Can I Bleach Permed Hair?

Bleached permed hair has been in trend lately. This was a killer look in the shining 80s, that is coming back to give the vibe of the golden era. Although the use of bleach is very common to achieve the desired look of any kind, pairing it with permed hair adds another layer to the styling. This kind of blond-permed hair looks voluminous and will keep you in the spotlight everywhere you go.

But stealing thousands of men’s hearts is not the only risk here, when you have already put your hair through chemical experiments of perming you need to think twice and ask yourself can I bleach my permed hair or not? To not be trapped in bad hair for months you need to know about how perms work, tips for bleaching permed hair, and the risk of bleaching permed hair! So let’s jump into the world of permed hair and know more about bleaching them.

Can I Bleach Permed Hair? – When It Might Be Possible

The direct answer to this question is yes you can use bleach on your permed hair. However, caution should be maintained since both procedures are full of chemicals. On one side perm is going to break the protein of your hair and on the other side, bleach will work as a hair color remover, removing all the pigment including the natural ones from your hair. So before you jump into bleaching your permed hair you need to consider several aspects. Those are:

1. Strength of the hair

The most crucial part to consider to bleach your hair after a perm is strength. If you see your hair is healthy and shiny after getting a perm and not damaged, or frizzy then there is no risk of facing the side effects of bleaching. Take an elasticity test to understand the elastic balance of your hair. For this you need to stretch your wet hair, if the hair stretches up to 50% and gets back to its original shape without being flimsy or stretched out then your hair has higher elasticity. Higher hair elasticity is always better for hair making it flexible. Also, the porosity of hair matters which you can determine by the look and feel of the hair. The lower porosity of hair shows more strength of the hair. If your hair has low porosity and high elasticity, then you can bleach it without much fear.

2. Timing

The time you are choosing to bleach your permed hair has a big impact on the overall result. After your hair has gone through a chemical procedure hair needs time to recover and gain back lost strength to go through another one. You should wait at least 2 weeks before getting bleach after getting your hair permed. But the bleach should be done is a time when your locks are still intact. Choosing the right time will give you the perfect hair without any split ends and damaged hair.

3. Developer

The strength of bleach and the color that you are looking for your permed hair will also matter. The volume of developers can either keep the damage to a minimum or completely ruin your hair! Here is a table that can give you an idea of what type of developer will do to your permed hair

As you can see, the less volume developer that you will use, the better it will be for your hair. Although you may not get the color that you are looking for with a 10-volume developer, it is still better than having your hair ruined for a stretch of a few months.

Risk Of Bleaching Permed Hair

Although it is possible to bleach your permed hair there are certain risks of this procedure that you might want to keep in mind. The risks of bleaching permed hair are:

1. Damage and breakage

Bleaching your permed hair may cause breakage and damage to your healthy hair. The chemical exposure has the potential to cause hair very rough and look dull which may stay for a long time. By bleaching your permed hair your beautiful curls can turn into very rough and dull-looking ones.

2. Scalp irritation

Bleaching hair after getting a perm can cause scalp irritation. Because of the chemical bleach and perm solution, your scalp can be exasperated and there is a possibility of getting chemical burns.

3. Hair loss

It is a very common side effect to lose hair after bleaching permed hair. This may lead to boldness if the procedure is done unprofessionally. Having chemical exposure over your permed hair needs extra care and precautions.

4. Uneven distribution of color

Bleaching on permed hair can cause uneven distribution of color. It is very much possible to end up with a head full of different-colored hair that is not bleached fully. Also, to get fully bleached hair you will need to increase the bleach amount which can be quite a disaster for the hair.

5. Losing curls

You can lose the curls of your permed hair by getting bleached. This is not very common but it may occur because the whole procedure to bleach is quite harsh on the hair. It can just make the perm solutions effect vanish from the hair, forcing it to go back to its natural form.

5 Tips For Bleaching Permed Hair With Minimal Damage

To get a beautiful blond look with a perm without causing a huge disaster with your hair you should follow some tips. These are going to help minimize the damage of bleach on your permed hair.

1. Perm before bleaching: This is because perm uses harsher chemicals than bleach so you would not want to ruin the color of your hair by using perm solution.
2. Hot perm: Go for a hot perm that is less damaging than a traditional cold perm for bleaching afterward. Although a hot perm will not give you a tight curl it is still better than damaged hair.
3. Nourishing your hair: Before you bleach your permed hair make sure to nourish them with extra moisture and care. You can go for deep conditioning treatments, and use leave-in conditioners, oil treatments, or hair masks. These things will make the hair much more strong and less prone to damage.
4. Type of color: Try not to go for the kind of blond shade that will require a lot of bleach in your hair. If you have a darker shade of hair it is better to for a darker blond, this way you would not have to use a large amount of bleach on your hair. Also to get a very light blond bleach need to sit on your hair for a long time which might affect the permed hair strands.
5. Avoid shampoo: You should avoid shampooing right before bleaching, as the natural oils are very good at protecting hair from any kind of damage.

Taking Care Of Permed Hair After Bleaching: 4 Tips

After you have bleached your permed hair you must take care of them to not get into any kind of side effects. If the hair is not taken care of properly it is very likely they are going to face the severity. Here are some tips to take care of your bleached permed hair

1. Skip styling: Heat styling your bleached permed hair can increase the damage and cause dry, dehydrated hair. When you are not styling your hair after getting bleach and perm they will naturally be very bouncy and shiny.
2. Avoid using sulfate shampoo: Sulfate has very harsh impacts on hair and can cause damage to the hair that already has gone through so many procedures.
3. Shampoo after bleaching: Must wash your hair after bleaching to stop the bleach from working properly. If you don’t shampoo after bleaching, the bleaching process might continue to damage the permed hair even after bleaching.
4. Avoid overuse of products: Do not use more products on your bleached permed hair. For permed hair less is more so using too much will only hamper the natural composition on the other hand using too much is not going to give the supposed benefit.

FAQs

Final Thoughts

Bleached permed hair is very beautiful to look at, often taking everyone’s breath away. This beauty can cause you many hair problems and damage in the process of achieving. You can certainly bleach permed hair but there are some conditions you must consider. So do a test strand and find out if your hair is suited for bleaching after getting a perm done or not and get your permed hair bleached with minimal damage. And remember, just because you permed and bleached doesn’t mean you don’t take care of your hair. Your hair will be a bit damaged so keeping it conditioned and nourished will help you rock your look bleached permed hair look for longer!

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