Can You Color Your Hair After Keratin Treatment?

For many people, their hair is their crowning glory, which is why they take various steps to ensure it looks its best at all times. Coloring it and undergoing treatments like keratin treatments are some of the ways you can boost your overall appearance.

In this case, the right hair color can significantly enhance your face’s features, while keratin treatments can help keep your hair looking straight, smooth, and shiny. 

However, the question now is, can you undergo the two processes on the same day? Specifically, can you color your hair after a keratin treatment? What happens when you do?

Discover the answers to these and more in this article.

Keratin Treatments – An Overview

Keratin treatments, also known as “Brazilian blowouts,” are popular hair treatments done in salons. As the name suggests, these treatments involve applying a protein called “keratin” to your hair to enhance its overall look.

Keratin is naturally found in the body, and it’s what helps keep your hair – and nails – strong and healthy, keeping it looking shiny and vibrant. 

Besides keeping it looking sleek and shiny, keratin also helps stimulate hair growth, allowing your strands to grow thicker and longer for a fuller-looking head of hair. 

With that said, undergoing regular keratin treatments can make your hair look shinier and straighter for a long time without dealing severe damage to your locks.

Most Common Types Of Keratin Treatments

There are several types of keratin treatments, and the effects of each treatment vary. That’s why it’s best to choose what’s most suited for your hair type if you want the best results.

Here’s a quick look at the most common keratin treatments available these days:

Cezanne

It’s considered the most natural form of keratin treatment since it uses fewer harsh chemicals to provide you with the benefits of this treatment.

However, it tends to take longer than others since you’ll need to wait around half an hour to let the keratin settle. This is ideal if you have fine hair or already damaged strands since it’s the least damaging type of keratin treatment.

Keratin Complex

If you have medium thick and frizzy hair, this type of keratin treatment is ideal since it also uses fewer chemicals and can leave your hair feeling soft and smooth. However, it’s not as long-lasting as other forms of keratin treatments.

Trisolla or Trisolla Plus

This type of keratin treatment is best for damaged, bleached, or extremely frizzy hair since it’s considered the most potent treatment among all of them. It’s also quick to apply, and it has a more extended staying power than the other types.

Can You Color Your Hair After Keratin Treatment?

As mentioned, if you want to enhance your hair’s appearance and make your hair more manageable, keratin treatments are undeniably the way to go. 

Of course, some people fall in love with the results of keratin treatments on their hair that they sometimes choose to take it up a notch and change their hair color afterward as well. However, can you actually color your hair after you’ve undergone a keratin treatment? 

The short answer is both yes and no; you can choose to color your hair immediately after a keratin treatment, but most stylists would advise against doing so. 

The primary reason for this is that the keratin already applied to your hair would make it more difficult for the hair color’s pigments to penetrate your hair’s strands. 

As a result, the color would either look uneven and patchy or dull and faded. Your hair might not even absorb the pigments at all. Likewise, the dye would also remove some of the keratin recently applied to your hair, which will reduce the overall effects of the treatment.

Therefore, it’s generally not recommended to color your hair immediately after getting a keratin treatment if you want the best results from both processes.

When Can You Color Your Hair After a Keratin Treatment?

If coloring your hair immediately after a keratin treatment isn’t recommended, when can you color your hair? How long should you wait before dyeing your hair?

Coloring Your Hair After Keratin Treatments

In most cases, you can change your hair color around 7 to 10 days or around 2 weeks after undergoing a keratin treatment. This duration would have given the keratin enough time to settle in your strands, allowing the new color to take once you apply it.

This period will also ensure that the dye won’t strip off the keratin applied to your hair. However, you can wait as long as 3 weeks if you want to ensure you get better results.

Of course, it’s still advisable to hold off on the dye if it’s not really necessary to avoid experiencing unwanted chemical reactions with your hair.  

If you really want to dye your hair another color, it would be better if you give it enough time to rest or consult with a professional hairstylist. They will be better equipped to determine if your hair is in good enough shape to handle being dyed after undergoing a keratin treatment.

Adding Highlights After Keratin Treatments

What about highlights? Can you add highlights to your hair after undergoing keratin treatments?

Like coloring your hair entirely, it’s best to wait around two weeks or even three weeks to pass after having keratin applied to your hair. 

Waiting a couple of weeks ensures your highlights will take and won’t come out as uneven blotches on your strands.

Bleaching Your Hair After Keratin Treatments

What about when you want to lighten your current hair color a few shades? Is it safe to bleach your hair after undergoing keratin treatments?

Unfortunately, it’s not advisable to bleach your hair after keratin treatments, even if you waited two weeks or so. This is because the chemicals used in the process are considered too harsh, and it can leave your hair more damaged than ever.

However, if you really want to bleach your hair after applying keratin, it’s best to consult with a professional stylist first so they can determine if your strands can take it. 

Otherwise, it’s better to wait until the effects of the keratin are no longer noticeable or until your roots grow long enough before bleaching.

Keratin Treatments and Hair Color – Finding the Right Timing

Of course, if you don’t want to wait a few weeks to change your hair color, the good news is that you can actually get both salon treatments done without waiting a long time. 

As mentioned, it’s not advisable to color your hair after a keratin treatment because it’s significantly less likely that your hair will absorb the pigments in the dye due to the keratin and vice-versa.

However, you can enjoy the best results from both processes if you choose to color your hair before undergoing a keratin treatment, ideally, around 3 to 5 days beforehand.

Why color before applying keratin? This is because keratin treatments work better on color-treated hair since your hair’s cuticle layers are still open from the coloring session. This will allow the keratin to penetrate more deeply into your strands, resulting in better-looking hair. 

Similarly, the keratin applied after your hair has been colored will help seal the dye’s pigments into your strands, preventing the color from fading too quickly. As a result, you can enjoy your vibrant new hair color for a more extended period.

You should note, however, that the color will lighten slightly once the keratin is applied. So, make sure to consider this when picking the hair color to dye your hair with. The same concept applies if you’re adding highlights.

What Else to Consider After Keratin Treatments? – A Few Helpful Tips to Remember

So, coloring immediately after a keratin treatment isn’t advisable if you don’t want to end up with a botched dye job. What else should you remember after undergoing keratin treatments?

Here are a few tips you can consider:

Avoid washing your hair for a few days.

If you want to make the most out of your salon treatment and ensure your hair benefits the most from the keratin, it’s best to avoid washing your hair for a few days. 

Generally, it would be best to wait at least 3 days before taking a shower to allow the keratin to do its job on your strands. However, the exact duration varies with each type of keratin treatment, so make sure to ask your stylist how long to wait before you can wash your hair.

You should also avoid washing your hair too often after undergoing a keratin treatment to extend the effects of the treatment.

Opt for sulfate-free shampoos and conditioners.

Once you can wash your hair, it’s also best to opt for sulfate-free shampoos and conditioners instead. This is because sulfates can strip away any keratin applied to your hair, significantly reducing its effects. 

Sulfates can also be too drying to your scalp and strands, so it’s also the best option if you have a more sensitive scalp. Sulfate-free options are also ideal if you have color-treated hair since they won’t strip out the pigments in your strands, allowing your new hair color to last longer and stay more vibrant.

Keep your hair down for the next few days.

Like avoiding washing your hair after undergoing keratin treatments, it’s also better if you keep your hair loose and down for the next couple of days. Doing so will help prevent your hair from having dents or creases while the keratin settles.

The Bottom Line

Changing your hair color and undergoing keratin treatments are two of the most popular and straightforward ways you can boost your hair’s appearance, as well as your overall look. 

Still, like with any salon treatment, it’s best to consider the timing of each treatment to avoid experiencing hair mishaps. In this case, coloring your hair first before undergoing a keratin treatment is the best way to get that new look you’ve always wanted.

With that said, if you had the keratin treatment first, you’ll need to wait a few weeks before you can color your hair to prevent the color from turning out uneven or patchy.