Can I Dye My Hair if I Have Highlights?

Every now and then, you hear people getting their highlighted tresses dyed for a newer, fresher outlook. And you might always wonder how they do that. Is it even possible? Can you dye your hair if you have highlights?

If you already have highlights in your hair or you are about to get some, these questions will help legit hit your mind. Let’s find out if it’s genuinely possible to color your hair if you have highlights or if it’s just a myth.

 

So, Can You Really Dye Your Highlighted Hair?

Yes, you can absolutely dye your highlighted hair. However, you must wait at least 2 weeks to color the tresses after the highlights. This time period will not only let the color settle on the strands but will also help the manes to recover from the highlighting session.

You should always remember that your strands must go through bleaching sessions for the highlights. And because of the use of such harsh chemicals, you must give the tresses time to recover before applying new dye to them.

 

How To Color Highlighted Hair? An Experts Guide

You can dye your highlighted hair at home with enough confidence and experience. Let’s discuss how to dye over highlighted hair so that you can do it with much ease and perfection.

Method 1: Matching! Matching!

If you want to match the rest of the hair with your highlights, lighting your un-colored tresses with the right blend is necessary. We have discussed how to match the strands with the highlights to make the process even easier for you.

Step 1: Find Out Your Natural Hair Color Shade

As dyeing over highlights is a sensitive process, you must first find out your own natural hair color to match it with the highlights seamlessly. To determine the perfect hue, get a Natural Color Chart and go through it to find your hair shade precisely. Even if you can find the exact shade, pick the one that is the closest match to your natural manes.

 

Step 2: Find The Highlighted Hair Shade

Once you find out your own natural hair color, move on to find out your highlighted strands’ tone. Finding both these shades are vital because they will help you to pick what hue you should use on your un-colored manes.

 

Step 3: Pick The Right Developer

One of the most important steps is picking the developer to use on your un-colored manes. The developer is actually the “make or break” here.

To pick the developer, consider your hair color shade numbers. Let’s say your natural hair shade is 5 Light Brown while the highlighted strands are 7.1 Ash Blonde. Now you subtract these to find how many shades you have to lighten your un-colored tresses to match them with the highlights.

To make it even easier, let’s see the calculation.
7.1 [Ash Blonde] -5 [Light Brown] = 2

This means you have to lighten your tresses by 2 shades to get your desired color.

Now that you know the exact shade, pick the developer from the list below:
• To Lighten Your Hair 2 Shades- 20 Volume Developer
• To Lighten Your Hair 3 Shades-30 Volume Developer
• To Lighten Your Hair 4 Shades-40 Volume Developer

 

Step 4: Mix And Apply

After you have found your developer, it’s time to mix the color and developer to apply to your hair. Make sure to follow the mixing instructions to a T so that you don’t end up with damaged tresses.

Apply the solution to your tresses and wait for the mentioned time. Don’t cross the time limit in any circumstance. It might burn your precious manes badly.

Step 5: Wash And Tone

When the time is up, immediately rinse off the dye from your hair and tone them perfectly for sparkling locks of tresses!

 

Method 2: Try A Completely New Shade

When you want to hide your highlighted hair altogether, try a completely newer shade. The new dye will ensure that all of your hair looks the same, with no highlighted strands here and there.

Let’s discuss how to dye your highlighted manes with a newer dye for a single hue all over.

 

Step 1: Find Out Your Natural Hair Color Shade

Even when you are dyeing your tresses with a completely new color, it’s essential that you find your natural shade for a seamless outcome. Take a Natural Color Chart and go through it to find your natural shade or a closer shade.

 

Step 2: Pick Up Your Preferred Hair Color

While you choose a new shade to put on your tresses, be mindful. Because you already have highlights, it would be a great decision to pick bright, vibrant shades rather than cool, dark ones.

 

Step 3: Pick The Right Developer And Apply The Color

As you are trying out an entirely newer shade on your manes, including the highlights, picking out the right developer for your dye is very important. The hue would come according to the developer you use in the color mixture; remember that always.

To cancel out the highlights and give your manes a single tone, you need to make 2 dye mixes with 2 different developers. For instance, to cancel the highlighted tresses, choose a No Lift Developer and mix it with your preferred hair dye. Apply this mix only on your high-lightened strands for a beautiful outcome at the end.

On the other hand, for the rest of the hair, make a mix with the goal color and a No Lift Developer and smear on the rest of the tresses for an amazing result.

Combining these two color mixes would help you achieve the dyeing result you have been looking for.

Read: Can You Dye Your Hair While Pregnant?

Frequently Asked Questions

How Long After Highlights Can I Dye My Hair?

Ideally, it is better that you wait 4-6 weeks before you dye your highlighted hair. However, if you are in a hurry, you can dye the tresses after 2 weeks of the highlighting. But make sure that you don’t even think of coloring before the 2 weeks time period to ensure the safety of the strands.

 

What Should I Do First, Hair Color or Highlights?

In general, you should first color your hair and then do the highlights. However, the whole process depends on your colorist if you are in a salon. They will decide whether to put the dye first or the highlights.

 

Can I Apply a Box of Dye Over My Highlights?

Yes, you can definitely use a box dye over your highlights for a newer, fresher look. However, you must be careful when doing so because you are not an expert. Also, highlighted hair might be a bit difficult to dye at home with a box hair color.

 

Wrapping Up

There is no denying that you can dye your hair if you have highlights. It allows you to correct any mistakes that occur with your highlighted manes. However, because your strands are sensitive and damage-prone, you must give some time before trying out a new color.

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