Dye and Straighten Hair

Permed blonde hair
Photo: Aaron Amat/Shutterstock
Q: I would like to straighten my permed hair and dye it. I am wondering which to do first and how long to wait in between when I get it done.
 
What is the "cut-off" for whether or not it's been long enough? If not, what can I do? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 
A: Assuming that you are going to be going to a salon for these services and therefore will have a professional to determine the best products to use, the order of services becomes simple.
 
You should always have your hair permed or straightened (using thio-straighteners) before having the hair colored. The reason for this is that the perm service uses oxidation (via the application of hydrogen peroxide) to neutralize the waving lotion. This can result in the lightening of artificial hair color applications. At the very least you can end up distorting the hair color you wanted into something you didn't thereby ruining a color service.
 
Most salons will request that you wait at least a week between a perm or straightener and a color service. For my own clients, I typically schedule perms/straighteners and color services two weeks apart because this usually makes the service appointments easier to manage for the client and spreads the maintenance cost out over the course of the month.
 
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See also:
 
How to make hair color last longer
 
How safe is it to straighten colored hair?
 
Can healthy color-treated hair survive being straightened?
 
Does straightening affect color treated hair?
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