Being a hairdresser for over 15 years now, I have experienced so many colors in my time, from permanent colors to semi-permanent colors to color rinses. From what I have encountered with was, no matter what red hair color you use on yourself or your client, it has a tendency to fade out the quickest out of all the other colors on the market. No one really knows why this happens, but unfortunately it just does. Red hair is the hardest color to keep up with, because of all the steps you have to take to keep this color fresh looking as you can. Even though this is the hardest color to keep up with, to me it’s the prettiest color out of all others. There is just so many beautiful shades of red, to fit each and every clients personality, from classy red to punk red. When I first started coloring hair they didn’t really have as many red shades as they do now, we were just stuck using certain shades or creating our own shades by mixing other colors. Which to me was more creative, but also you got a better result that way, because you can get the red as bright as you want or as subtle as you want. So here is a few tip to keep that sparkling red as fresh looking as you can:
1. First try to stay out of the sun as much as possible, this will fade your color much quicker, but also turn it into a brassy looking red shade which doesn’t look very nice. If you are gonna be in the sun, then please try to protect your hair by wearing a hat, scarf, or basically anything to cover your head. You can also try and put a conditioner or a sunblock on your hair, this way the sun won’t penetrate too much into your color. The sun can also dry your hair out as well, who wants to have a full head of red hair that looks dry or frizzy? You can see more damage on red hair than the darker hair, so best bet is to take some precautions.
2. Always after you color your hair, try to use a shampoo/conditioner that is for color treated hair. People always feel that they shouldn’t use a certain product, but in most cases from being a hairdresser myself I feel that you should. It doesn’t mean you have to use the most expensive products out there, you can use some of the cheap products as long as they are for color treated hair. To tell you the honest truth some of the cheaper products are so much better on the hair. Some products that are really good are the generic brand for matrix which is put out by suave, john Freida product, Pantene products etc. I think you get the point I am trying to get across.
3. Another great tip with red hair is try not to wash it every day, this will fade it out quicker, then you will have to recolor it quicker than you anticipated to. I have notice when I color a clients hair red or mine that it has to be re colored about 6 weeks later, but I also refresh it in between. Try to wash it maybe 2 times a week, this way the red will last you longer, but also save you money so you don’t have to recolor it so soon.
4. While you have your hair colored red you can try and refresh it yourself at home by buying a red color that matches, mix the color with shampoo in a bottle, then apply it to your head and leave it on for about 8 minutes or so, then rinse it out well and apply conditioner on it. or if you don’t feel confident enough to do that yourself then buy a red shampoo hair color, that works as a enhancer to your red hair, there is many brands to choose from that will help you until your next hair appointment.
