Precautions for dyeing hair

Changing your hair color is a new way to transform your look and amp up your game. Hair is your best accessory that has the power to boost your confidence and enhance your look. While experimenting with colors allows endless possibilities, from covering gray strands to enjoying bold colors, hair dyeing is a delicate process that involves exposure to harsh chemicals.

Whether you're going for a subtle touch-up or a complete makeover, you must take precautions to protect your hair from severe damage. We want our besties to flaunt their newly dyed hair without compromising their hair health. Therefore, we have compiled a guide of carefully considered precautions that you must take before dyeing your hair to have beautiful results while keeping your hair protected.

Conduct Patch Test

Patch test is a must whenever you are getting a treatment that directly involves exposure of your skin, eyes, and hair. This test determines if your hair can tolerate the harshness of the dye or if you're allergic to its ingredients. In a patch test, you apply the hair color to a small test area, leave it to dry, and rinse it off. In 48 hours, if no irritation occurs and your hair shows no reaction, you're safe to use that dye.

Consider Your Natural Hair 

The natural color and texture of your hair also play a big role in the results of hair dyeing. If you have fine or damaged hair, using intense formulas can adversely damage your hair. Additionally, weak hair tends to absorb hair color rapidly. So, using a highly pigmented dye can result in darker outcomes than you anticipated.

Consider Your Previous Hair Color

When dyeing your hair, keep in mind that applying a lighter shade over previously dyed dark hair will not lighten it. Instead, it only exposes your hair to unnecessary damage from the peroxides of the dye. In hair dyeing, color cannot lift color. This means you cannot go lighter than the last applied shade. However, achieving a darker hair color than the previous color is possible.

Coloring Wait Time

There always has to be an optimal gap between two consecutive hair dyeing treatments. Dyeing your hair too soon after a chemical treatment or a previous color application can cause hair damage. Additionally, the existing color needs time to fade or grow out from your hair follicles to allow the new dye to show up effectively. Thus, you must be patient to have healthy as well as beautiful hair.

The layering of Hair Dyes

Hair dyes work by depositing color pigments into your hair strands. If you layer your hair with multiple colors, no color will get to stand out. Instead, you will end up with a dull, muted hair color. Moreover, more hair dye means more damage. Thus, you must stick to one base color and, at most, add one complementary shade for highlights or streaks.  

Optimizing Developer Quantity

Every hair dye comes with a developer. The developer contains different peroxides and oxidizing agents that strip away your natural hair pigment to make way for the dye pigments. This harsh chemical can also damage the keratin protein of your hair, leading to irreversible chemical damage. Therefore, you must use only the measured amount of developer as mentioned on the box of your dye.

Planning After Dyeing HairCare

Once your hair has been dyed, you need to design a proper haircare routine to stabilize the color and recover the damage your hair has gone through. A good hair care routine also helps in prolonging the time dye stays in your hair. You must opt for shampoos formulated with color-protecting ingredients that are free from sulfates and parabens.

Suitable Dyeing Tools

The material of the mixing bowl can react with the constituents of the dye, interfering with the efficiency of the color. Therefore, you must use non-metallic tools that do not react unpredictably with the color pigments. You can use degradable material hair dyeing tools that are both non-reactive and environmentally friendly.

Final Thoughts

Dyeing your hair can be a great way to experiment with your looks and have a fresh appearance. However, at the same time, it is a harsh treatment. Thus, you must conduct proper research before opting for a certain hair coloring treatment. Additionally, take regard to the precautions mentioned above to cause less hair damage as well as have optimal results.