After numerous bleaching treatments, your hair has become less supple and you’d like to switch to a less aggressive alternative that is kinder to your hair. Find out whether you can lighten your hair with plant-based colour and the different shades available.

Can plant-based colour lighten the hair?

Plant-based colouring is a tone-on-tone treatment: it coats the hair in a coloured sheath that is superimposed on your natural colour and reveals luminous highlights in your hair.

Plant-based colour can give you golden highlights but it does not lighten the hair. Bleaching requires oxidizing substances to penetrate the hair fibre to destroy the melanin, the pigment that naturally colours the hair. 
However, plant-based colour only attaches to the outside of the hair and does not modify the melanin: this is what makes it so healthy for your hair. But it also means that it cannot lighten your natural colour.

Plant-based colours can be combined with chemical lightening colours!

Since it is a plant-based colour, IVIVE does not lighten your hair directly. On the other hand, it is the only plant-based colour treatment compatible with chemical colouring: so you can have balayage or contouring done on your IVIVE colour to enjoy the benefits of plant-based colouring while lightening certain sections.

How do you lighten your hair with IVIVE?

This is how a lightening IVIVE plant-based colour treatment works:

1. Diagnosis: go to your colourist and describe the colour you’re looking for. They will analyse your hair and suggest the most appropriate shade depending on your natural colour and the type of lightening you wish to do afterwards (balayage, contouring, etc.). 
2. Plant-based colouring: your colourist applies your chosen IVIVE shade to your hair. You’ll then have to wait for 30 to 45 minutes under a heated cap (a very short time compared to the two to three hours usually needed for plant-based colouring). 
3. Colour application: once you’ve finished colouring your hair, do not use shampoo for at least 48 hours. The colour will oxidize to the desired shade. 
4. Lightening: when your colour has set, you can return to the salon for balayage, contouring or any other lightening effect you like. It’s best to go back to the hairdresser who did your plant-based colour treatment as they will know which bleach to use and how to apply it to your plant-based colour to retain your hair’s natural highlights.

The lightening effect of plant-based colour on white hair

If you have between 30 and 50% white hair, plant-based colouring will reveal highlights in your hair. This is because plant-based colouring is tone-on-tone and reflects the shades naturally present in your hair. A chestnut brown plant-based colour on partly white hair will give a very natural balayage effect without using chemical colours.

Plant-based colour shades available

Plant-based colour is not just for darkening hair: there are many shades to choose from depending on the type of highlight you want to achieve. Think golden blond, pure red, intense auburn, light chestnut brown (link to brown hair colour page), auburn brown, natural brown, etc. Your colourist can also mix two shades to create a new personalized shade.

Why choose IVIVE to lighten your hair?

Keen to switch to a more environmentally friendly hair colour but still want to keep your balayage? 

With IVIVE, you can enjoy all the benefits of plant-based colouring while lightening your locks to your heart’s content. And if you change your mind after chemical bleaching, you can have an IVIVE colour treatment immediately without waiting for your hair to grow!

Hair care after bleaching

Whether you bleach all of your hair or just a few sections, lightening your hair with an oxidizing product damages the hair fibre. To protect and care for your hair after bleaching, it is important to use appropriate care products. This is why René Furterer has created the OKARA BLOND range, designed to enhance blond highlights and deeply nourish the hair. Discover all OKARA BLOND products on their dedicated page.