Can High Lift Color Lighten Previously Colored Hair?

You may have heard the color theory rule that “hair color doesn’t lighten hair color”. Traditionally, you need bleach to lift through previously dyed hair. But is that always true, or can high lift hair color actually lighten previously colored hair? In this post, I tested that theory and proved that it is not always true.

If you aren’t familiar with high lift color, it’s like traditional hair color but with extra ammonia. This allows it to achieve more levels of lift. Traditionally, regular hair dye will lift 3 levels of lift, high lift dye will lift 4-5 levels, and bleach can lift up to 9 levels.

What Happened When I Tested High Lift on Previously Colored Hair

In my experiment, I used 2 different brands of high lift hair dye as well as several different hair swatches with different hair textures and dyes. This was to compare if we would get universal results or if certain brands or hair textures worked while others didn’t.

What I found was that both brands of high lift dye did lighten color from each hair type and texture. So this does contradict the age-old color theory rule that “color doesn’t lift color”.

When High Lift May Not Work — and Can Even Make Things Worse

The only swatch that did not lighten was the Pravana hi-lift dye on semi-permanent hair dye. However this is somewhat to be expected. Using bleach or anything with developer is not the ideal way to remove semi permanent or “direct dye”.

In fact, using bleach or high lift to remove semi-permanent dye can actually drive it deeper into the hair. Since semi-permanent color is a stain, the color isn’t embedded into the cortex of the hair. But when you apply color that does penetrate the cortex of the hair (like high lift dye or bleach), the dye can get embedded in the attempted removal.

Now, since the Wella swatch did lighten the semi permanent color and the Pravana swatch didn’t, this does show that not all high lifts will react the same in all situations.

If you’re trying to remove semi-permanent color, I would not recommend using high lift or bleach first. Instead I recommend The Dawn Dish Soap Method (my favorite) or The Vitamin C Method.

Is “Color Doesn’t Lift Color” Always True?

From my experiment, I can safely say that this “rule” is certainly over-simplified and not actually a true “rule”. It’s more situational than absolute.

There are likely some situations where certain high lifts will not lighten certain permanent hair dyes. But I have proved that there are also situations where this “rule” is simply not true.

I also applied a lot of heat to the hair swatches while processing by wrapping them in a heating pad. Had heat not been applied, I don’t know if I would have gotten similar results.

I can however say that the reason I decided to do this experiment is because I have had successful results lifting permanent dye from my own hair with high lift dye. And this was without applying tons of heat to my head during processing.

Does Brand Matter? Pravana vs Wella

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From my experiment, brand did make a difference. Results were different in both how much lift I got as well as what types of previous color the dye was able to lighten.

If your goal is maximum lift, I would look for a high lift color that claims up to 5 levels of lift, rather than 4. I always suggest performing a strand test prior to doing any coloring to your hair at all.

In my experience, I have always had amazing results when using Wella high lifts rather than the compared brand Pravana. But that’s not to say that there aren’t other brands that will also work similarly to how Wella did in my experiment.

Factors That Affect Results

From my experiment we can see that there are numerous factors that can affect the results you’ll get. Some considerations are:

• Starting level: A darker starting level will have warmer results that are more likely to need to be toned again afterwards than a lighter starting level.
• Hair texture: Fine hair will have better results with more lift than coarser hair.
• Semi permanent vs permanent color: This method is not recommended for semi permanent color, as it can drive the pigment deeper into the hair.
• Developer volume: Higher volumes like 30 or 40 will generally produce more lift than 10 or 20 volume.
• Whether heat is applied: Heat can significantly increase your lifting power by blasting the cuticle open for better absorption, but this should be done with caution as it can damage fine or fragile hair.
• Brand of color used: Both the brand of the original dye that you’re lifting out AND the brand of high lift dye can affect the amount of lift you achieve.

Final Verdict: Can High Lift Color Lighten Previously Colored Hair?

Yes, high lift color can lighten previously colored hair.

From my experiment, I proved that the old rule that “color doesn’t lift color” is not always true. Both brands of high lift color were able to lighten the permanent hair color on my previously dyed swatches, which shows that high lift can work in situations where many people assume that only bleach will.

That said, this does not mean high lift will lift every type of artificial color equally well. In my test, semi-permanent color did not respond the same way, and using high lift on direct dye can actually make the situation worse instead of better. Your results can also vary based on the starting level, hair texture, developer used, previous color history, and whether heat is applied.

So if you’ve been wondering whether high lift color can lighten previously colored hair, the answer is yes it can. It just isn’t universal in every situation, and the type of previous color on the hair matters a lot.

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