- You shouldn’t shampoo after semi-permanent hair color. Simply rinse your hair with lukewarm water until it runs clear. Also, you shouldn’t use shampoo or conditioner.
- You should only shampoo your hair three days after coloring. This will ensure that the color is deposited correctly in your hair and the hair dye lasts longer.
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Have you ever washed the dishes with freshly painted nails?
If you’re like every woman on this planet, you’ve waited at least two hours for the polish to dry completely. Otherwise, it disappears down the drain with the dirt from the dishes.
Something similar happens with semi-permanent hair dye.
However, instead of waiting for it to dry like nail polish, you have to wait for the color pigments to deposit in the hair.
And that takes time. The color molecules are still locked into the hair even after you’ve finished rinsing it out. This color fixation process takes approximately 72 hours.
So, you can only shampoo your semi-permanently colored hair after 72 hours.
You should also pay attention to the shampoo you use for the first wash after coloring and later.
Otherwise, the color will fade faster. Why?
That’s what I’ll talk about next.
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Why you shouldn’t shampoo your hair after semi-permanent hair color
The first reason is that semi-permanent hair dye doesn’t penetrate your hair to change the color of your mane. Instead, it deposits a film of pigment that adheres to the outside of the hair.
This is the opposite of permanent hair dye, which contains chemicals that can penetrate the hair core to change the color.
- Semi-permanent hair dye fades with each wash.
This is why you shouldn’t wash your hair after it. You should also reduce the frequency of washing.
Forget about washing your hair every day if you have colored it with semi-permanent dye!Why?
Let’s review together what shampoo is.
Shampoo removes dirt deposited on the scalp and hair. In other words, it has a cleansing effect.
- However, shampoo has no artificial intelligence to recognize dirt from hair dye pigments.
Therefore, it’ll remove everything on the outside of the hair. In other words, if you shampoo your hair after semi-permanent hair dye, you’ll fade the color.
It takes 48-72 hours for the pigment to fully adhere to the hair.
- That’s why you should wait at least 48 hours to shampoo. Also, you can’t use just any shampoo.
I’ll tell you about this in a few moments.
First, I want to explain how to properly rinse the semi-permanent hair dye
- Once the exposure time of your hair dye is over, rinse your hair with lukewarm, almost cold water. It doesn’t matter if it’s winter. If you use hot water, you’ll fade the color.
- Let the water run over your hair until no hair dye remains.
- Gently massage your scalp with your fingertips. Focus on the forehead and nape of the neck to remove excess hair dye.
- Roll your hair in a towel and wait ten minutes for the towel to absorb excess moisture. You shouldn’t rub your hair roughly. Remember that wet hair is more prone to breakage.
- You can blow-dry your hair. If you find it too frizzy, apply a few drops of coconut oil to moisturize it.
As you can see, shampooing is not necessary at this stage as your hair was already clean before the hair dye.
Now, what happens three days after application?
You’ll have to carefully select the products you use.
What type of shampoo should I use to wash my hair for the first time after semi-permanent hair dye?
You probably remember that I told you that shampoo removes dirt, grease, dust, or any other element on your hair, right?
Do you know why this happens?
Because shampoos and conditioners contain chemicals called sulfates, which are ultimately detergents. They’re responsible for “peeling” dirt or any other element from your hair.
They also remove oil from your scalp.
That’s why your hair feels light and airy after washing. The sulfates have removed all traces of oil.
However, sulfates also remove everything stuck to your hair. It includes semi-permanent hair dye, even if it’s been three days since it was applied.
That’s why you can’t use shampoo with sulfates either after coloring your hair with semi-permanent hair color or in subsequent washes.
Otherwise, the color will fade faster.
It may even last half as long as the manufacturer claims.
How do you know if your regular shampoo has sulfates?
Very simple: check the labels and look for the following components:
- SLS SODIUM LAURYL SULFATE
- AMMONIUM SULFATE
- SODIUM DODECYL SULFATE
- SODIUM MIRETRIC SULFATE
If you find one or more of these components, you should discard the shampoo for washing your semi-permanently colored hair.
Take the same trouble to evaluate if your conditioner, leave-in conditioner, repairing hair treatments, moisturizing masks, and styling creams contain any of these ingredients.
You shouldn’t use hair products that contain sulfates if you want your hair to retain color longer.
Major brands such as Pantene, Elvive, Garnier Fructis, Nexxus, and Neutrogena offer lines of sulfate-free shampoos, conditioners, and masks.
Conclusions
If you don’t want to ruin the semi-permanent hair color, don’t use shampoo or conditioner when rinsing it out.
You can shampoo your hair 72 hours after coloring, and you should always use sulfate-free products that extend the duration of the color.
