Hair changing colour between washes -why?

[BowTie]

My hair is bleached blonde and I'm currently growing my colour out. My real hair colour is sand/ash blonde. I've noticed it changes colours. On my washing day and day after it's very blonde. After that it darkens and it shows my real hair colour beter. It kinda looks like I just had blonde highlights. The tone is also warmer. I wonder why -it's not very greasy either. Does this happen to anyone else? Does anyone know why?

[Anje]

My guess is that it is oil/sebum causing your hair to darken, buy your hair is absorbing it so that your hair doesn't look greasy. Lots of blonds talk about their roots darkening when their hair is greasy, so it seems plausible that (especially on very light blond hair) you'd be able to see intermediate levels along that fresh-washed to oily continuum

[kmcg]

My hair always does this. It's very light in color immediately after washing and then typically darkens over the next few days until I wash it again. My natural color is a dark ash blonde/light ash brown but I just dyed it with hennindigo. Even with the new shade my hair color still fluctuates a lot between washings but I enjoy it.
My nephew has very light blonde hair and his color changes a great deal depending how clean/dirty it is. I assume the color effects from the sebum are just more visible on blondes.

[lapushka]

On my washing day and day after it's very blonde. After that it darkens and it shows my real hair colour beter. It kinda looks like I just had blonde highlights. The tone is also warmer. I wonder why -it's not very greasy either. Does this happen to anyone else? Does anyone know why?

Natural blonde does this. It turns darker every day it edges towards another wash day. On wash days, after it's dried, it's always fresher and crispier, lighter looking. Perfectly normal, but don't ask me for an explanation.

[Misschilly]

Yeah, I also get darker between washes!

[askan]

My hair does it too sometimes. It was more noticable in the summer when I realised I had gotten sun bleached, but the highlights didn't show up until after washing.

I suppose the blonde hairs are a bit see-through and the more sebum/grease on them, the darker they appear? I mean, wet hair looks darker. I wonder people with other hair colours experience this too?

[BowTie]

When my hair was dark brown, I don't thibk I noticed it that much. I could probably go longer between washes if I were brunette. Now I wash twice a week.

[Salmonberry]

Yeah, my hair is lighter the day I wash it. I think the oil darkens it. Have you ever gotten an oil stain on your clothes? It shows as a dark spot. I think oil can also pick up dirt and other stuff that darkens the hair.

[Kwantslonghair]

Mine does that too. Especially at roots

[niky45]

Everyone's hair is darker when wet. Perhaps except people with (raven) black hair.

Btw, I think I have noticed some of this recently. My hair is currently orangish-red (from henna). The day I washed it, was way redder. Then the color cooled down and today (the third day), it was kinda reddish-brown. It's not from henna oxidation, since that happened a while ago. I thought it was loosing its "bright", as in going a more toned-down color, but... tomorrow I'll wash it to see if it comes back to that vibrant-ish red.

(my natural hair is dark brown, but it has been bleached and hennaed and dyed red and hennaed again... so now my color is perhaps about a tone 3-4 ? whatever, kinda deep orangish-brownish-red. henna has A LOT of shades....)

[Isilme]

My hair does that too. Right after a wash it is bright and nice and then gets darker to a dull auburn.

[MaryMarx]

Mine does that too, I think it's pretty nice!
One day in school, friends asked me if I dyed my hair. I was like "noo, I just washed it, with shampoo" :p