Can You Add Bleach To Hair Dye To Make It Lighter?

Bleach powder is known for its lightening effects, and that’s why some people consider adding it to their hair colors to make them lighter.

But can you add bleach to hair dye to make it lighter? This article will give you the answer and address all the misconceptions about what can be added to bleach.

So, Can We Mix Bleach with Hair Color to Make it Lighter?

The answer is a big no. Mixing bleach powder and hair dye will form a thick paste or a runny mixture that is hard to apply to your hair. 

In other cases, doing so will trigger unwanted chemical reactions. For example, the bleach and dye won’t blend together or create a hot mixture that would be harmful if applied to your strands.

Most importantly, both hair dye and bleach are differently formulated and need different volumes of the developer.

By combining the bleach and the dye together, there is no way to figure out the right volumes for the mixture and you risk destroying both the two substances.

As a result, the mixture will likely alter the color of the dye, resulting in the shade you likely hate and costly color adjustment.

Can You Lighten Hair Dye Before Applying It? 

Yes, you can lighten the hair dye with developer, shampoo, and conditioner to create a new hue that is lighter than the original shade.

However, there might be some risks involved in the mixing process, especially if you’re dying your hair at home.

Adding toner or any uncertain substance into your hair dye only leaves you with a hard-to-predict color. You never know how the mixture will react with your hair fibers.

Therefore, we recommend choosing the light shade that matches your preference from the get-go and dyeing your hair with it.

The color ranges that brands provide are more than enough to offer several stunning light shades. Just keep in mind that the chosen dye should not be two lighter shades than your current hair color.

Ways To Dilute Permanent Hair Dye For A Lighter Color

How To Lessen The Intensity Of The Dye To Make It Lighter?

If you want a lighter color, you can reduce the intensity of the dye by doubling the amount of the developer you’re supposed to use.

For example, if the recommended dye-to-developer ratio is 1-1, you have to go up to 1-2. That means if you have a 50ml tube of dye, you should mix it with 100ml of developer.

Increasing the volume of developers gives you the less intense color that you want. Keep in mind that you need to change the amount of the developer, not the volumes.

The volume of the developer has nothing to do with the color of the dye at all. It has only one mission: open up the hair to cuticles to let the dye easily penetrate into the fiber.

How To Dilute Hair Dye With Conditioner?

Conditioner is a popular choice for diluting hair dye. It does not only adjust the hair color but also gives extra glossy shine and moisture to your strands. The conditioner will lessen the intensity of the shade so your colored hair will appear less bright.

It is worth mentioning that you should always use a sulfate-free conditioner. Sulfate can strip your hair of color and shorten the lifespan of the dye.

Here are some tips you can apply while diluting hair dye with conditioner:

• Tip 1: The suggested ratio of conditioner to hair dye is 3-1. It means that the formula should include 3 parts of the chosen conditioner and 1 part of the hair dye.
• Tip 2: If you want your hair to have more vibrancy and shine, try mixing the conditioner with bright hues such as pink, blue, purple, or red. These combinations will make the color look muted or pastel but still vibrant and shiny.
• Tip 3: The color of the conditioner can mess up with the final result. For this reason, it is advised to only use a clear or white conditioner to make sure that it won’t disrupt the dye color.

How To Choose A Lighter Dye

Knowing the color code system can help you better understand the options you can choose from.

Hair dye shades go from 1-10, with 1 being the darkest, 5 being medium brown, and 10 the lightest (although there are brands that can go as far as 12 for their lightest shade). All other levels represent the colors that fall between these shades.

The differences between these shades are minor. Therefore, you can easily choose a lighter shade to match your needs. It is advised to consider the color of your original hair while choosing the dye color. If you have already-colored hair, look at the shade of the regrowth.

In case you want to go lighter, select the color that is 1 or 2 shades lighter than your current hair color. If you want to go from a dark shade to a light shade of more than two levels, you need to bleach your strands.

That requires you to use peroxide or bleach to remove the hair pigments. Once the pigments are eliminated, the cuticles lift and fully absorb the dye to bring out the desired color. Just make sure you bleach and dye separately, not mix the two products, and do your hair in just one step.

We highly recommend basing on this coloring system to choose the shade you like. This can help you have the most flattering and predictable result and avoid a disaster that comes with mixing bleach or other unadvisable substance into your dye.

Pro Tips On How To Dye Your Hair At Home

Choose The Best Shade Based On Your Hair Color

To select the most flattering shade, you should aim for those close to your current hair shade. Compare your strands and the color displayed on the box to find the closest match. Then, you can go darker or lighter within two levels than your shade.

Transitioning from one color family to another is not something for a DIYer; it’s simply too risky and involves multiple steps which can only be done right at the hand of a professional colorist.

Do The Strand Test

It pays to do a strand test to see how the color turns out on your hair before committing, especially if you’re dying with a new shade.

Do Not Always Trust The Model On The Box

The image of a smiling model on the packaging might be somewhat misleading, so don’t always place your trust on it. The developers of at-home permanent hair dyes are stronger than what’s used in salons.

Therefore, the color you’ll get is lighter than the model’s hair on the dye box because the developer will lift the color to some extent. The swatch sitting atop the box is a more reliable illustration of what your hair color will look like after dyeing.

Go Lighter Or Darker? – It’s All About The Type Of Hair Dyes

As mentioned, you’re likely to get a lighter hue when using at-home permanent hair dyes. Thus, to get the color closest to what you have in mind, you should go for the one that is slightly darker.

That’s another story with semi-permanent dyes, however. Because this type of dye doesn’t have a developer, your hair only becomes darker if you leave it for longer. For this reason, go a bit lighter to nail the color that you want.

Buy Two Boxes Of Dye

For shoulder-length hair or short yet thick hair, you’d be better off buying two boxes of dye for full head coverage. You do not want to leave the dye for too long and get to the store for another box.

Always Use Plastic Container

Use all-plastic everything when you’re dyeing your hair. Metal bowl and mixing spoon can oxidize the color, deviating the coloring outcomes. In the worst-case scenario, severe dye oxidation can break your strands. So, do your hair a favor!

Start From The Roots

You should begin applying the dye at the roots and then comb through to the tips. Roots are where regrowths start, so they need more time to process and develop the hair color.

Avoid Staining Your Scalp

To keep the hair dyes off your skin, apply some petroleum jelly such as  Aquaphor or Vaseline around the hairlines and on the ears. They are effective stain guards to use for at-home dyeing. Once the dye starts to lift, wipe clean these areas with a dry cloth.

If you just do the touch-ups at the roots, it is recommended to put some sort of protective layers, such as coconut oil, to the mid-shaft and ends. This will guard these sections against runoff from rinsing out your roots and keep any lightness or dimension of your hair.

Spot Treat Gray Hair

If you have a few spots of grays, there is no need to color the entire head. Instead, use a semi-permanent dye box and spot treat those areas.

It might take some effort, though. If you have a smattering of grays since you might have to work strand by strand. In this case, an eye shadow brush might help you apply the color with more precision.

Let Your Hair Down

After finishing coloring, don’t twist your newly-dyed hair into a bun or the color won’t be distributed evenly across the hair. All you need to do is leave the hair down before rinsing it out.

In addition, you may want to invest in a hair coloring gown to avoid staining your clothes.

Add Shampoo

In case your ends are extremely dry, we do not recommend directly applying the dye to these sections.

Color your roots and mid shafts as normal. Wait until the last three minutes before you should rinse the dye off, add two squirts of shampoo into the remaining dye, mix it, and apply it to the ends.

Wash Your Hair Properly

To keep your new hue look its best for longer, wash your hair with shampoo and conditioner specially made for color-treated hair. Whatever you choose, steer clear of products that contain sulfate.

Go for the products designed to lock the hue in, offer protection against sun exposure, provide protein and moisture. Improving your hair conditions can help extend the shade’s life and prevent premature fading.

Fix The Color After Dyeing 

If you’re not content with the final color, deep conditioning your hair might tweak the result. This makes your hair look more muted. First, apply your deep conditioner when your hair is still damp. Let it settle for at least 20 minutes. The last part is to shampoo and condition your hair as usual.

Can I Add Water To Hair Dye To Make It Lighter?

The thing is, hair dye is specially formulated to bring out a specific color. The complicated science behind each bottle is not meant to be diluted like you would with beverages or food recipes.

Water makes the dye runny, and you can end up with dye scattering all over your neck, shoulders, and clothes.

Adding water to permanent or semi-permanent dye does not lighten it. Even worse, water can neutralize the dye, and the result is the color won’t last as long as it’s supposed to.

Conclusion

Can you add bleach to hair dye to make it lighter? Now you have the answer. It makes no sense to mix bleach powder with your hair color as it will nullify its effects, and you will end up with disappointment.

This also holds true with other things like water or toner. If you want a lighter color, simply look at the color swatches and choose accordingly. Better safe than sorry!