Can You Bleach Hair After Henna or Indigo? Going Lighter After Organic Botanical Hair Colour
If you use Desert Shadow organic botanical hair colour and are thinking about bleaching, highlighting or significantly lightening your hair in the future, there are a few important things you need to know.
Desert Shadow colours are made using plant ingredients containing naturally occurring botanical pigments. These plant dyes bind to the hair to create beautiful, long-lasting colour.
That longevity is one of the wonderful things about botanical hair colour — but it also means the pigments can behave very differently from conventional hair colour when bleach or chemical lightener is applied.
For this reason, we recommend growing your Desert Shadow botanical colour out before bleaching or significantly lightening your hair.
This is particularly important if you have used a brown or black shade containing indigo.
Can I Bleach My Hair After Using Desert Shadow?
We do not recommend bleaching or significantly lightening hair that still contains Desert Shadow botanical colour.
If becoming blonde, having significant highlights or substantially lightening your hair is something you think you may want to do in the future, it is worth considering this before beginning a darker botanical colour journey.
The safest approach is to allow the previously coloured hair to grow out before significant chemical lightening.
What Happens if You Bleach Hair After Using Indigo?
This is particularly important for anyone who has used Desert Shadow brown or black shades containing indigo.
Botanical brown and black shades are created using combinations of different plant pigments. When bleach or chemical lightener is applied, these pigments may not lighten or release from the hair at the same rate.
The warmer components of the colour may lighten while some of the cooler indigo pigment remains attached to the hair.
This can reveal unexpected blue, blue-green or greenish tones.
The result will depend on your individual hair, the Desert Shadow colours you have previously used, how many applications are present on the hair and how extensively the hair is being lightened.
Important
Do not assume that bleaching Desert Shadow brown or black hair colour will simply return your hair to its original colour.
If indigo is present, the remaining botanical pigment can become much more visible as the surrounding colour is lightened.
Can I Bleach My Hair After Using Henna or Red Botanical Hair Colour?
Red botanical pigments behave differently from indigo.
If you have used Desert Shadow red shades containing henna and other warm botanical pigments, chemical lightening may make the colour lighter, but the warm pigment can be extremely persistent.
Your hair may become lighter while still retaining copper, orange or red tones.
This means bleaching does not necessarily remove all of the botanical colour.
Repeated bleaching in an attempt to remove persistent botanical pigment can also place unnecessary stress on the hair.
Can a Hairdresser Bleach Over Desert Shadow?
If you are considering professional lightening after using Desert Shadow, make sure your hairdresser knows your complete colour history.
Don't simply tell them that your hair has previously been coloured brown, red or black.
Tell them specifically that you have used botanical hair colour and whether your previous colour contained henna, indigo or other plant dyes.
We strongly recommend having a strand test performed before applying bleach or chemical lightener to the whole head.
A strand test allows you and your hairdresser to see:
- how the previously coloured hair responds to the lightener;
- how much the hair actually lightens;
- which underlying tones become visible;
- whether blue, green, copper, orange or red tones remain; and
- how the condition of the hair responds to the lightening process.
Every head of hair and colour history is different, so a strand test is much safer than assuming how the hair will behave.
Does Desert Shadow Wash Out Before Bleaching?
Desert Shadow botanical colours may soften and evolve over time, but you should not assume that faded colour means the botanical pigments have completely left the hair.
Henna and indigo can be very persistent.
Even when the visible colour has softened considerably, botanical pigment may remain on the previously coloured lengths.
This is why we recommend growing the colour out before significant chemical lightening rather than relying on fading or repeated washing to remove it.
Can I Use a Lighter Desert Shadow Colour Instead?
You can gradually transition towards lighter shades in the Desert Shadow range while allowing previously coloured lengths to grow out, but there is an important distinction:
Botanical hair colour deposits colour — it does not chemically lighten your existing hair colour.
Applying a lighter Desert Shadow shade over previously coloured dark hair will not bleach the darker colour away.
However, moving towards lighter botanical shades can sometimes help make the transition between new growth and previously coloured lengths more gradual while you grow the darker colour out.
What if I Want Highlights?
If highlights are an important part of your long-term hair plans, consider this before applying botanical colour to the areas you intend to lighten.
Highlights involve chemically lightening selected sections of hair. If those sections contain botanical pigments, particularly indigo, the result can be unpredictable.
If you intend to combine professional highlights with botanical colour, discuss your colour history with an experienced hairdresser and strand test the previously botanically coloured hair before lightening it.
What if I Have Already Bleached Hair That Contained Indigo?
If you have already bleached or lightened hair containing indigo and have developed an unwanted blue, blue-green or greenish result, avoid repeatedly bleaching the hair simply in an attempt to remove the remaining pigment.
Further bleaching may place additional stress on the hair without necessarily removing the remaining botanical colour.
We recommend consulting an experienced professional colourist.
Tell them exactly which botanical products and colours you have used and, where possible, approximately when and how often you applied them.
A professional can assess the condition and colour of your hair before deciding whether further corrective colour work is appropriate.
What if I Know I Want to Go Blonde in the Future?
If you know that your long-term goal is blonde hair, extensive highlights or substantially lighter hair, think carefully before applying darker botanical shades containing indigo.
Botanical colour is designed to provide beautiful, long-lasting plant-derived colour rather than temporary colour that can easily be removed later.
If you're unsure, choosing a colour strategy that works with your longer-term hair goals can make the transition much easier.
Quick Answer: Can I Bleach Desert Shadow Hair Colour?
Desert Shadow does not recommend bleaching or significantly lightening hair that still contains our botanical hair colour.
This is particularly important if you have used a brown or black shade containing indigo, because chemical lightening can reveal unwanted blue, blue-green or greenish tones.
Hair coloured with henna or other red botanical pigments may lighten but can retain persistent copper, orange or red tones.
Our recommended approach is to allow the Desert Shadow colour to grow out before significant chemical lightening.
If you are considering bleaching, highlights or other chemical lightening, always tell your hairdresser about your botanical colour history and have a strand test performed first.
Planning Your Botanical Hair Colour Journey
Choosing botanical hair colour is not just about the colour you want today. It is also worth thinking about where you might want your hair colour to go in the future.
If you're happy maintaining your current depth or continuing with botanical colour, Desert Shadow can provide beautiful colour that develops naturally with your hair.
If you think you may eventually want to become substantially lighter, blonde or heavily highlighted, consider that before applying darker shades containing indigo.
And if you're unsure which Desert Shadow colour is right for your current hair and your future colour goals, get in touch with the Desert Shadow team before colouring. We're happy to help you choose an approach that works with your hair.
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