Coloured hair, as we all know, is difficult to maintain. Especially when it comes to fashion colours like blue and red. I’ve had almost every colour possible. I do believe that red has been the hardest one to maintain. The red molecule is large. It does not stay in the hair follicle. Thus, retouching the colour is a must.
But, there are some things that you can do to reduce the amount of fading.
Washing
Wash less. We have all heard about this one. When going in the shower on off days, put your hair up or in a hair cap. Avoid getting your hair wet. I like to wash my hair 2-3 times per week. I find that the less I wash, the longer my colour lasts.
Use dry shampoo. It’s a lifesaver. I like the fresh clean version by batist. I have yet to find anything that can compare. I use to find that by the end of the day after using dry shampoo. My head would be super greasy, itchy, and dry. To combat this, I realized that I have to keep my hair up all day. This will stop me from touching my scalp. I find that my head gets super irritated when I do.
Don’t use super-hot water. Some people will tell you to use cold water to wash your hair. It’s horrible. But if you can handle it… by all means! Just keep it on warm.
Use a sulphate-free shampoo. Sulphates remove hair colour. I like the live clean and Organix shampoos. (Conditioners I’m not so sure).
Keep a bottle of conditioner mixed with your hair dye in the shower. This will help revive your hair colour. Just leave it in for 10 minutes while you do other things.
Use purple shampoo, or make your own using purple dye and conditioner for a cool-toned blonde!
If you dye your hair regularly or process it. Make sure that your hair is healthy.
Healthy hair
Use a deep conditioner weekly. Olive oil and coconut oil are fantastic. Just lather it on and leave it in your hair as long as you can. I need to wash my hair twice afterwords. You can also use store-bought deep conditioners.
Avoid all heat. Try not to blow dry or iron your hair. It’s damaging. Even if you use a heat protectant. But. If you do have to use heat tools. Use a heat protectant and use the lowest heat possible.
When you have split ends, get a hair cut. Usually, once the split ends show up, it means that your hair is needing a cut. If you want to have longer hair, cut off those dead ends. They continue to split up your hair so each time it grows the ends just get ripped up.
Use a hair BB cream. My stylist recommended to me to use a BB cream after my hair was over-processed. I love this step as it revives my hair after putting it through all the stress of bleach and I have noticed a big difference after using it.
Do you have any more tips? Are any of these useful to you?