Extending the Life of Your Hair Color--A Few Changes That You Should Try Now!

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!

A Hair Coloring Trick You Need to Try for Root Touch-Ups!

Instead of breaking out a root touch-kit to hide the fresh outgrowth, I have a quick color fix that will work the same way--only without the styling hassle left after repairing with one of those gigantic mascara wands that comes in this type of kit.

You will need your hair spray and eye shadows.  All that is necessary is  lightly spritzing  the roots with hair spray first before dusting on some shimmering gold eye shadow, especially for blondes or soft to dark brown for brunettes.  

This method of temporary touch-up will keep the gray from not showing.  It also will make it much easier to style your hair.  

A Fool-Proof Way to Determine Your Best Shade of Home Hair Coloring!

Whether you saw those first glittering strands of silver and panicked or just want to jazz up your look, shopping for a box of hair color can be daunting.  Models on the boxes sport colors that may or may not be you--and there are rows and rows of them to muddle through.  So how do you steer clear of a risky choice when you need a safe bet?

There is a secret for picking out the ideal shade for your individual coloring.  All you need to do is to look at yourself carefully in the mirror.  That box of hair color that you want to look for should be no more than two shades lighter or darker than your eyebrows.  If you stick in that color range, the color coming out of that box should compliment your natural skin tone instead of work against you. 

Hopefully, this tip will give those beautiful results you deserve instead of disappointment or a real hair disaster!

Do You Need a New Look for a New Year? Try a New Hair Color!

If you're tempted to reinvent yourself this new year, you might find something as simple as changing your hairstyle and color can make all the difference in helping you turn heads.  However, if this is your first time at coloring your hair at home you may be confused as to what shade is best for you.  Therefore, I thought I'd share these few tips to help get you off to a beautiful start.

Hair coloring with the words "cool" or "ash" in the name is best for pale, rosy, or ebony skins.  People with blue or green eyes usually look great with this choice because this variety of coloring appears darker than the same counterpart shade. 

Boxes that have "warm" or "golden" in the titles are more flattering for olive or honey complexions.  One other way you can tell you'll have success with this shade is if you tan easily or have brown or hazel eyes.

To be on the safe side, you can always pick up a box of color that is neutral like a light brown.  This will have hightlights but not as much as a shade labeled "golden" or "warm."

Another thing is selecting a hair color box and think your own hair will turn out like that pictured on the model is unrealistic. That picture is hardly any clue to what that color will look like once applied to your own hair, which can be darker or lighter than the model's. 

I have dark brown hair and usually I wear medium golden brown or light brown.  For some reason, hair coloring in medium brown is what I found is the closest match for my original hair color. The medium golden brown has more warmth and golden highlights while the light brown on my dark hair turns out just a little lighter with highlights.  I switch basically between those two varieties. 

I did experiment with dark brown shades that looked like my own original color on the box and found hair color in this range is much darker than my own hair once it was on my head.  Although with some red or burgundies to brighten that darkness up, a dark brown was a nice change as well when I looking to make a more radical change. 

Unfortunately, I once selected a box of "ash" dark brown and made a major mistake.  Therefore, I warn you that if you never tried coloring your hair yet, then watch out for those shades labeled "cool" or "ash" because they are much darker than you may want on your head.  That dark ash brown that I picked up turned my hair almost coal-black and was noticed by my old neighbor who happened be nearly ninety with failing vision.  When this old man noticed I colored my hair and kept staring at my head, then I kept washing my hair with clarifying shampoos to help strip and hurried to redo it since it was giving me a complex.

After that bad episode, I steer clear from anything labeled "cool" or "ash" for my particular head.  Yet, those shades could look fantastic on you.  All I'm saying for the first time or two sticking nearer your own hair shade  within one or two shades of it and find your comfort zone first is a much safer route to go.  This way you won't be disappointed with those results and need to run for that clarifying shampoo like I did!