Love your red hair, but hate the difficulty of keeping it fresh and vibrant? Caring for your red locks to keep it beautiful for as long as possible isn’t as difficult as it seems. Whether you color your hair professionally or DIY, you’ll need extra help to prevent it from prematurely fading. Get a standout beautiful red lock and keep it healthy and dazzling longer with these simple tips.
1. Pick Your Perfect Shade
Not all reds are the same. Find the most suitable red shade for you based on your tone. For fair skin tones, use auburn or vibrant orange-reds. These shades complement creamy pale skin as it adds contrast and color to your features.
Golden and copper hues are perfect for medium skin tones. While reds with blue undertones, like deep burgundy or terracotta red, are most flattering for dark skin. Want a bolder shade that fits any skin tone? Try rose gold!
2. Use Color-Safe Hair Care Products
To prevent color from fading quickly, you need a paraben and Sulfate Free Shampoo, conditioners, styling, and other hair care products specially formulated for color-treated hair. Ordinary shampoo can strip away red hair colors of their pigment.
Gently massage the shampoo into your wet hair and scalp using your fingertips. Rinse it out with lukewarm and not hot water. Apply the conditioner evenly to your hair and leave it on for three minutes before rinsing it again.
3. Moisturize Your Hair
Keeping your hair healthy is also essential in making the red color look radiant and last longer on your hair. Deep moisturizing using hair masks helps maintain the vibrancy and make your strands soft and silky. Use it to hydrate your moisture lacking hair once a week or every other week. But, if your hair feels extremely dry or rough from damage, you can use it to replace your regular conditioner.
4. Stay Out Of The Sun
Like a natural bleach, the sun’s UV rays lighten everything it touches, including your hair. What it does is break down the chemical bonds in dyes, which causes it to dull and fade. The more exposure you have to sunshine, the more damage it can do to your color-treated hair. Protect your mane from the sun using UV protectant hairspray, leave-in conditioner, and other products, or a wide-brimmed hat.
5. Retouch Your Roots
Regular touch-ups are part of the hair care routine. You can prepare to take care of your unsightly roots if you keep a box of hair dye at your home. Remember only to apply fresh color on the regrowth. Overlapping the product on your previously treated hair can cause uneven, darkened, or over-processed hair.
Meanwhile, if you don’t have a backup and you are days away from your appointment, you can use root cover-up. Use it after every wash to help conceal your regrowth until your next visit at the salon.
6. Wash Hair Less Often
As much as possible, delay washing your hair up to 48 hours after the application of red hair color. It would help if you gave your hair time to absorb and reseal as many dye molecules so that it doesn’t slip away as quickly. Skipping the shampoo every other day will also prevent dryness and the color from turning dull red.
What you can do to freshen up your locks on these off days is a good dry shampoo. Just spray it directly to your roots. Use a brush to spread it evenly and sweep away the excess product.
7. Keep Your Color Fresh
In some cases, color breaks down too fast for your liking leaving your hair looking brassy. Look for a color-depositing conditioner to replace the missing pigments on your red hair. It helps boost the red shade and prolong the staying power of your dye.
8. Protect It From The Elements
Pool water is dreadful to your hair, especially when it is color-treated. Chlorine not only alters your red hair color but also sips away its moisture. Before jumping into the pool, apply a protective layer of conditioner on it.
What you do is wet your hair with tap water and spread the conditioner throughout your strands without rinsing it. The conditioner acts as a protective barrier for your hair while also sealing in moisture so that it would not get dehydrated out or tangle while you go swimming.
9. Turn Down The Heat
Using thermal styling tools and hot water to wash your hair should be avoided. Keep the water temperature between cold and lukewarm when rinsing away shampoo and conditioner. Coldwater is also beneficial in sealing in the cuticles and preserving the color.
When styling your red hair, dial down the heat on your tools to the lowest manageable setting depending on your hair type. You can also use a hairdryer that has a cold blast setting to dry your hair instead.
10. Trim Your Damaged Ends
Take care of your fizzy locks by getting it cut or trimmed regularly. Dyed hair looks frizzy and rough because of damage. You don’t need drastic changes to get rid of your frayed ends. Texture takes away the vibrancy of your red hair, so a newly cut hair looks much healthier and smoother.
Conclusion
Strut your style, and keep turning heads with your red hair. Don’t let your color fade quickly by following these hair care techniques. You’ll surely fall in love with your red hair once more and longer this time around.
