9 Tips For Maintaining Coloured Hair Y’all Need To Try
Maintaining coloured hair is not rocket science, but it’s not a joke, either. There’s a certain system to the haircare regime one ought to follow in order to make the most of their dye job. So, we list the most important tips to note if you want to make your hair colour last long.
1. First of all, after colouring, don’t remove your hair colour with shampoo. Wait three days before washing your hair
Hair colour is full of alkaline chemicals which act like soap and get washed off with water. That’s why there is no need to use additional shampoo to remove hair dye. If you use shampoo, it can pull out some of the dye, too.
So, after colouring your hair, rinse it out with water and condition it. But, don’t shampoo for the next 72 hours. This will increase the life of your hair colour.
2. Avoid shampooing dyed hair too frequently. Use dry shampoo instead
As mentioned above, shampooing too much can strip hair of its dye. It is also very drying, which is worse for chemically-treated hair which has been coloured. So, for those who have coloured hair, it’s best to avoid frequent shampooing. If your scalp tends to get oily easily, opt for dry shampoo instead of washing your hair.
3. Use a serum with UV filters so the sun doesn’t make your colour fade
Your hair needs a layer of protection for when it is exposed to environmental stressors, especially sunlight. The sun’s rays can bleach hair and make colour fade faster, so if you want to prevent that, use a serum with ingredients which will protect hair against the sun.
4. Don’t oil your hair too much, because when it’s washed off, it removes colour with itself
Have you seen how oil can dissolve many kinds of pigment within itself and help remove it? Take double-cleansing one’s makeup, for example. The oil loosens the colours, and the face wash helps rinse it off.
Hot oil treatments, thus, can actually help hair colour fade faster too, although on a smaller level, since the dyes are stronger. That said, if you’ve got a dye job you hate, you can try fading your colour by getting a hot oil massage, wrapping your hair in a steam towel, and then shampooing. It works to a decent extent if done a few times.
5. Keep your hair tied away from your face while applying skincare with active ingredients
You might have noticed how the hair framing your face, be it around your forehead or around your temples, will lose colour sooner. This happens because a lot of ingredients in your face wash, serums, creams contain active ingredients like Vitamin C, salicylic acid, retinol, and glycolic acid.
6. Always use shampoos, conditioners, and hair masks specially formulated for coloured hair
This should be a no-brainer but it still doesn’t occur to many that they need to only use colour-protect shampoos, conditioners, and masks for their hair once they dye it, or the colour will fade really fast. These products are formulated without a lot of the surfactants and harsh ingredients which other shampoos have, as those ingredients can cause colour to get stripped off. Many such products also contain filters which shield hair against sun damage. Since they are customised for the needs of coloured hair, they take care of a lot of issues related to coloured hair.
7. If your hair looks too orangey or brassy, use a purple shampoo or shampoo for platinum hair, even if you’re a brunette
Sometimes hair can end up looking orange or reddish after a week or two of colouring it. If you want a more cool-toned, ashy hair look, use a “purple shampoo” or shampoo for platinum hair. These help add a tint to the hair that cancels out the warm redness and makes the hair look more cool-toned.
8. When styling hair, use a blow dryer with both hot and cold settings in order to prevent damage to the hair cuticles
Heat-styling can wreck hair even if it’s not coloured. If hair is coloured, the damage can worsen. Using a blow dryer which has both hot and cold settings, helps reduce the damage, because you can use the hot setting to style the hair when it’s wet, as heat can alter the structure of hair, and then switch to cold towards the end of the session, as that will lock the style into place. Ending with a blast of cold air will set the style into place, but will also prevent the kind of damage that hair which has only been exposed to hot air would experience.
9. Condition hair often, or apply leave in-conditioners to your strands as much as possible
Have you noticed how hair can start looking dull if you colour it a few shades lighter than your natural hair colour? Colouring dries hair out for many people, making conditioning every time you wash hair a must. Even if that doesn’t happen with you, you should condition your hair to protect it from sun exposure so that your coloured hair looks shiny and healthy, not dull. In addition to this, using leave-in conditioners on your off-days can help moisturise your locks so that they don’t look straw-like and dry.
Lead image credit: Stuti Bhattacharya