With temporary hair colors like semi-permanent dye, it’s super easy to change up your color as often as you want. But if you have light blonde hair, you might want to think twice about it. So, will temporary hair dye stain blonde hair?
Rumor has it that semi-permanent dyes can stain golden locks badly.
This can leave your hair in a different color even when it’s way past its expected fade “deadline”.
Could there be any truth to this notion?
Will you really end up with stained tresses if you and your blonde hair jump into semi-permanent dyes?
Let’s find out.
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What Is Semi-Permanent Hair Dye?
Semi-permanent dye is a temporary hair color that’s perfect for those who don’t want to commit to a single hair color for the rest of their life.
It provides short-term color that can be washed out in a couple of weeks.
Before you know it, you’ll be back to your natural hair color.
This type of hair dye doesn’t damage your hair the same way permanent color or bleach does.
It’s not formulated with ammonia to chemically alter your hair’s pigment or peroxide to lift your cuticles.
Neither does it require a strong, potent chemical like a developer to activate it.
To use semi-permanent dye, you simply apply it straight to your hair from the applicator bottle.
It doesn’t change your hair structure in any way.
It only deposits pigment, which coats your hair strands.
The pigment molecules could penetrate a tiny bit under your hair cuticle depending on how porous your hair might be, but don’t go all the way through.
That means no chemical damage to your hair, Yipee!
Semi-permanent dyes are also amazing at conditioning the hair.
Its glossy, gel-like consistency makes it smooth and easy to apply.
It also adds shine and brightness back to your hair.
Some semi-permanent dyes are even formulated with nourishing oils like jojoba or argan oil to hydrate your locks.
Who Can Use Semi-Permanent Hair Dye?
Semi-permanent hair is perfect for those who love going from color to color.
So if you’re into cosplay or just love being creative with how you express yourself with wild, insane hair colors that you love to switch up often, you’ll fall head over heels with temporary color.
It’s also terrific for people who want to experience coloring their hair but are conscious of damaging their healthy locks.
The same goes for those with already-damaged hair who want to nurse it back to health, like those with relaxers and perms.
Since there’s no risk of damage and no chemical process to harm your hair structure, semi-permanent dye can do the job well.
Is Semi-Permanent Dye Effective On Blonde Hair?
Lifting dark hair to a lighter, blonder hair color is always tricky because you have to bleach and take pigment out first.
But if it’s the other way around – say, from blonde to brown – it’s not as problematic and tedious.
All you’re doing is adding pigment to the hair, no more and no less.
So, because blonde hair is so light, it’s a dream to dye.
It can take on many dark, vivid, and bold colors without any issues about the hair not holding the pigment well.
Obviously, this does come with some caveats:
- Your blonde hair has to be healthy prior to your coloring session.
- It should be moisturized and rich in proteins – the part of your hair that color bonds to.
- You can’t have brittle, porous hair before you color your hair, or else it won’t stick.
When you’re dyeing blonde hair, you may also have to color it more than once to get the shade you want.
You’ll probably need to get a filler color first before getting that rich, dark color you’ve been envisioning.
This is called “transitioning”, or slowly going from light to dark.
And when you want to color your blonde hair dark, you have to understand that it’s always going to be a long-term commitment, even with semi-permanent dye.
This is because it’s challenging to pull dark pigments out of light-colored hair.
It’s borderline impossible to get rid of dark color in naturally light hair and leave it unscathed.
You could, in a way, say that even temporary dye can alter your hair color for life because of stubborn staining.
Related Post: How To Make Semi-Permanent Hair Dye Last Longer
Will Temporary Hair Dye Stain Blonde Hair?
When it comes to hair-coloring, having blonde hair is both a blessing and a curse.
It’s extremely easy to color because of its light shade that can take on any hue, no matter how dark.
But it’s just as easy to stain permanently, even if you’re using a hair dye meant to be temporary.
Many things will stain blonde hair.
Red fruit juice, chlorine from the swimming pool at the gym, and even your much-loved hair oil if it’s formulated with synthetic dyes. Yikes!
Since blonde hair is very light, it’s prone to staining when you use semi-permanent dye, especially in dark tones or bright and bold fashion colors.
I mean, think about it – it’s harder to wash stains out of bright white T-shirts than on darker ones, right?
What is “staining” of blonde hair?
But what does it mean to “stain” blonde hair after temporary dye?
Well, to put it simply, it’s when you’ve washed your hair numerous times since your dye job, but it’s still left with at least a tinge of the shade you colored your hair with.
I’ve heard countless stories of blonde women who assumed that their semi-permanent color simply didn’t wash out or just faded into an understated brown tone.
What they might not be aware of is that it could be a permanent stain on their light-colored locks.
Red hair dye is one of the biggest culprits of hair staining since the red pigment is extremely potent and concentrated.
If you’re lucky, you can wash out your red dye a few weeks after you color your hair with it.
But don’t be surprised if months and months later, there’s still a peachy-red hue to your locks.
In short, semi-permanent hair dye will fade anyway, but on blondes, they’ll leave a stain in their wake.
That means you can be stuck with a tinge of darkness in your hair, in the shade of whatever color you had dyed.
And this goes for all temporary hair colors, not just semi-permanent dye.
That means simple hair chalks, color-depositing conditioners, and clay dyes can also stain blonde hair.
Stains from these may not be permanent, but they’ll take a while to wash out.
How to deal with staining
Staining your blonde locks can be a hassle when your hair starts to grow out.
The roots will be lighter in color, which can look awkward.
So when your dye fades, your hair grows, and you’re still not back to 100% blonde, you should try to salvage it.
You have a couple of options, like bleaching your hair to strip off all pigment and then recolor it something else, so the shade is even and uniform from root to tip.
You can also simply dye all your hair dark again and maintain it for years with touch-ups.
If your stain is from a bright color, like pink or blue, you can also try toning your hair to de-emphasize those colors’ vividness.
Neutralize the stain’s color so that you can go back to rocking cool, ashy blonde hair.
How To Wash Out Temporary Dye When It Stains Your Hair
If it’s been years since you’ve stained your hair and the dye still doesn’t want to fade, you best believe that the stain is permanent.
But if it’s new, you can try out a few things to give it a hand and speed up the fading process.
These tips aren’t guaranteed to work for everyone, but it’s worth a try for a clean slate, right?
Clarifying shampoo
One thing you can do to wash out as much of the stain as possible is to use a clarifying shampoo.
This type of shampoo is formulated to be strong enough to wash away any form of build-up in the hair, including stubborn dye.
Dandruff shampoo and baking soda
If that doesn’t work, you can also opt for a combination of dandruff shampoo and baking soda.
Mix equal parts and wash your hair with it.
The cleansing power of both the shampoo and the baking soda may help strip off leftover dye keeping you from going back to blonde.
Conclusion
Changing your hair color to something new and fun is one of the best ways to express yourself through style and fashion.
But you have to keep in mind that blonde hair is super high-maintenance.
It has to be toned to keep brassiness away and moisturized to stay healthy.
To top it all off, you have to be wary of stains, whether it’s from a pesky sachet of ketchup or temporary hair dye that doesn’t seem to wash off.
There are a lot of blondes wondering: “Will temporary hair dye stain blonde hair?”
When you’re a blondie, it’s always important to know the risks of coloring your hair with semi-permanent dye and any other temporary color.
Because you run the risk of staining, it’s a bigger commitment for you than it is for someone with darker hair and can wash the dye out easily over time.
As long as you know the rules, you can play the game.
Be careful how you color and style your hair, lest you end up with a stain you hate.
And if you do get stuck with a new color you want to remove, be creative with how to get rid of it once and for all.