No matter what color trend or subtle roots touch up you choose, color protection products can extend the life of your dye job and help it look vibrant for longer. Incorporating color protect products into your hair care routine may help extend its life further.
Specially-formulated shampoos, conditioners, treatments and hair styling products will keep your locks nourished and healthy.
Sulfate-Free Shampoos
Sulfates, which produce lots of suds, may be effective cleaners for regular to oily hair types; however, their excessive lather can strip color-treated locks of their natural protective oils and lead to over-cleansing that strips their precious hue. Therefore, it’s crucial that sulfate-free shampoos be used in order to avoid over-cleansing and stripping away their vibrant hue.
A shampoo with the GH Best Buy rating, this sulfate-free shampoo gently cleanses without the drying effects of SLS and SLES, as well as providing nourishment to strands with Shea butter, plant and seed oils, polyglutamic acid (a more potency version of hyaluronic acid), for soft, smooth strands.
Specifically designed to protect color-treated hair, this shampoo helps guard against fade and dullness with each wash by clearing away product buildup, excess oil and environmental impurities. Furthermore, its reparative Olaplex formula strengthens and repairs bonds for maximum color preservation! An absolute essential for color-treated haircare routine!
Moisturizing Conditioners
As much as we love vibrant cream-and-honey balayage, intense royal purple, or entirely new hues, we want our colors to last as long as possible. Frequent washing can strip hair of its natural oils, leaving it dry and vulnerable to fading; excessive sun exposure may lighten hair color or cause brassiness; using heat styling tools or overprocessing can weaken strands further and accelerate dye fading more rapidly than intended.
Kusero suggests waiting 48 hours between washings and applying deep conditioning treatments at least twice weekly to protect color. He advises using cold water rather than hot when rinsing as this helps seal cuticles and lock in color. He further suggests using sulfate-free shampoos that nourish hair without leaving it feeling heavy; moisturizing conditioners, leave-in hydration treatments, and hair masks fall under this category of product.
Leave-In Conditioners
The best leave-in conditioners provide hair with moisture while simultaneously protecting it against damage. They typically include silicones and glycerin to provide lightweight protection, plus natural oils, botanical extracts and vitamins for strengthening and repairing. Plus, many are specially formulated to detangle locks while minimizing frizz!
Leave-in conditioner should be applied immediately following washing, and prior to styling in order to lock in moisture and aid the detangling of towel-dried hair. Leave-ins are particularly essential when styling curly or textured styles as these styles have greater difficulty maintaining moisture than straight strands.
Leave-in conditioners come in various forms, from sprays and creams to serums and serums. Spray conditioners tend to work best across all hair types as they allow you to evenly moisten strands without overmoistening. Look for one with heat protectants included so as to maximize product efficacy while mitigating risk from hot tools when styling hair.
Heat Protectants
No matter whether you use a blow dryer or flat iron to heat-style your hair, it’s wise to take precautionary steps by using a heat protectant. This spritz-on or run-through product helps mitigate damage caused by hot-styling tools over time and also works to help control frizz, add shine, and more.
Hairstylists like Keene suggest starting off by priming damp strands with something heavier, such as Smooth Moves Anti Frizz Priming Cream, before switching over to lighter spray-on conditioners such as the All Eyes On Me 10-in-1 Hair Perfector for touch ups and light conditioning. She particularly enjoys using the Unite Hair 7SECONDS Glossing Spray which contains sunflower seed extract and olive oil to lock in moisture while softening brittle ends.
Heat protecting ingredients such as Quatrium-70, Acrylates Copolymer and PVP/DMAPA Acrylates Copolymer can significantly decrease hair damage by lowering the temperature at which strands absorb heat and coating the cuticle to protect moisture loss; helping prevent color fade.
