How to Stop Your Hair Colour Fading: A Comprehensive Guide
Keeping the Colour Alive: Easy Maintainance for Hair Colour Vibrancy, Condition and Shine
The power of hair colouring allows you to reinvent your look and express your style in beauty with many different techniques and options available for dyed hair. You can quickly enhance your existing hues of coloured hair with a shine-enhancing 10-minute gloss, contour your face to complement your facial features or add an illusion of volume and texture with strokes of light and multi-tonal contrast. It even has the power to elevate your confidence and give you an instant boost to your self-esteem. However, preserving that vibrant, shiny, salon-fresh look and soft, manageable feel of dyed hair is equally important.
Drawing on the expertise of Dawson Hair & Imaging and Wella Professionals, this comprehensive guide will lead you through the process with expert advice, helpful tips on hair care, and the best salon-exclusive hair care products you can use at home for your coloured hair. This will ensure your hair remains strong and healthy and your colour stays vibrant and shiny. So, buckle up, and let's ride this rainbow together!
Understanding the Colouring Process
The first step in colour maintenance for dyed hair is understanding the colouring process. When your hair is coloured, peroxide causes the cuticle layer to open, allowing the colour molecules to penetrate the hair shaft. This change in the hair's chemical state means that once coloured, your hair requires a different care routine than virgin hair.
Prepare you hair
Before you have a colour appointment for your dyed hair, it's essential to prep your hair a few days before the appointment. Use a clarifying shampoo like the INVIGO Aqua Pure Purifying Shampoo to remove any residue and product build-up, then use a pre-colour treatment to fill in your hair's porous, dryer areas. Colour Service by Wella Professionals is a brilliant all-rounder when it comes to colour care; used professionally as a post-colour treatment to lock in colour, it acts by filling the pores in your hair shaft, which will help prep it for the new colour to lift toor deposit the desired level of lift or tone with even results throughout and have an optimal effect.
In-Salon Colour Care
Dawson Hair & Imaging offers an exceptional hair care service for coloured hair, Colour Motion+. This highly-regarded salon service enhances your hair colour and extends its longevity. It improves your hair's vibrancy and resilience while strengthening it internally and protecting it from damage. After lightening the hair, it's common for the dyed hair to drop colour faster due to the cuticles of the hair strand being left more open than a tint would. Therefore, an express glossing service or a 10-minute top-up toner and blowdry is an excellent option around two weeks after a lightning service once the cuticles of the hair shaft have settled and can better hold onto a toner or colour.
Post-Colour Care
The advantages of Colour Motion+ persist beyond your salon visit with our home care products for dyed hair. These comprise Colour Motion+ shampoo, conditioner, and mask, enabling you to prolong your salon benefits at home. Another game changer is to use Post-Colour Service from the pro range of Wella Professionals care line. This a game changer for coloured hair and can be used to help prep the hair leading up to your appointment and after it when you keep it in the hair for 3 to 5 minutes. It works by treating the dry and porous parts of your hair by filling in those pores, emanating an even colour result, better colour retention and faster blow dry time as a bonus as the hair holds less water!
Top tip: Wait 48-72 hours before washing your hair, afters colour service. This waiting period allows the colour to set, thus enhancing its longevity (Washing your hair too soon can cause the colour to rinse off prematurely, making it look dull and lifeless.)
About Water and Hair Colour
Water alone, ironically, can affect dyed hair colour vibrancy. This is particularly applicable to those with vibrant colours like vivid reds. Each time we shampoo, the water swells the hair shaft, allowing the colour to escape, thus leading to colour fading. Additionally, water contains impurities and minerals that can build up on the hair, creating a film that dulls the colour and makes it look less vibrant. The trick is to shampoo as infrequently as possible, utilise a quality dry shampoo for the days between, and set a quality dry shampoo.
Top Tip: Keep the water temperature low. While a hot shower might be tempting, it can further cause your colour to fade. Hot water opens the hair cuticle, causing the colour to wash off. Using lukewarm water for shampooing your hair and cool or cold water for rinsing after conditioning can help maintain your vibrant hair colour.
Use a Dry Shampoo
An excellent way to counteract the anti-styling effects of grease and dirt is a good quality dry shampoo on non-wash days to maintain dyed hair colour vibrancy. EIMI's Dry Me is an excellent dry shampoo which creates volume and a manageable matte texture. It contains tapioca starch, which refreshes your hair and absorbs oil, cleansing the hair without drying it out, making it an effective way to maintain pigment without frequently exposing it to water.
Use the Recommended Aftercare Products
Shampoos
The Color Brilliance family protects hair from harmful metals in water and helps maintain vibrancy. Histidine & V vitamin E (Antioxidant Shield Technology) help to control the oxidation process after colouration and to protect colour. It also contains Lime Caviar, rich in potent antioxidants and vitamins.
ColorMotion+ Color Protection Shampoo. Enriched with antioxidants, this shampoo gently cleanses your hair without stripping away the colour. The formulas are enriched with a WellaPlex+ bonding agent that strengthens the hair by reconstructing the bonds after dyeing. ColorMotion+ gives hair the colour protection, strength and vibrant shine it craves, offering up to 8 weeks of colour protection.
Conditioners
Conditioner use, especially for coloured hair, is paramount in maintaining hair colour. Conditioners help keep your hair hydrated and nourished, locking in the
colour pigments for extended periods. Adding a bit of your dye to your conditioner can be a game-changer for those who love experimenting with bold and bright colours. This method allows a small amount of colour pigment to deposit into the hair cuticle every time you wash, keeping your colour vibrant and fabulous. Opt for a conditioner designed for coloured hair, like the Wella Professionals INVIGO Color Recharge conditioner.
If you have sensitised, over-processed dyed hair, you may want to consider using a two-in-one cleanser such as Oil Reflections Cleansing Conditioner. This two-in-one conditioner will gently cleanse and condition your hair simultaneously, reducing the time it takes to experience too much friction that may cause it to break; it's also great on fine hair and hair that needs detangling.
Masks
Use a hair mask once weekly for your dyed hair. They're crucial to colour longevity and work wonders in maintaining your coloured hair. They provide deep
conditioning, which helps keep the vibrancy of your dyed hair while nourishing and strengthening your hair strands. Consider using the Wella Professionals Color Motion+ Structure Mask for a more intensive treatment. It has a WellaPlex agent that helps repair broken hair bonds from within and promises up to eight weeks of colour vibrancy and shine with regular use. For a colour boost, try the Color Fresh Mask. These are the perfect combination of temporary colour and complete care treatment that revives and refreshes your hair colour while keeping strands silky-smooth and moisturised.
Use Heat Defense
Extreme heat can damage your dyed hair and make your colour look dull. This is an absolute must for all hair, especially for coloured hair, when applying any heat. Always use a heat protectant spray; I highly recommend Thermal Image by EIMI Heat Protection and Styling Spray. Use this on wet hair to make your blow-dry faster, thanks to its second solution that helps smooth your hair as you go, working as a styler to achieve optimal results more quickly whilst preventing any frizz that may be caused by humidity for the rest of the day. Shake and use another spray on dry hair, focusing towards the ends of the hair, and comb through once more if using any styling tools using concentrated heat like curling wands or straighteners.
Protect from UV
Just because we don't feel it doesn't mean our dyed hair isn't burnt from the sun. Just like our skin, coloured hair also needs protection from the sun. Sun exposure
will quickly cause hair to drop pigment by lightening it, resulting in dry, brittle ends with dramatically faded hair colour that's sometimes impossible to resurrect. Consider applying a leave-in conditioner with UV protection like the Wella Professionals INVIGO UV Hair UV Protect Spray and comb through your dyed hair before stepping out in the sun.
During Winter Months
Your dyed hair, like skin, can become chapped if exposed to cold temperatures while still damp. You may not feel its effect on the coloured hair at the time, or as you do with chapping of the skin, but you'll undoubtedly notice the effects in time. Whether you use styling tools or let it air dry, ensure it's fully dry before leaving the house.
Get Regular Trims
Regular trims are essential to maintaining vibrant dyed hair colour. Dead ends won't hold colour well, making your coloured hair look dull and lifeless. At around six weeks after your haircut, your hair will naturally split at the ends; if that split isn't trimmed when it first forms, then it will travel up the hair shaft, causing breakage further up the hair toward the root, making it frizzy, dry and unmanageable. Regular trims every 6-8 weeks will help retain its good condition and, as a result, will reflect in its ability to hold colour longer, stay shinier and be easier to manage daily.
Top tip: Before leaving the salon, rebook your next appointment before you leave so you stay on top of those splits and you get the time and day that suits you best.
Avoid Chlorine and Salt Water
Chlorine and salt water can strip your dyed hair of its colour and have unwanted effects on ash blondes when chlorine reacts with the ash tones, leaving a khaki hue on the hair. Consider wearing a swimmer's cap or applying conditioner to your coloured hair before taking a dip to protect your hair from these harmful elements.
Specific Hair Colours
Blondes
Maintaining blonde-dyed hair requires extra care. Use colour-depositing conditioners and shampoos, like the INVIGO Recharge Cool Blonde Shampoo & Conditioner or Color Fresh Mask Pearl Blonde, to deposit neutralising colour pigments that keep your blonde hair care clean, fresh and vibrant whilst intensively nourishing the hair.
Brunettes
Brunette-dyed hair colour requires regular shampoo and conditioner formulated for brown hair. Also, consider a deep conditioner once weekly to hydrate the brown hair care. For the best results, schedule an in-between colour visit for an express glossing treatment or for a quick fix at home; use Chocolate Touch Colour Fresh Mask for a colour refreshment and treatment in one.
Reds
Red-dyed hair tends to be more delicate and prone to fading than other hair colours due to its pigment structure. Whether you're a coppery red, fiery orange or even deep auburn, Maintaining red hair care requires some intensive extra care, but the results are worth it. Opting for regular at-home use of colour-depositing conditioners like Color Recharge Conditioner and professional in-salon top-up services like an Express Glossing Service is best for true colour vibrancy and optimal results.
Maintaining the excellent condition of your dyed hair is crucial to preventing colour fading. Healthy, nourished hair holds colour better and longer, making it look more vibrant and shiny. Regularly using the right conditioners, hair masks, heat protectants, and some intensive sprays can help maintain your dyed hair's good condition, thus preserving your colour.
One Last Word of Advice...
Listen to your stylist! They are the experts and should be able to give you a rundown of all the aftercare you need in your toolbox to maintain head-turning hair, as well as products best suited to your hair type that works with your colour and style and fit in with your daily routine. By following these tips and using the right products, you can keep your hair colour vibrant and lush for longer and say hello to beautiful hair!
