Do I need to wash my hair before coloring?

Alexey Baluev is the art director of Long&Short beauty salon and co-founder of Long&Short hair academy, as well as the winner in the “Colorist” category at the International Stella Prize.

There are different opinions among hairdressers and clients regarding the question: should you wash your hair before dyeing or should you still do it on dirty hair?
The question is really very important, since it is directly related to the client’s health and the quality of the master’s work.

Many probably remember Soviet times, when it was recommended not to wash your hair for almost a week before coloring, since natural sebum is the natural protection of hair from chemical aggression.

This was the case before, when dyes were highly aggressive, but times change, and technology does not stand still, and modern dyes are safe and less aggressive.
But this question remains open. I can say this: whether to wash your hair before dyeing or not to wash it depends on what procedure you will perform.

You need to wash your hair, but not because the hairdressers are disdainful (they are already like doctors, they don’t notice this), but because of technological issues.

If the client has a lot of skin discharge, then:

- Sebum makes hair look darker and it becomes difficult to determine the natural base. Thus, the result of coloring may be unpleasantly surprising, but the masters do not need this. Inaccuracy in diagnosis equals inaccurate results.

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- The correct operation of dyes is called into question: hair may not be lightened enough, and gray hair may not be covered well.

- All modern coloring techniques, such as shatush, balayage, airtouch, are performed on clean hair. If the hair is dirty, then the shatush is not combed, the airtouch is not blown out, and the balayage sticks together and stains form on the fabric.

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But one exception, in which you still don’t need to wash your hair before dyeing, is blond from the root. In this case, the scalp must be protected, and only then everything will work correctly. The scalp generates heat, and this helps in proper functioning. But “tolerate” and not wash your hair is only worth 1-2 days, no more. If a client comes to you with a freshly washed hair, use a protective cream that can protect the skin well.

Remember: the most important thing when painting is a professional and safe approach.

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