How to keep hair dye from fading
There’s nothing better than the feeling of freshly dyed hair, vibrant and flawless straight from the salon. Many women dye their hair, whether to cover up gray roots or just to try a fun shade that’s different from their natural color. One of the most frustrating problems with coloring your hair, however, is how quickly the color fades. Some colors, such as brights, pastels, or any other vibrant hue, fade more quickly and obviously than other, more neutral shades. However, all artificial hair colors stop looking fresh much more quickly than you’d probably like.
Unfortunately, getting your hair recolored can take multiple hours and cost you significantly more money than you’re willing to spend as soon as your hair starts to fade. While it’s impossible to keep your hair from fading at all, there are many effective ways to preserve the quality and extend the lifespan of your artificial hair color.
1. Cut Out the Chemicals
You should never use hair products that include nasty chemicals, as these unnatural ingredients can be very damaging to your hair. However, it’s especially important to stay away from the chemicals if your hair is artificially dyed.
Don’t buy shampoo or conditioner that includes any sulfates, triclosan, or phenoxyeathonal specifically. These toxic chemicals attack and weaken your hair and cause artificial color to drain out of it much more quickly than it would without the negative influence of chemicals.
2. Meet Your Hair’s Needs
It is extremely important to take extra good care of your hair when it is artificially colored. Healthy hair is able to retain hair dye and keep it looking fresh for much longer than hair that is damaged, weak, or broken.
Take care of your hair by using heat on it as infrequently as possible. Choose a heat-free style as often as you can. Condition your hair regularly and treat it with a moisturizing hair mask at least once a week. Also, take vitamins and drink plenty of water to strengthen your strands even further.
3. Hold Off on Shampoo
It’s important to shampoo your hair in order to keep it looking clean. However, one of the most effective ways to preserve the appearance of your freshly dyed hair is to avoid shampooing your hair as much as possible.
Don’t wash your hair at all for seventy-two hours after you first get your hair dyed in order to let the color settle into your natural hair. After that first seventy-two hour period, try to go at least two days between shampoos. If you feel like your hair looks oily or visibly dirty, use dry shampoo. Also, always wash your hair in cold water, as hot water opens up the cuticles of your hair and allows the color to drain out.
4. Keep Conditioning
Make sure that you condition your dyed hair every time you wash it. Conditioner soothes and smoothes your hair. It helps revitalize it and keep it strong. Keeping your hair strong is an important step to preserving your artificial color.
5. Refresh With a Hair Mask
Hair masks are packets of color that are designed to quickly refresh the color in your hair. You can buy a hair mask for five dollars or less at your local beauty supply store. They only take about fifteen minutes to apply and wash out.
Just make sure to speak with your regular hair colorist before using a hair mask to refresh your color. Your colorist might have advice for you on which mask to use or might want to adjust your regular color formula to more closely match the shade of a mask.
6. Get Frequent Trims
Have you ever noticed that the tips of your locks fade much more quickly and obviously than the roots of your hair? That’s because the cuticles at the roots of your hair are newer and healthier and are able to retain artificial color more easily than the older, open cuticles near the ends of your hair.
Get your hair trimmed every four to six weeks (about every time you go in to get your hair recolored). These frequent trims will help keep your hair healthy and capable of absorbing and retaining your color.
7. Embrace the Fade
No matter how hard you try to keep your hair from fading, it will eventually fade to some extent. Try your best to embrace your faded hair. Choose a hair color that looks pretty even when it does fade, like a bright violet that fades into a delicate pastel. Also, make sure the undertones of your hair color that are emphasized when the dye fades complement your natural coloring.
No one wants their carefully colored hair to fade. While fading is an inevitability when it comes to dyed hair, you can slow down and stunt this frustrating fading process. Use the simple tips in this post to keep your hair color looking fresh even when it’s not.
