If you’ve ever dyed your hair, you’re familiar with the feeling of panic that strikes you after the first wash where you watch the color you just paid for drain from your hair. Any competent hair professional will tell you that getting the color into your hair is only half the battle—keeping the color in your hair is where many with newly dyed tresses go astray.
There are a whole host of different tips and techniques to make your hair color last longer. If you’ve spent the money on dyed hair, you’ll know that doing what you can to keep your new hair color fresh and vibrant is necessary in order not to waste that money. Here are the best tips to make your hair color last longer.
The first thing you can do to get started on the right path towards protecting your new hair color is to avoid washing your hair for as long as possible. Since your hair is freshly dyed, the longer you leave it as-is with no washing, the longer your hair color will have time to set in deeply. You can also use dry shampoo to lessen the amount of water-washing you do, further prolonging your hair color’s vibrancy.
When you wash your hair, try to avoid hot water, as it opens up the hair cuticle more effectively than cold water and increases the amount of color released from your hair. There’s a reason they always wash your hair with that frigid hair salon water. The cold water helps to seal the hair cuticle shut and thus does a much better job of locking your color in.
What you wash your hair with will also help make your hair color last longer. Dyed hair does best with shampoos that are sulfate and alcohol-free, as these ingredients are harsh and will more quickly strip the color from your hair while damaging it. You’ll also want to avoid most dandruff shampoos, as any clarifying shampoos are not designed to maintain color and will alter and strip your new dyed hair of its fresh color.
Make sure you put in the effort to make your hair color last long by remembering that stepping out of the salon only means stepping into some new hair care techniques to ensure beautiful and long-lasting dyed hair.
