Yes, dying your hair is bad because the chemicals cause protein loss and make hair weaker leading to more breakage, even if there are added conditioners. It doesn’t matter if you’re bleaching your hair, going darker, or covering grays.
This is because to actually dye your hair, the chemicals in permanent and semi-permanent hair dyes open up your hair’s cuticle layer so the dye molecules (the actual color) get deposited in your hair. Even if you’re just getting highlights, any hair strands that get dyed will be weaker than the ones left alone.
Pro-tip: if you’re just looking for a quick color, like for Halloween, use temporary hair dyes that don’t open the cuticle and only cover the outside of your hair with color.
Temporary hair dyes can still cause damage if you’re allergic to them, so test a small spot on your skin first. And if the color spray uses alcohol or other drying agents in the spray, it could lead to the drying of hair strands and your scalp. This may be more common with fun colors and aerosol sprays for Halloween, so check out our guide to hair repair after Halloween parties.
On the plus side, you can help minimize the damage by making sure the dye you use has conditioning ingredients like silanetriol and panthenol, which this study found help lessen the protein loss versus dye without them.
And this study found that rinsing your hair with an acidic pH solution helped with protein loss by closing the cuticle. You can find acidic hair products at stores or try using things at home like apple cider vinegar or lemon juice to wash your hair immediately after you’re done with the dying process.
Also, even though ammonia based dyes smell awful, choose them over monoethanolamine (MEA) dyes since the MEA ones can damage hair by up to 85% more.
Since there’s no avoiding weaker hair when you use permanent or semi-permanent dyes, you can try spiral hair ties when it’s time to put your hair up. Spiral ties cause less friction than elastic ties, and less friction leads to fewer broken hairs or split ends. Same thing goes with scrunchies and pillow cases where silk (or satin) will cause less friction than cotton or polyester.
The bad news is that all hair coloring causes damage, but you can reduce the amount and potential breakage by dying your hair less frequently, adjusting your styling tools while your hair repairs, and making sure to use hair repair products like argan oils when you’re done.
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