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| This beauty wants to keep her color as vibrant for as long as possible. |
After all the trouble we go through for coloring our hair, we want those beautiful results to last. Yet, if you have been wondering why your hair color fades sooner than you would have liked, then I may be able to offer you some insight into why this is happening and suggest a few changes to your routine that definitely helps.
For the longest time, I was under the assumption that 24 to 48 hours was all the time needed before it was safe to shampoo my freshly colored hair. Perhaps, you also thought this was long enough to keep your hair color in tact. However, the real truth is that it takes 72 hours for the cuticle layer to close completely after a hair coloring process.
Another mistake that shortens the life span of our hair coloring is too heavily rinsing the hair after shampooing and conditioning. What you should do instead is not saturate your head with a strong downpour of water but tilt it back and rinse briefly.
The temperature of the water that you use to shampoo and rinse matters as well. Avoid extremely hot water and opt for lukewarm to cool water if you plan to keep that hair color. The rule to remember is the hotter the temperature of that water, the more color you will find rinsing out.
Just as important, make it a practice to always follow up shampooing with a conditioner. Regardless of the one in your bathroom, your hair will need one that is meant for color-treated hair. This is the only conditioner that will give it a protective barrier to best seal the color in.
It’s also a good idea to use a weekly leave-in conditioner to keep the hair as healthy as possible. Make sure to pay extra attention to depositing more of that conditioner toward the ends.
Shampooing less than every day also helps prolong hair coloring. For those with oily hair or a head loaded with styling products, you should think of using a dry shampoo or even some cornstarch or baby powder on your roots.
Heat is not your hair’s friend, especially with hair color. Make it a point to use a thermal spray for heat protection. To best safeguard that fresh color, do avoid your styling tools for at least a week. The worst offenders are curling and flat irons that make direct contact with your hair.
Do take these tips to heart because they will help your hair better hold onto that gorgeous color longer!
