Keeping Your Bright Hair Colors Fresh

Fashion hair colors are on the rise. Changing your hair has always been symbolic and is linked to personal growth, moving on, and expressing your creativity. Changing your hair can even be symbolic of taking a stance for something you believe in.

Whether you do it on your own or shell out a fortune at the salon, fashion colors are today’s hot trend. A lot of the most fashionable celebrities have had major hair changes. Check out Slingo.com to see who are the most fashionable celebrities.

With readily available dyes available at every Target, Wallgreens, CVS, and even the corner store. Long gone are the days when you have to go to specialty beauty supply stores and spend a ton of money. Fashion colors have become more and more affordable with brands such as Manic Panic, Punky Color, and even brands like L’Oreal have their own fashion hair color line.

Fashion hair colors are temporary or semi-permanent hair dyes that usually come in unnatural colors. They come in many hues, from neon to pastel. Temporary dyes wash off in 1-2 hair washes, while semi-permanent dyes can last for weeks. This article will focus on semi-permanent hair dyes.

Hair Prep

The best trick to keep your hair dye vibrant and fresh is to prepare your hair properly before applying your fashion colors. Without proper hair preparation, your semi-permanent hair dye can wash off in just 2 washes.

Always dye on freshly shampooed and dried hair. Oil and conditioner is the enemy of semi-permanent dye. A lot  of semi-permanent dyes are conditioner based, especially the ones where you don’t have to mix it with any type of hair developer. Brands like Manic Panic are conditioner-based hair dyes.

Your hair needs to be dry and free from oils and conditioner for the dyes to stick. When your hair is freshly shampooed, the porosity of the hair cuticle is more open and can easily cling to the moisture and color that the hair dye provides.

Bonus tip: Anti-dandruff shampoos are more effective at making the hair more porous.

It’s time to be Hydrophobic

Shampoo less. It’s quite simple, the more you wash your hair the faster it fades. Water is not your hair’s friend in this case. You have to keep your hair away from water and other water-soluble products such as leave-in conditioners, salt sprays, and hair gel. Not only will it make your hair less vibrant, but it will also have the tendency of staining your hand.

Wash your hair only when you have to and maintain it throughout the week with dry shampoos. Dry shampoos come in multiple forms, but for fashion dyes the best are the powdered dry shampoo. You can even make your own DIY dry shampoo by using baby powder. Just sprinkle baby powder on your scalp, massage it into your scalp and brush your hair.

If you want to keep your hair shiny without leave-in conditioners use hair oils and only use the amount you need.

Tint your products

If you only have one solid color on your hair, you can add a little bit of the hair dye to your shampoo and conditioner. The logic behind this is it’s like adding color every time you wash instead of the products stripping the color off your hair. You can add the products directly to your shampoo and conditioner bottle or mix the product and color in your hand before you lather it into your hair.

If you have blue or purple hair then you’re in luck! You can just buy purple shampoo and conditioner in the hair care aisle of your nearest grocery store.

Keep it cold

Nothing beats a nice hot shower at the end of the day. However, heat opens the hair cuticle, makes it more porous, and will definitely wash your fashion dye out much faster.

Cool to even cold water will help keep the hair cuticle closed. Closed hair cuticles will keep the hair dye pigments on your hair for longer. But if you absolutely can’t stand cold showers, try to keep the water temperature at lukewarm. Then you can get a bowl or bucket, fill it with cold water and just dunk your hair in the vessel without having it touch your scalp.

Check the ingredients

It may be time to say goodbye to your favorite shampoo and conditioner. The most affordable shampoos and conditioners that we all know and love contain ingredients that strip the hair of its color.

“Many over-the-counter products contain salts, sulfates, and detergents. That’s why they are so inexpensive. These ingredients strip hair color out!” said JB Shelton, an educator for Bosley Professional Strength Haircare.

Shelf that conditioner that all the celebrities endorse in their slow-mo hair-swishing commercials. Those are full of sulfates and alcohol which not only strip your hair from its fashion colors, but also dry out the scalp!

Look for products that are sulfate-free and alcohol-free. It does pay a to spend a bit more on these products. So look for good-quality products with raving reviews.

Choose the right color

Not all colors are created equal. There are certain colors that wash out faster than the others. If you wish to be as low-maintenance as possible, stick to blue and purple. They last the longest on hair and are notoriously harder to wash out.

The most high-maintenance fashion color to dye your hair is red. Red easily fades out and stains almost everything.

Touch-up

Color fading is inevitable, no matter how many remedies you use, the hair will still fade. Whenever you buy fashion colors, always buy more than you need. For one, it’s better to over-saturate the hair with dye than to try to spread a little product throughout your hair. Hair dye isn’t the same as shampoo, where you can lather it to cover more area.

The roots often fade the fastest, since closer to the heat of your scalp and are more likely to get wet from your sweat. Keep maintaining your roots by dying it periodically and your fashion colors will keep looking fresh.

Maintaining your fashionable hair colors is easy and doesn’t have to be a huge ordeal. Don’t let the maintenance keep you from expressing your individuality through the language of hair.