You’ve bleached your hair, and you’re looking forward to lighter, brighter tresses. But instead, you get…orange hair?! Now you ask yourself, I bleached my hair, and it turned orange; should I bleach it again?
There are a few things you want to consider before applying more chemicals, or you could end up in a worse situation. We’ll explore the ins and outs of the process, why it happened in the first place, and how to avoid orange hair in the future.
Should I Bleach My Hair Again if it Turns Orange After Bleaching?
Yes, you can bleach your hair again if it turns orange after the first try, but you’ll have to wait for at least one to two weeks before giving it another shot.
Why?
As tempting as it may be to go right back in with the bleach to correct the problem, you have to give your hair a chance to recover from the chemicals.
The waiting period allows you to restore your hair’s natural moisture balance. Otherwise, you may end up with significant damage to your mane. Also, you might not have to bleach it again, depending on how dark or light the orange is and what you want your hair to look like in the end.
What Causes Hair to Turn Orange After Bleaching?
If you tried to make your hair lighter and you ended up with an orange, brassy color, you were probably a brunette to start with. Dark-colored hair has a lot of pigmentation that contributes to the richness of your hair color.
Usually, the orange and red pigments are the most dominant undertones, so if they don’t get adequately bleached, you’ll notice an unsightly orange color after the fact.
Already blonde? Well, your blonde hair could still turn orange if you had a lot of mineral or chemical buildup in your hair before attempting to bleach it. You’ll also get orange hair if you’ve been in a swimming pool with chlorine or at the beach hanging around in the ocean.
How to Fix Orange Hair After Bleaching
Going in with the bleach again? If you’ve waited a couple of weeks, you might be brave enough to try bleaching a second time if you’re dead set on getting lighter hair.
First, though, consider the finished look that you want. If your hair is a darker orange, and you’re looking for an extra light blonde, you should try bleaching your hair again.
After you let the bleaching process sit for around 20 to 30 minutes, the result should be a flattering yellow color. From there, you could apply an ash blonde hair dye to get a cooler blonde color, or you may want to tone it with purple shampoo to alter it a bit.
Or, if your hair turns out to be a lighter orange, you don’t have to bleach your hair again to get that light blonde color. Instead, you can remove the orange with a blue toner, such as blue shampoo. Blue is a complementary color that will neutralize the orange.
How to Avoid Orange Hair After Bleaching
Even though there’s a way to fix your hair color if it turns orange, it’s best to avoid it altogether, so you don’t have to deal with the problem. Below you’ll find several ways to prevent your hair from turning orange.
- To avoid having brassy tones avoid direct sunlight.
- Using hard water can cause brassy tones in your hair because of the minerals in the water.
- Salt and Chlorine may oxidize your hair and transform your hair color into a shade or color you don’t want.
FAQs
Here are the responses to commonly asked questions regarding bleaching your hair again after it turns orange:
The short answer is yes. Bleaching damages hair by stripping away moisture and oils. Over time, continued and repeated bleaching can cause brittleness, split ends, and breakage.
Damaged hair from bleaching is much more susceptible to hair loss. Since bleached hair is more porous, it is more vulnerable to damage from heat-styling tools such as curlers and blow-dryers.
It’s not recommended to wait for the orange to fade away over time. The only plausible way to eliminate orange roots is to color-correct the unwanted shade. That means you need to use a toner or bleach your hair again to achieve the desired color.
So, I Bleached My Hair and It Turned Orange, Should I Bleach It Again?
Okay, so let’s recap. You can bleach your hair again if it turns orange after you bleach it the first time, but you should wait one to two weeks to avoid excessive damage.
Also, consider what shade of orange it is, as a dark orange will require bleaching again to go lighter, whereas a light orange only needs to be corrected with a blue toner.
It’s critical to protect your hair during these processes to avoid dryness, breakage, or botched color jobs.
