Dyeing your hair regularly can be fun, and you might enjoy the new color a lot, but dye doesn’t come without consequences. It can sometimes damage hair, and the color can wash out rather quickly. This can be avoided if you learn to take care of dyed hair properly, though.
In this article, we’ll give you some dyed hair tips and tricks that will ensure your color stays fresh for longer and your hair stays healthy.
Don’t Wash it Right After Dyeing
After you’re done with the full process of dyeing your hair, don’t wash it before at least a full three days have passed. The cuticle layer of your hair is open when you’re coloring, which makes it easy for your hair to soak up the dye.
When you wash your hair too soon after coloring, your cuticles remain open, making it easy to wash away the color. The three day rule works because that’s how long it takes for the cuticle layer to close completely.
You simply need to leave the cuticle layer more time to absorb the color properly. Basically, the longer you wait to wash your hair after coloring, the longer the color will last.
Waiting a little to wash your hair also applies to dyed hair in general. This is especially important when it comes to vibrant and unnatural hair colors. Regardless of what technique or products you use, overwashing your hair will lead to your color fading more quickly.
In fact, daily use of shampoo isn’t recommended for general hair health, regardless of if it’s dyed or not. Your hair is full of natural oils that help keep it strong, and you risk damaging your hair and drying it out if you wash it so frequently.
If you’re wondering how to keep dyed hair healthy, then, when you can’t rinse it out every time you feel dirty, don’t worry— there is an easy solution. Dry shampoo will give you that fresh feel and keep your hair clean for a few days longer, without sacrificing its health or color.
Avoid Products with Sulfates
Sulfates are the reason why many hygiene products produce a lot of foam when you use them. This is especially noticeable in conditioners and shampoos, but it’s not really as good of a characteristic as you may think.
Sulfates can often dry out your hair and get rid of the natural oils. When it comes to colored hair, this also means washing out more of your color than anticipated.
To avoid your color fading quickly, look for products that are sulfate-free. You can often find shampoos and conditioners aimed specifically towards colored hair, so you won’t have to look far for the right product.
However, make sure to still check the ingredients list, as some brands still include sulfates in color-friendly products. With these tips, your shiny, healthy hair will be your best fashion accessory.
Trim Your Hair Regularly
To maintain hair color, you’ll also need to trim your ends regularly. Anyone with dyed hair will tell you that the ends are the first to fade and ruin your look.
If you want to prolong the life of your dye job, trim those ends every six to eight weeks. This can also make your hair a bit stronger and improve its health in general.
On top of that, trimming your ends will definitely even out your color and guarantee you have the same shade from top to bottom.
Avoid Salt Water and Chlorine
Pools and sea water aren’t friends of colored hair. If you want to learn how to take care of dyed hair and keep your color for longer, avoid swimming often. Those who do want to go swimming should take proper precautions for minimizing the effects chlorine and salt water can have on hair. For instance, you could wear a swimming cap to keep your hair dry.
Chlorine is used to keep pools clean and is a bleaching agent in its essence, so you can be sure it can strip your color away from you. Darker hair colors can dry out and lose their shine, while lighter colors, especially blonde, can even turn greenish.
Salt can dry hair out, and colored hair is especially susceptible to this. Aside from wearing a swimming cap, putting on conditioner before you go swimming can also help you in taking care of dyed hair.
Don’t Wash It With Scalding-Hot Water
We are all guilty of using water that’s too hot for the health of both our skin and hair at some point in our lives, because hot showers simply feel so good. However, if you want to keep your color for longer, you should definitely turn down the temperature when you’re washing your hair.
Hot water makes the cuticle layer open, and as we have previously mentioned, this is a sure fire way to wash the color off your hair more quickly. Not even the best shampoo and conditioner can help stop your color from fading in this scenario.
The best thing you can do is to shampoo the hair with lukewarm water, then rinsing it off with cold water. This way, warm water will allow the conditioner and shampoo to do their job without taking away your hair color with them. The cold water will close up the cuticle layer again, while trapping the conditioner in your hair at the same time.
Not only is this a great technique for how to maintain dyed hair, but it can also add some volume and shine to your hair, as the moisture from the conditioner will stay in the cuticles.
Use Color in Your Conditioner
One of the best pink, red, blue, or purple dyed hair tips is to add color to your conditioner. While you can use this tip with other hair colors, too, these are the ones that tend to wash out more quickly. Since none of these colors are natural, you simply notice the difference between your natural and dyed color much more quickly.
As well as that, vibrant colors are more vulnerable to fading and losing their shine. To prevent that, all you have to do is add a little bit of your regular dye to your conditioner. Combine this with our previous tips for dyed hair, and you’re sure to keep your hair vibrant and shiny for longer.
Of course, this won’t eliminate the need for re-dyeing and it won’t prevent your roots from growing out, but it will definitely prolong the time until your next dye appointment.
Leave-in Products Are Your Friend
Dyed hair is more prone to damage simply because it is exposed to chemicals more often. This usually manifests in hair breaking more easily, becoming dull, or drying out. To prevent this from happening, you can make use of leave-in products.
These products are designed to moisturize your hair and help it obtain the nutrients it needs to stay healthy. Aside from this, leave-in products can help your color stay vibrant for a longer period of time.
Avoid Heat
As we have mentioned above, the chemicals in hair dye tend to dry hair out. Exposing it to heat often can lead to more damage and can make your color fade away fairly quickly. Luckily, there are several full-proof dyed hair tips on protecting it against heat.
First off, if you use a curling iron or blow dry your hair often, you definitely need to buy a product that protects your hair from heat. This kind of product will help the hair retain moisture, volume, and shine.
As well as that, think about investing in higher-quality hair dryers and curling irons. Better airflow and consistent, lower temperatures are crucial for a good dryer. Not only will that protect your hair, but it will also cut your drying time down in half.
Secondly, you can’t forget about the effect the sun can have on hair, especially if you spend a lot of time outside. UV rays are harmful for every part of your body, and your hair is no exception. They can make the color fade quickly and make your hair appear damaged.
To combat this, use UV protection hair sprays that keep your hair safe. A lot of people tend to find this a waste of money and don’t feel like purchasing yet another hair product, which is completely reasonable. One expert tip in this scenario is to use sunscreen that comes in a spray. That way, you’ll save money but will keep your hair vibrant for longer.
Finally, learning how to keep dyed hair healthy comes with thoroughly researching the product you may end up buying. Not all of them come with the same ingredients, and if you have hair that’s prone to damage, you might end up with something that hurts it more.
On the other hand, if you have thick and strong hair, you’ll need to look for something that can adequately and evenly protect all of it.
Splurge on Quality Dye
Ingredients aren’t only important when it comes to the products that protect your hair from heat. They’re the main thing you should look at when buying hair dye. Many people pay attention only to the price and shade of the dye they’re buying, without realizing that it might contain something that could harm their hair significantly.
Here are the most common harsh chemicals you should avoid if you expose yourself to dye often:
- Paraphenylenediamine (PPD): removes existing pigment of the hair; can cause respiratory or cardiac health issues.
- Ammonia: gives hair dye its signature smell; can dry and damaged hair; can cause irritation to the respiratory system and throat.
- Resorcinol: can cause allergic reactions and irritations to the scalp.
- Para-toluenediamine (PTD): can get absorbed through the skin and cause allergic reactions.
- Phthalates: can interfere with normal hormone function.
- Quaternium-15: can result in contact dermatitis if in contact with sensitive skin.
- Titanium Dioxide: may be a potential carcinogen in large quantities.
- Alkylphenol Ethoxylates (APEs): can strip hair of natural oils and can potentially interfere with normal hormone function.
- Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS): can strip hair of natural oils, completely dry it out, and lead to breakage.
All the best dyed hair tips will point you in the direction of brands that don’t use these chemicals in their dyes. It might be more expensive, but it’s definitely worth it.
Natural Alternatives to Hair Dye
If you want to experiment with alternative hair dyes, save some money on products, or simply don’t feel like dyeing your hair with chemicals, these ingredients can help.
- Beet juice: great for a deeper red shade with cooler undertones
- Carrot juice: good for red or orange hair, gives you a lighter shade than beet juice.
- Lemon juice: perfect for sun-kissed highlights, but it may take some time to work. However, results are permanent.
- Chamomile tea: ideal for lightening your hair naturally, especially for blonde hair.
- Henna: most long-lasting and natural option, great for a vibrant red or black shade.
- Coffee: can dye your hair a shade or two darker, as well as cover up gray hairs.
- Sage: great for deepening dark brown and black hair, can cover up gray hair.
All of these methods will give you color for a few weeks at a time. The exception is lemon juice which permanently gives you highlights, but you can always let them grow out and cut them off once you get bored of them.
Henna also gives longer results, with results lasting anywhere from four to six weeks. Since henna is plant-dye traditionally used for temporary tattoos, it doesn’t come as a surprise that it lasts so long.
If you’re looking for options that last longer, you can always research more organic and natural brands.
Conclusion
With these dyed hair tips and tricks, you’re bound to have beautiful colored hair for longer. There is a lot to learn about proper hair care, but if you put in some effort and time, you’ll get the hang of it quickly. Soon enough, you’ll have the most beautiful dyed hair you could imagine.
