How Long Does It Take To Dye Hair?

In this day and age, I think that most people on this planet have thought about dyeing their hair at least once in their lives. When you walk outside you almost always see someone walking with a beautiful color in their hair. Some people might nudge each other and point at the person to laugh about it, some have looked in admiration and some people just want to be like them!

I’m the third kind of girl. I have thought about it and have seen a lot of people wearing the most beautiful and outrageous colors! Now I have to admit that I tried to color my hair. Me and a friend did it at my house and I can honestly say it was a disaster! The color wasn’t what it was supposed to be, we didn’t read the instruction right and there was so much laughing that we didn’t even put the product is right.

The funniest thing is that my friend needed to go to a salon. I kid you not. It was so bad that she had to go to an actual hair salon and let them fix the mistake! Hair dye is not something to mess with if you want to do right!

Afterward, we did read the instructions and we found out a couple of things. Things like how long it takes to dye your hair and how long it should be in your hair! This article is dedicated to my friend who ruined her hair with hair dye!

So, How long does it take to dye hair? The answer to this is: it depends. It depends on what you want and your hair condition. If you want to look like a rainbow-colored unicorn you can expect it to take about 3 to 4 hours. If you want a regular color in your hair the time it takes lies between 30 minutes and 90 minutes. Depending on if it’s a one-step process or a two-step process.

Do you want to know more about a one-step and two-step process? Find out here.

How long does it take to dye hair at the salon?

Oh man, there is so much to talk about! If you read the article I linked to above, you know that I can’t stop talking about hair dye, a perm treatment, and all that stuff :).

So let’s dive right in! How long it takes to dye your hair at a salon again, depends on what you want. If you want to look like a rainbow it can take a couple of hours, otherwise, it can take about 30 to 90 minutes.

As I said earlier this depends on a one-step or two-step process. With a one-step process, a hair professional needs about 30 minutes. In these 30 minutes, the hairstylist has had time to set everything up for you, but the color in your hair, and at the end lets you enjoy what he has created for you! Now, these 30 minutes are not set in stone. If you have a lot of gray hair, the hairstylist needs to take a more timely approach and this means that it can take around forty-five minutes to make it all happen. In my opinion still not a lot of time to look amazing.

What do they do with a two-step process?

A two-step process is different than a one-step process in the way that it is generally done by either lightening the hair first and then going in after and applying color or glaze. Or, what they do is apply color and then after that go in again with again a color. This can be permanent, demi, or semi.

You can think about it this way:

A two-step process is for the people who want to look like Gwen Stefani or others like Princess Elsa from frozen. But not only lighting is an option. A two-step process is also good for someone who wants to go from extremely bright to a darker color. This two-step process makes it last longer.

But how much time does it cost? I think it is safe to say that this way of coloring goes to the longer variant of the coloring. You’ll need about 60 to 90 minutes (sometimes a bit longer) to fully fo through a two-step process. But, when you are done, you’ll be amazed at the results!

What do you need to do before dying your hair at a salon?

There are lots of people who don’t want to try it at home and just want the certainty of it being done right. Now I don’t blame them! If you don’t want to wind up like my friend I told you about in the intro section of this article, you might be better off in a salon…

But, dyeing your hair is a chemical process and a stressful one for your hair. So, that is why you need to prepare it properly. But how do you do that?

You can do that by following the things I lay out for you below:

Moisturize your hair deeply 1 or 2 days before you go to the salon.
Do not, and I repeat, do not wash your hair directly for the hair coloring. If there’s still some product in your hair when you arrive at the salon, the product in your hair can interfere with the hair dye.
Use a conditioner specially made for people with colored hair after you’ve let your hair colored.
Stay away from the hairdryer for at least the first couple of days.

How long does it take to color your hair at home?

Now if you like to be like me and my friend, you are going to have fun trying this at home! It is not as complicated as you might think, or I let you think from my own experience. We did some things wrong but if you’re serious about it, it is not a big deal.

The mean thing you need to remember is the fact that you have to apply the hair dye evenly throughout the hair.

If you want step by step instructions you’ll find them here.

(this makes it easier for you to not make the mistakes we did)

First and foremost it is important to read the instructions on the box!
Mix the chosen hair dye color and the oxidizer in a plastic or glass bowl.
Most of the time you get a special stick that goes with the hair dye. Use it to stir dye color and the oxidizer.
Cover the skin near the hair. This means that you cover your neck, the ears, the area behind the ears. You can do this with a towel or you can do this with a greasy cream so that the hair dye does not absorb into it.
Maybe this is a too simple step to think of but… Wear gloves!
Divide the hair. How you do it depends on the length of your hair. Long hair needs to be divided into four zones. Short hair can be divided into two ones and by both, you can stab them with clamps.
Then you start applying the hair dye and you do so along with the roots and starting from the back of the head.
Cover the entire hair dye along the entire length of your hair. Don’t let a spot go unnoticed!
Distribute everything evenly. You can do this with a comb.
Now let the hair dye do its thing. After 20 to 30 minutes you can rinse your hair with warm water. Rinse it all out thoroughly!
Apply the conditioner balm that came with the hair dye after about 3 to 5 minutes.
After that, you can wash your hair with shampoo and dry it with a towel!

Oh, and if step 4 wasn’t quite as effective as you thought, you can always immediately remove the leftovers with makeup remover.

Happy coloring you all!

How Long Does The Hair color Last?

You already read it a couple of times in the article, but how long the hair color lasts depends on what kind of hair coloring you use.

Mainly there are two types you can use: demi-permanent and permanent.

What is the difference between the two?

Demi-permanent hair color is a hair coloring that is ammonia-free. This may mean nothing to you but this means that the molecules of that hair dye get under the outer cuticle of the hair shaft but do not penetrate the strand. Think of it as a coating that slowly but gradually washes away. But how long does it last effectively? Approximately 24 shampoos.

Permanent hair color is exactly what it says it is. When you apply permanent hair color to your hair, it stays there. It adds to the natural hair pigment so that the color you’ve chosen replaces it. This way it is different than the demi-permanent. This permanent hair color opens the cuticle of the hair and lets the dye in so that the permanent color can be delivered. So how long does it last in your hair? To be truly honest with you… It never leaves your hair but the color does fade. Of course, when you let it grow out you can get rid of it in a couple of months.

Final thoughts

Now I just know that you want to start coloring your hair! Not for the last part because you want to replicate the story of me and my friend, haha! But no worries. Coloring your hair is fun if you do it safely. And remember, if you ever make a mistake or it goes wrong and it isn’t what you want it to be, go to the salon. They can almost always help you fix it! If you do not want to take that chance, just go to the salon to let your hair colored the professional way :).