How (and When) to Dye Your Hair While It's Wet, According to Stylists

Ashley Rubell is an editorial hair stylist and writer covering hair for Byrdie. She's been doing hair professionally since 2008.

Virginia Chamlee is a writer and editor with 10 years of experience which includes covering beauty and style. She has written for Byrdie since 2019.

In This Article

Dyeing your hair when it's wet seems like kind of a no-brainer: it's an easy way to apply color in the shower, and it allows you to really saturate the hair with product. But if you've ever visited a salon, you know that dye is typically applied to dry hair.

So can you dye wet hair? And how, exactly should you? We spoke to two experts to determine how to dye wet hair, what types of products work best, and how to maintain all that gorgeous color if you take the plunge.

Meet the Expert

• Chase Kusero is a stylist and the co-founder of IGK Hair Care.
• Richy Kandasamy is a professional colorist and a member of the R+Co Collective.

Can You Dye Wet Hair?

Some hair color can be applied to wet hair, but it depends on the type of coloring process," says Chase Kusero, co-founder of IGK Hair Care. "Semi-permanent and demi-permanent hair color can be applied to wet or dry hair, but wet hair application in not recommended for permanent hair color."

Meanwhile, permanent color changes require a dry hair application. This could mean going lighter, or darker. When you want to lighten the hair, which is done with bleach, you'll need dry strands in order to get a precise application that doesn't bleed. If you're using a permanent color to darken your strands, dry hair is better in order for it to really get in and alter the state of your hair on a deeper level than the just surface.

The Benefits of Dyeing Hair While It's Wet

While hair color can be applied to wet or dry hair, applying to wet hair does have a couple perks worth making note of:

• A little bit of dye goes a long way: The added water moisture helps the color to distribute itself evenly. Whereas, when applied to dry hair, you'll need to pay much closer attention to ensure you've fully saturated every strand with your dye.
• Contains your mess: Let's be real; when it comes to so many at-home hair color products, it's sort of a relief when we're instructed to apply to wet hair. Applying hair color with a squirt top bottle and mushing all our hair together until it lathers in the shower is way easier than the precision required of a brush-and-bowl application.

The Downsides

A few of the drawbacks to wet hair application include:

• Uneven application: While the added moisture could help distribute color, it's still a less precise color application. If your desired outcome is more of a drastic change, you're better off giving the extra attention to a detailed, dry hair application.
• Water could potentially dilute your color: If your hair is extremely dry and damaged, then your hair is already parched and looking for moisture! In such a scenario, your hair might have absorbed so much of the water already that there's little room left for the dye to penetrate the hair's cortex. That doesn't mean it won't work, but your results may not be as vibrant or long-lived as you'd hoped for.
• Prone to more damage: Avoiding heat, abrasive brushing and towel drying are some of the small steps you can take to help give wet, fragile strands a little extra TLC (especially after doing a color treatment).

Types of Dye to Apply to Wet Hair

Demi-Permanent Dye

The main difference between a semi- and demi-permanent color is that demi- permanent colors penetrate into your hair shaft on a deeper level than the simple coating of a semi-permanent. With more absorption of your color, a demi- permanent is going to last you longer than a semi-permanent color. The minor drawback here is that your hair has the potential to absorb more water and not as much dye, which could slightly dilute your color formulation a bit and may knock a few shampoos off your color's lifespan expectancy. It's nothing too major, but something worth knowing.

As Kusero explains, "demi-permanent hair color is color that lasts up to 24 washes. It is the common formulation for professional toning, glossing treatments, and root shadowing in salons, and can also be found in some at-home hair color lines."

Semi-Permanent Dye

Semi-permanent hair color lasts anywhere from 4-12 washes, depending on the concentration and vibrancy of the color. "Most semi-permanent hair colors can be applied to dry hair for a more intense color deposit, and on damp hair for a more sheer result," says Kusero. "Examples of semi-permanent hair color include direct dyes, color tinted conditioners, and hair glazes."

Semi-permanent colors have no ammonia or peroxide developers in them. These colors are made to simply coat over your cuticle. Since their job is to slightly enhance or alter the tone of your hair and provide a more subtle change with a shorter life span, their formulations aren't greatly affected by the presence of water. These colors work well on wet hair because they aren't lifting or drastically altering the hair in any permanent way.

Other Temporary Dyes

We may not think of them as semi- or demi- permanent colors, but those playful pops of bright pink and other highlighter and pastel hued tones, as well as the toners used to neutralize your highlights at the shampoo bowl, are classified as temporary dyes and are safe to use on wet hair.

An easy rule of thumb to remember: as long as the change you seek to make to your color is temporary and not permanent, a wet hair application is a fool-proof option with advantages on its side.

How to Apply Color to Wet Hair

The first step is to clean the hair. "When applying semi-permanent hair color to damp hair, it is recommended to first shampoo the hair, so you are applying the color to a clean canvas," says Kusero.

Once hair is cleaned, take the following steps to dye the hair:

• Wring out the hair: Prior to applying the dye, ensure the shampoo has been completely rinsed from the hair and any excess moisture has been wrung out.
• Put on gloves: "Semi-permanent colors begin to stain immediately, so it is important to wear gloves," says Kusero. "Once you have put on your gloves, you may begin applying your preferred semi-permanent color to the damp hair."
• Apply the dye: Kusero says that some people like to use a bowl and brush application for solid dyes, "but you can also apply the product directly to your gloved hair and use your hands to apply the color to the desired area. This is easier to do with color tinted conditioners, as they provide more slip and can be easier to distribute evenly through the hair." Kandasamy notes that, it's important to remember "that since you have wet hair, the color will be diluted from the water in your hair so you will get a less intense result."
  
• Follow the remaining directions consistent with the dye: "Once applied, process according to the product directions, rinse from the hair, and follow with conditioner if desired or needed," says Kusero.
  

For a more even color application when dyeing wet hair, try distributing the color with a wide tooth comb or wet brush.

What Products to Use to Dye Wet Hair

Kusero reccomends using a product like IGK's Color Depositing Masks, which come in 18 shades, ranging from neutrals to bold, vibrant colors. "The masks can be applied to dry hair for a more intense color deposit, and on damp hair for a more sheer deposit," kusero says, adding that they can be used "as often as desired or needed after the initial application to help maintain the vibrancy of the desired shade."

"When applying the masks to damp hair, we recommend using gloves to apply the mask, let process for 1-5 minutes, and rinse from the hair," Kusero says. "Because the masks are nourishing and conditioning, there is no need to follow with conditioner, although you absolutely can."

As far as maintenance goes, reach for products that will preserve your new color. "To maintain any hair color and keep it fresh, I recommend using R+Co GEMSTONE Color Shampoo and Conditioner weekly," says Kandasamy.