How To Use Coconut Oil Before Bleaching Hair?

If you’re planning to go blonde or trying to experiment with crazy colors, you’re gonna have to bleach your hair. Bleaching is a chemical process that lightens your strands by reacting with the melanin in your hair. The color of your hair comes from melanin.

A bleach contains oxidizing agents, and these agents oxidize the melanin pigments in your strands. This oxidation of melanin turns your tresses to a pale yellow or reddish tint depending on your natural hair color.

As interesting as this sounds, bleaching can actually be quite damaging to your locks. It can wreak havoc on your strands, especially if you already have damaged hair. 

So, what can you do? For starters, you can consider using coconut oil before bleaching hair. Now, before we jump into that, let’s talk about a few important questions that you might have. 

Should You Really Use Coconut Oil Before Bleaching Hair?

Yes, you absolutely should. Using coconut oil before bleaching hair is actually a pretty good idea. And we’re not just saying that. You see, bleaching can ruin your hair. It makes your strands dry, brittle, and dull. 

It also causes split ends and breakage. What’s more, your hair also loses its softness and movement. And the list goes on and on. 

But here’s the good news: you can use coconut oil to reduce this damage to a great extent. Let’s see how exactly coconut oil helps:

Reduces Protein Loss

Our hair is essentially made up of a tough protein called keratin. Now, the bleach can alter the 3-dimensional structure of hair protein. When the shape of proteins is altered, they can no longer carry out their normal functionality, and they eventually die. 

Thankfully, you can reduce protein loss using coconut oil. According to research, coconut oil is the best oil to reduce protein loss in bleached and chemically-treated hair. And it’s the chemical structure of coconut oil that makes it effective in reducing protein loss. 

Protects Your Scalp

Another reason you want to use coconut oil before bleaching hair is that it protects your scalp from the bleach by creating a protective layer. 

For those of you with extremely picky and easily irritated scalps, this is great news as it will minimize the risk of irritation, inflammation, or itchiness upon bleaching. On top of that, coconut oil will make your scalp healthier overall. And studies show that a healthy scalp is key to healthy hair growth. 

Nourishes Your Hair

You already know that bleaching dries out your strands. If your hair is already on the drier side, the whole bleaching process will only make things worse. Luckily, coconut oil is there to help you out. 

It is rich in vitamins and fatty acids that nourish your hair and scalp from the inside out. As a result, your hair will be able to tolerate those bleaching products. 

Also, for the best results, you want to make sure that your hair is in perfect condition before you begin the whole bleaching process. 

And since coconut oil is intensely moisturizing and nourishing, it can help make your hair healthier and better suited for bleaching. So, it really is a blessing, especially for those with dry and damaged hair. 

Prevent Frizziness

Bleaching is known to cause frizzy hair. However, you can prevent that by using coconut oil. This is because coconut oil prevents the hair from absorbing water in humid climates. Also, coconut oil penetrates into your hair and smooths it out. 

You see, you’ll get all these benefits should you decide to use coconut oil. Furthermore, some people say that coconut oil can also reduce the total time it takes to bleach their hair. So, that’s a plus because the longer you leave bleach in your hair the more damage it does. 

Related: Does Coconut Oil Fade Hair Color? Here’s What Experts Say

How To Use Coconut Oil Before Bleaching Hair?

So, now that we know that coconut oil can be extremely beneficial if you apply it before bleaching your hair. Let’s talk about how to apply it. It’s really simple. Just follow the steps listed below:

• Warm the coconut oil.
• Section your hair. This will make the application easier. 
• Coat each and every strand of your hair with coconut oil root to tip. Run a wide-tooth comb through your tresses to make sure the oil is distributed throughout your hair. 
• Apply the oil generously on the areas where your strands are on the drier side and use small amounts on healthy strands of hair.
• Cover your hair tightly in a shower cap.
• Leave it overnight.
• Bleach your hair the next day as usual without washing your hair. 

How Long Should You Leave Coconut Oil In Hair Before Bleaching?

It’s best to apply coconut oil the night before bleaching and leave it overnight because coconut oil can take up to 12 hours to fully absorb into your hair. So, if you want the maximum benefits, you should ideally leave it overnight. 

If you don’t want to leave it overnight, then let it sit in your hair for at least 1-2 hours before bleaching hair. While it won’t be as effective as an overnight treatment, it sure will minimize the damage done by bleaching. 

Conclusion

It’s safe to say that coconut oil is one of the best ingredients when it comes to minimizing the damage done by bleaching products. What’s more, you get tons of other hair benefits as well. For example, applying coconut oil can safeguard against damage done by heating tools. 

It’s also known to minimize sun damage. On top of that, it can make your hair grow longer and stronger as it prevents breakage and promotes healthy hair growth. 

So, there are a lot of benefits of using this oil. Should you decide to lighten your hair any time soon, make sure to apply coconut oil to your hair the night before bleaching. Your hair will thank you for it.

Related: The Best Hair Bleaches That Won’t Damage Your Strands