Love vivid colors, but not how fast they fade?

Jun 24

As a huge fan of colorful hair and an Aveda™ Vibrants artist, I can relate to the love/hate relationship with vivid hair and the struggle of fading. Here are some tips I know will help your color last as long as possible!

The key to properly caring for your vivid hair is understanding what a “vivid color” is and how it works. This is about to get technical, but I promise you it’s worth having the knowledge!

Vivid hair color is a semi-permanent dye, which means it is temporary. It’s formulated to last longer than some other temporary products, like colored hair sprays or temporary root concealers. Semi-permanent color is similar, but formulated to last longer. It does temporarily deposit pigments onto hair’s surface and is soaked into the hair to temporarily change the tone, and stain the hair. Temporary colors cannot lighten or remove the existing color pigment in your hair. Because of this, we usually have to lighten your hair before applying vivid colors to achieve the desired result.

On average, semi-permanent colors last 4-6 weeks, or 10-12 washes.

Aveda’s™  Vibrant colors are built to last an average of 16 washes! And they don’t fade into ugly colors, they gracefully become more pastel over time until they are completely gone! It never fails to shock me when I see my vivid clients after months in between appointments, and even when in need of a refresh, their color still looks pretty! I can always tell which clients are following my advice, because it really works!

TIP #1: STOP WASHING YOUR HAIR

Okay you can wash it sometimes…. But you’re gonna want to get used to dirty hair.

It’s common sense that the less frequently you are washing, the more time you will have with your color. If you are washing everyday, that can reduce your color’s lifespan to only a couple weeks. Remember 16 washes is the average the color can withstand.

My advice is to shampoo only once a week and wash with cold water. If you can’t stand cold water, lukewarm will do, just please DON’T WASH WITH HOT WATER!!! I know…This probably sounds extreme, but there are ways around feeling oily and weighed down.

Like using a lot of dry shampoo, wearing shower caps, silk wraps to bed, and trying Aveda’s co-wash in between shampoos! This will be used as a substitute to shampoo to remove oil and product build up from your scalp, cleanse and nourish your hair without the lather that can strip color. You can read more about cowashing by following the link below to a blog written by Tanya Feite, owner and premier stylist at Expressions by Tanya: https://www.expressionspurra.com/beautybunchblog/cowash

TIP #2: LIMIT YOUR HEAT STYLING

Heat will speed up color fading!!! Unfortunately. This includes heat and uv rays from the sun. I’m not saying you can never put heat on your colored hair, or that you can’t enjoy the sunshine, but it’s important to be cautious when doing so. Small steps will be extremely helpful, like lowering the temperature on your hot tools, ALWAYS using products with heat protection, wearing hats in the sun, air drying instead of using a blowdryer, and trying heatless curl and styling methods.

I mean, at least you’re going longer in between washes so dry shampoo and the right products will become your best friends in making your style last for dayyyys.

TIP #3: DITCH THE DRUGSTORE SHAMPOO AND USE COLOR SAFE PRODUCTS THAT YOUR STYLIST RECOMMENDS!

You will thank us once you make the switch! The proof will be in how amazing your hair looks and feels.

Drug store products can contain ingredients that are not good for your hair, especially when  it’s been colored. Even when they’re marketed as color safe, they can still contain harsh ingredients that are drying, and damaging to hair, like sulfates, parabens, alcohols that will strip out color, or ingredients that leave a waxy residue build-up that dull your hair.

There are so many great professional options, that will help protect and extend your color, and not all professional products are super expensive! There is no judgment about what you have been using, or how much you want to spend, we just want the best for your hair and want to help set you up with products we know will give your color the most longevity.

 A great shampoo, conditioner and heat protectant are the most essential, but like I said, a nice dry shampoo and a cowash will be your best friends in between wash days!

 Your hair color can be an expensive investment, and just like any other big purchase, it just makes sense to do your best to maintain what you paid for. It is highly recommended to leave some extra room in your budget so your stylist can help you pick out suitable products for your aftercare routine.

TIP #4: HYDRATED HAIR MAKES COLOR LOOK BETTER! ADD A WEEKLY HAIR MASK TO YOUR WASH DAY ROUTINE!

It is very likely that your hair was lightened prior to your vivid color application, this can cause your hair to feel more dry at first, so it’s important to restore the moisture that it may have lost in the process. Dry hair is more porous, which will let go of color just as fast as it soaks it up. It’s (always) important to keep your hair moisturized and healthy, but you will want to give it extra attention after it’s been colored.

I recommend you get a conditioning treatment on the day of your color appointment, and following up with weekly hair masks at home on your shampoo day. The goal is to seal your cuticle to reduce porosity, this will help keep color locked in. Plus, color always looks more vibrant on soft, shiny, hydrated hair!!

TIP#5: COME SEE US MORE OFTEN!

If you like to space out your hair color appointments, or like to give your hair a break after being lightened, that’s okay!

You most likely will need to get your hair lightened on your first appointment, this isn’t necessary for every maintenance appointment. Once hair is lightened, it will always be lightened, and we can reapply vivid color over the pre lightened hair to refresh it. If you are okay with a “lived in” root, we can alternate between just a color refresh to brighten up your vivid color, and lightening appointments to take care of regrowth. This “color refresh” appointment will actually be budget friendly, hair healthy, and time saving! We can go over the best options in our pre-service consultation, and discuss  how often you should be coming in for maintenance. The more you incorporate these at home maintenance tips, the less salon maintenance you will need!

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