Do you remember that scene in the movie Clueless where Cher’s blonde locks get darker, and she freaks out? Well, that’s exactly what happens when trying to go blonde with your natural dark brown or black roots. Thankfully, getting lighter is a lot easier than going darker. But why does this happen? And what can you do about it? Let’s find out. Most people tend to associate dark hair with maturity and sophistication. However, both teenagers and adults love having red, purple, blue, or any other unnatural shade of hair. If you have recently colored your hair or are thinking of doing so in the near future, you might be wondering why your hair is getting darker and how to reverse this process if it bothers you.
Why is my hair getting darker?
There can be many reasons why your hair might be getting darker. It could be due to genetics, aging, exposure to the sun, or certain medical conditions. If you are concerned about your hair getting darker, you should consult a doctor or dermatologist to rule out any medical causes.
The Science Behind Darkening After Coloring
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Temporary Hair Dye
Hair dye contains a chemical called hydrogen peroxide which is applied to the hair. This chemical reacts with the natural oils in your hair and turns them into the color that you want. After a few days, the peroxide breaks down and turns into water and oxygen. This is what causes your hair to turn light or dark after coloring. The more chemicals in the dye, the darker it will get. The best way to avoid this problem is by using a temporary coloring product that does not contain peroxide.
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Temporary Bleach In Your Hair
Bleaching is another way that chemicals react with natural oils in your hair and turn them into color so they can be dyed. This process causes your hair to become lighter and lighter until it eventually becomes white or nearly white at the roots of your hair. Again, if you want to avoid this effect, there are temporary bleaches available at most local beauty supply stores or online that do not contain any chemicals that are harmful to your hair and scalp.
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Natural Process of Hair Growth
Hair growth starts from a single strand of cells on top of your head called an ‘agent’ or root follicle, which grows outwards from this point until it reaches an inch long before dying off completely at around 2-3 inches long (about 5-7 mm). Each time new cells start growing from this point, they have no way of knowing where they came from so they grow in random directions until they reach their final destination and form a new hair. This natural process is what causes your hair to become lighter as it grows.
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Temporary Dye-Color Stains
Hair color is applied to your hair as a temporary stain that lasts for about two weeks. It also contains peroxide, which breaks down every day and causes your hair to become lighter. The best way to avoid this problem is by using a temporary coloring product that does not contain peroxide (which is harmful to the scalp).
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Natural Process of Hair Growth
Hair growth starts from a single strand of cells on top of your head called an ‘agent’ or root follicle, which grows outwards from this point until it reaches an inch long before dying off completely at around 2-3 inches long (about 5-7 mm). Each time new cells start growing from this point, they have no way of knowing where they came from so they grow in random directions until they reach their final destination and form a new hair. This natural process is what causes your hair to become lighter as it grows.
How To Lighten Your Hair After Coloring
- Do not dye your hair with permanent hair color. Temporary hair dyes will not cause your natural color to lighten.
- Avoid shampooing your hair every day. Shampooing removes the top layer of hair, which is what causes it to lighten naturally. This is because the shampoo strips away everything that protects the roots and scalp, including melanin (the pigment that makes our skin and hair dark). So don’t shampoo every day unless you have a severe case of dandruff or scalp problems that require daily shampooing.
- Avoid using harsh chemicals on your hair, like peroxide or bleach, if you’re planning on coloring your hair again in two weeks’ time or less. These chemicals can damage your natural color if you are going to dye it again soon after coloring it with permanent colors or dyes, in addition to regular shampoos and conditioners.
- If you have read or blonde highlights in your dark brown or black hair, do not get them removed because removing them will cause the roots to lighten as well as the rest of your dark-colored strands of hair. So if this is an issue for you, don’t get rid of those highlights until after bleaching out all of the colors from within your brown/black strands.
- If you have previously colored your natural color blonde by bleaching out the top layer of dark brown/black strands (see #4 above), do not get rid of the bleached highlights in your hair until your hair has darkened back to its natural color. This is because the bleach will not lighten the roots of your natural brown/black strands as quickly as it will lighten the top layer of blonde strands.
- If you don’t have highlights in your dark-colored hair, do not get rid of them either until it has darkened back to their natural color. This is because there’s a good chance that you might be able to bleach out some of your dark-colored strands if they are highlighted, but this process will only lighten the top layer of those strands and not the roots, which is what causes them to get darker in the first place.
Other Effective Ways To Lighten Your Hair
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Bleach Your Hair
Bleaching is a very common way of lightening hair. However, it actually works best on light-colored hair. If your hair is dark, it will only make the color darker. The bleach will also fade the hair faster, leaving you with a lot of damage and frizz in no time. Plus, bleaching your hair can be quite damaging to your scalp and other parts of your body if you don’t know what you are doing.
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Reconsider Your Color Choices
The color choices that you make for your hair can have a huge impact on how dark or light your natural color turns out to be after all these years. Brown and black roots are more likely to turn into gray than any other color due to their tendency toward turning gray over time as opposed to other colors like blonde or red, which tend to stay the same shade as they get older. So, if you go for the hotter colors like red or blonde instead of brown or black, then it will definitely end up looking lighter in the end than its natural shade would have been otherwise.
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Get A Bigger Cut Than You Normally Do
If you want to get lighter roots and want them gone quickly without having to bleach them first, then getting a big cut is an ideal solution for this problem. Big cuts tend to expose lots of new growth underneath which makes it easier for the sun’s rays to damage those new growths and make them darker. So, if you want a lighter shade of hair, then go for a big cut.
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Use Hair Colorant
By now, you must have realized that this is the most effective way to lighten your hair. You might be wondering how it works or how safe it is to use? Well, the truth is that there are tons of colorants and dyes on the market which are safe enough to use on your hair and scalp. But be sure to follow all the instructions and warnings on the packaging before using any such product.
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Color The Ends Of Your Hair To Lighten Them Up
If you want to get your roots lighter without going through any of the above-mentioned steps, then color the ends of your hair instead. Just make sure that you do not bleach them as well as they can get damaged by bleaching too much in one go with all those chemicals involved in dyeing them when bleaching is not an option for you, at least for now!
Conclusion
If you want to keep the color you have, but get rid of the dark roots, consider getting a root touch-up. This is when the colorist applies color only to the roots so that the rest of the hair remains the same color. If you want to change the color completely, you can do so by applying a color change formula to the ends of your hair. This will gradually lift your existing color while depositing a new color at the same time. If you want to get your hair back to its natural color, there are a few ways to do so. You can use a color removal product, use a clarifying shampoo to remove the chemicals, or you can use a natural lightening method like an ACV or lemon juice rinse.
