber and core, and it will stay there for several days until your hair completely absorbs it.

With each wash, the hair will expel the dye it couldn’t absorb because it has exceeded its absorption capacity. And then, you can finally see the color you applied. I assure you that it will always be lighter than the color you had the first few days after coloring your hair.

Finally, a warning: never lighten your dyed hair using lemon, even if it looks very dark. Because the results are unpredictable.

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Change your color renewal routine if you notice it’s too dark after coloring

woman applies dye only to roots

And this brings us back to the topic of color saturation, which will be a bit different in this case.

If you’ve been coloring your hair the same color for months , it’s pretty normal to see your hair go very dark straight after applying the dye.

And this happens because you’re applying the color in areas that don’t need color renewal as often, such as, the lengths and ends.

Specifically, after applying a dye, your lengths and ends are more porous and sensitive to color changes. So when you color your hair, they absorb the dye quickly.

What’s the result?

Your lengths and ends will have a very dark color due to color saturation . The successive application of dyes ends up darkening the color of your hair too much.

To avoid this, what should you do the next time your color renewal is due? Apply the dye month by month to different sections of your hair. For example:

Month 1: apply the dye from the roots to the ends , to achieve an even and perfect color.
Month 2: apply the dye only on the roots to touch up the growth. You should avoid the lengths and ends, as they won’t need color renewal.
Month 3: apply the dye from the roots to the ends again , to keep the color even without darkening your hair.

If you want, you can also touch up your roots every month and every two months dye all of your hair. And what if you want to revitalize the color of your dyed hair? Use a color-depositing shampoo, which you can find in a wide range of colors.

Conclusion

Now you know what to do if your hair goes very dark after coloring. The easiest thing to do is wait for two or three washes until your hair absorbs the color and expels the excess pigment.

You can also modify your dye renewal routine, so your hair doesn’t go as dark when you dye it.