So, you walk out of the salon with the most gorgeous shade of (let’s say) red in your hair. It glitters, it glimmers, and catches the light. You can barely stop staring at it in every reflection on your way out to the car, and even then… there’s the rear view mirror. Such beauty.   You’ve just invested your precious time, as well as your hard-earned money to walk away with that feeling!

The sad truth is, that for some of you, the bright and true tones will come back to the salon for a touch up much worse for the wear, and feeling that the shiny awesomeness ended all too soon.

There are several reasons hair color fades, or changes colors in between services. First point that must be made is that even natural color fades, just from environmental effects, so it is natural for color to fade a bit, but it is not necessary for you to loseeverything that you paid to have so soon.

Our water~

Tap water contains myriads of chemicals designed to make it safe *ahem* for human consumption. Chlorine being one of them (yuck) Well water contains minerals, depending on where you are, that can not only cause weird fadage, but they can interfere with the way a color takes on the hair.  I almost forgot, our pipes!!! Some pipes in old houses still contain copper, and lead!!!!

A clarifier is what is needed if you come from an area with excessive chlorine, ‘soft’ water, ‘hard’ water (which is just caused by the different minerals contained in the water)  This is best used in the days before your color service, to remove product and mineral buildup.

Detergents~

The word sounds so harsh, but if you shampoo, you are using a detergent, most contain salts and sulfates as lathering agents. These bind to the color molecules and lead to them running down                                                  the sink instead of staying where they belong.

Sun~

Goes without saying, the sun will bleach anything. I used to bleach my children’s cloth diapers in the sun and it worked quite well to bleach the fibers.Think of your hair fibers.  Wear a hat, or better yet, stay out of the sun. Ask me about a sun protectant that adds shine and life to the hair, and is almost an essential if you are going to be outside for any length of time (even in winter)

Heat styling~

Your blow dryer, your precious flat iron…. Hot rollers, anything that uses heat will contribute to fadage. This, I will add, includes using really hot water on your hair. Cool is best, as cool as you can stand. A little warmth is ok, you don’t want to freeze your butt off in the shower, but ask your stylist to use cool water when rinsing the color, it really does make a difference.

 

Porosity and damaged hair~

When I say hair is porous and damaged, I mean that the cuticle lays open too far, and feels like it takes forever to dry the water out of it, it is usually more porous on the ends and they usually fade first, even to the point of looking like a different color than the rest of the hair.  The hair may also experience breakage and feel dry.  When the cuticle is open too far, the molecules of color will not stick around, the hair will take on a light and ‘washed out’ quality.

To combat this, first come up with a plan of attack with your stylist. You may need to trim some of the dead ends if they are beyond help, or your colorist may need to fill the ends before the color process.   Take the time to regularly use a color safe shampoo and conditioner on your hair. I am currently working with the Aquage product line.

I am currently coming up with a Premium coloring service, which will include everything you need to take care of your colored hair. I especially recommend this for redheads. I will be adding it to my price structure soon, look for it. It will save you up to 15 % on the actual products (which come with the service.) You will walk away with everything you need to take care of your color.   If you spend money and time on your color services, then it is worth it to use the kind of products that will help with preservation.

I currently use bits and pieces from several color lines. My favorite and most used is Italy, and Framesi. Please inquire in advance about a Premium color service, so I can make sure to have everything in stock.