Nothing is more annoying than wasting time and money on hair colouring only to discover that the colour didn’t stick. Why won’t the colour go on my hair?

However you’re not alone, since this is a typical occurrence.

Continue reading if you want to learn why your hair won’t cooperate. We’ll go through many reasons why your hair isn’t taking and holding colour in this post and provide advice on how to improve your hair colouring results in the future.

Why Is Your Hair Not Taking Colour?

Let’s go directly to the main causes of your hair’s resistance to colour. To identify the root cause of your bad colour outcomes, consider the information in this section.

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You didn’t apply sufficient hair dye.

The simplest explanation for why your hair isn’t taking in or absorbing colour is that you didn’t apply enough dye while dying it. You should completely soak your hair strands in dye during the hair colouring process of your natural hair.

Anyone with thick, healthy hair that is longer than shoulder-length will need to use two or more boxes of hair colour to get the desired hair colour appearance. Always purchase an additional box while colouring your hair to ensure you have enough.

You didn’t let your hair dye sit for long enough.

You will end up with a colour that doesn’t take well if the processing time is too rushed. The developer requires time to penetrate the cuticle of your hair. Normally, you should let your hair dye sit in your hair for 30 to 45 minutes before rinsing out your colour.

Always adhere to the processing time recommended on your hair colour container. If your hair has a history of not accepting colour, stick to the longer end of the time range.

Didn’t Use the Correct Developer

The developer you employ is just as important when it comes to permanent colour as the dye itself. As a general rule of thumb, lighter to darker shade transitions need lesser volume of developer than the darker to lighter shade transitions.

If you use a developer that is too weak, the hair will not be able to take in the colour and you may have to dye your hair more than once. If a developer isn’t included in your dye kit, ensure the one you have to buy separately has the right concentration and quality.

You Have Too Greasy Hair

An excessive accumulation of natural oils may prevent the dye from penetrating your strands while some amount of natural oil build up helps to protect your hair and scalp throughout the colouring process. Your hair will instead just lose the hair colour with the dye slipping off, leaving you with patchy or uneven colour or no colour.

Even while dyeing your hair unwashed is healthier for your strands, make sure it isn’t oil-saturated before the hair dyeing process. If so, wash it quickly with a mild shampoo before the dyeing process.

Your water is hard.

Hard water may be running through the pipes of many houses. Calcium and magnesium are two dissolved minerals that accumulate on your hair strands since hard water is so rich in them. The mineral accumulation forms a coating on your hair that keeps the colour from penetrating into your hair.

To avoid this from occurring, we advise washing your hair with a clarifying shampoo first. Mineral buildup on your hair strands might result in a film that stops the colour from reaching your hair, therefore washing with the clarifying shampoo will help to eliminate this mineral coating.

You recently chemically processed your hair.

It might have a devastating effect to dye your hair again soon after you already had a hair colour or texture treatment. Besides causing faded or patchy colour, layering chemical treatments will probably result in permanent hair damage.

Additionally, not all hair colour brands can work well with one another. Incompatible colours may cause a bad colour or even hair loss.

To avoid this, try to schedule your chemical hair treatments in advance and allow your strands plenty of time to heal before trying to recolour them.

The hair is severely damaged

Damaged, dry hair is less able to absorb or hold colour well. Due to the gaps and holes that are present along the surface of the hair strand resulting in such damaged hair to be very porous.

Your hair may initially absorb colour well because of these holes, but this hair colour finishing won’t last very long. Instead, your hair will start to fade right away as your strands continue to bleed colour.

Damage (such as to the hair shaft or hair cuticle) may result from several different things, such as:

  • Saltwater or chlorine
  • Sunlight
  • Heat and chemical damage
  • Over washing your hair

You Have Hair That Is Low Porous

Low porosity hair, in contrast to high porosity hair, has a firmly closed hair cuticle that resists taking in the dye’s pigments readily. Drop a few freshly washed, product-free hair strands into a glass of room temperature water to determine whether your hair has low porosity.

You most likely have low porosity hair if they are still on the water’s surface after two to four minutes. Low porosity hair may be overcome by utilizing heat during the colouring process or by allowing the hair dye to sit in your hair for longer than normal.

Note: This socially accepted test for hair porosity is not supported by science. So it’s pseudoscience, but it’s still enjoyable.

What to Do If Your Hair Won’t Take  in Colour?

Is the colour of your hair not taking well? Not to worry! The actions you may take to make sure your hair can take in colour effectively both now and in the future are listed below.

Clarify Your Hair

Wash your hair with a clarifying shampoo before colouring it. Clarifying shampoos remove any product and hard water buildup which have hindered the penetration of your hair dye.

Apply a lightweight conditioner to your hair after the clarifying treatment to moisturize and restore hair hydration. Use a weightless conditioner without silicones if you don’t want to add to the accumulation and buildup.

Do not over wash your hair.

Too many washes deplete your hair’s natural oils, leaving you with brittle, dry hair strands that don’t take in and absorb colour well. Furthermore, overwashing your hair will make the colour fade faster than usual.

By just washing your hair two or three times a week at most, you can avoid this colour fading. Avoid washing your hair strands with hot water and it is advisable to use a gentle and mild shampoo.

Hard Water Treatment

A filter or water softener can lessen the effect of hard water if that is the issue causing your hair not to take in the hair colour. Future colouring sessions will go more easily since filters eliminate the dissolved mineral in the hard water before it reaches your hair.

Additionally, filtering and purifying your water can enhance the general health and look of your skin and hair.

Consider a protein filler

A pre-colour treatment that will strengthen and repair those highly porous hair strands is known as protein filler. It creates a barrier that enables your hair to lock in the dye pigments by filling up the gaps and holes on the cuticles of your hair. Protein fillers can make your colour more vivid and vibrant and even while it will also help your hair to take in and absorb your desired hair colour more effectively.

If my hair doesn’t take the dye, can I dye my hair again?

Whether you can dye your hair again or not depends on the dye you intend to use and the root cause of why the hair didn’t take the colour. Check the health of your hair strands to determine whether they can withstand another hair colour treatment before attempting to recolour your hair.

When it comes to hair dye, the semi-permanent colour is kinder and milder to your hair strands and may be applied again right away if the first dye job doesn’t work.

On the other hand, multiple applications of permanent hair colour on your hair over a short time might damage your hair. If you want to re-colour your hair, it’s essential to maintain the health of the hair.

When to Re Dye Your Hair if It is Not Taking Colour

Your colour may not have been taken in properly by your hair, but the hair dyeing process may already have damaged your hair strands. As a result, try to refrain from colouring your hair again. The best course of action, however, is usually to colour it again if you’re extremely dissatisfied with the hair colour mishap.

Before attempting to dye your hair again, try to be patient and wait at least two or three weeks.

The length of waiting time for re-dyeing your hair will depend on how you want to fix the hair colour mishap. It is advisable to wait for a longer period of time if your plan is to go lighter and this will prevent more damage to your hair than if you plan to go darker.

We hope the information in this post has helped you to identify the reasons why your hair isn’t absorbing and taking in the hair dye. We have given you all the information you need to address the root causes as well. You may get the gorgeous hue of your hair goals by just tweaking your hair dyeing procedure!