Can I use semi permanent hair color on grey hair?

There are quite a few doubts that one may have when it comes to hair color. And more so if you happen to be a beginner. But that doesn’t mean that you won’t give hair coloring a shot right!? We’ve answered some of the most frequently asked questions about our dyes. Read on to find out!

Can I use semi-permanent hair color on grey hair?

This has to be one of the most asked questions we’ve received. “Can I use semi permanent hair color to cover my grey hair?” Unfortunately, Paradyes semi permanent hair color CAN NOT be deposited on grey hair or be used to cover up grey hair. 

Fresh grey roots hair are non-porous which makes it resistant to hair colors. Only if the cuticles of your hair are open will you be able to deposit any kind of semi permanent hair dye on them. In the case of grey hair, they lack melanin which is responsible for the natural color of the hair and they also lack certain natural oils which are generally there in natural hair. This makes it even tougher to deposit semi permanent hair dyes on grey root hair. However, you might notice than grey hair on the lengths will take the colors easily due to its semi-porous nature.

Do I have to bleach my hair before dying them?

YES. We cannot emphasize this enough. Paradyes semi permanent hair colors will only show up on bleached hair. There are quite a few things you should keep in mind before bleaching your hair, like pre and post bleach hair care and more. Each color will give you a different result based on the level of the bleached base that you have. Our colors Rubra Red and Carola Pink, do not require higher levels of bleach, they show up even on a level 7 base. However, if you wish to go for cooler tones such as Rudolphi Blue and Mayeri Green, then you need to bleach your hair twice or visit a salon for professional help to get a toned platinum base. Here's how you can bleach your hair at home.

P.S.Toning is the process done after bleaching your hair in order to get rid of orange/ yellow undertones that appear after bleaching. A blue/ purple shampoo can be used to neutralize these tones to achieve optimum results after using the hair colors.

Can I bleach and color keratin-treated hair?

We do not advise you to bleach your keratin-treated hair. You can visit your hairstylist and ask them for guidance in case you wish to color your keratin-treated hair. It varies from person to person and if your treatment has aged or you haven’t treated your hair recently, then there might be possibilities for you to use semi permanent hair colors. 

Bleach will penetrate and destroy your keratin-treated smooth hair. This will leave you with damaged hair which you won’t be able to color either. Therefore, bleach can only be applied on the re-growth and not the treated portion of your hair.

Can I use hair colors on box dyed hair?

Once again, it depends from person to person. If you used a box dye or a permanent hair color a long time ago then you may try bleaching and coloring your hair again using semi permanent hair colors. However, it is not necessary that you will get desired results and you must perform strand tests before coloring significant portions of your hair. Permanent dyes are not easy to lift and one round of bleaching might not be enough. You can visit a salon to seek guidance if you wish to experiment with more vibrant and colorful semi permanent hair dyes.

All that being said, this surely doesn’t mean that there is no scope left for you to try out some super fun and super cool hair colors! You can always wait for your hair to re-grow to try some new hair color looks.