What you should know about head lice and hair color

Fawn’s Fervent About Head Lice:

I was wondering if it is safe to put commercial lice treatment shampoos, Rid or Licex, on newly dyed hair. How long should you wait after treatment to dye your hair? Also, does the dye provide any lice protection?

The Left Brain Is Picky About Nits:

Thanks for your questions, Fawn. Hopefully these answers will help:

1) Without going into a lot of hair dye history, let’s just say that you should avoid using ANY shampoo on freshly dyed hair. That’s because the washing process removes a lot of dye. If you can, wait at least a couple of days before you shampoo.

2) You can have your hair dyed the next day after lice treatment. The active ingredients will essentially be washed away when you shampoo again. And even if a little is left behind, that shouldn’t interfere with the dying process.

3) While the dye itself won’t keep lice away AFTER you color, if there are any on your hair during the coloring process the high pH should scare the little buggers away.

If you want to learn more, you can also read our posts on lice shampoos and the new louse buster!