- If you used a permanent red dye, the color will fade after six weeks. But, it won’t disappear completely. So, after that, you’ll need to use the red dye again to get back your vibrant color or you should bleach your hair to get rid of the red pigment.
- If you used a semi-permanent red dye, the color will fade after 10-20 washes, depending on the brand of dye you used and how often you wash your hair.
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How to touch up red hair when it fades? You have 3 options
It might sound strange, but there are still many teens obsessed with old Hollywood legends.
That’s exactly how one my clients is. Her name is Anna and at her 18 years old, she knows every last detail about the stars from the golden age of Hollywood, like Rita Hayworth and Bette Davis.
And you’ll probably say to me, “Alejandra, what do those icons from the old days of cinema have to do with how long it takes red dye to fade ?”
Well, they’re related because my client, Anna, is a fanatic about the actress Rita Hayworth, and she came into my salon because she wanted to dye her brown hair red.
I don’t know if you know who Rita Hayworth was, but in one of her most famous films, she played the role of Gilda, a sensual, daring woman with incredible fire-red hair.
And Anna woke up one day wanting to transform herself into the Gilda of the 21st century.
The first thing I did when she told me this was take her out to a coffee while I told her about everything that goes along with dyeing your hair with a permanent red dye.
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And I explained to her three key things:
- Permanent dye permanently modifies your hair, and that’s especially true with a red dye, that comes with very, very persistent pigments.
- And that brings us to my second point. After six weeks, the red dye will fade, but it will not completely disappear. Instead, what will happen is that the red will look faded and dull.
- So, at that point, there are two options: touch up the red dye if you want to keep that color or bleach to get rid of the red pigments completely.
So, when I told Anna that the permanent red dye wouldn’t fade so easily, she asked me what other choices she had.
I suggested that we dye her hair with a semi-permanent red dye that would fade after 20 washes.
Why?
I’ll tell you that in a bit.
But let’s start by taking a closer look at how long it takes red dye to fade.
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If you use a permanent red dye, the color will fade after six weeks
But I’ll repeat it again: the red dye will not disappear completely.
Six weeks after dyeing your hair red, the color will look dull and faded.
So, my question is, what situation are you in right now?
- If you’re planning to dye your hair red and you want to know how often you’ll need to touch it up , now you know that the color will last up to six weeks and then you’ll need to dye your hair red again.
- If you dyed your hair red and you want to change the color , you’ll need to bleach your hair because red dye changes your hair color from the inside and lives in your hair fiber. So, you need a chemical process that penetrates into your hair’s nucleus to get rid of the pigments from the red dye.
You should also keep in mind that when you bleach red hair, orange tones may appear. And if that happens, you’ll need to use a toner to get rid of those unwanted colors.
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If you use a semi-permanent dye, the color will fade after 12-24 washes, depending on the brand
And in this case, the red dye will completely fade.
That means that if you want to change the color, you won’t have to bleach your hair.
How long these kinds of dyes last depends on the brand you choose. For example, MANIC PANIC lasts up to 24 washes, ARCTIC FOX lasts up to 18 washes and ADORE fades after 12 washes.
Why are we talking about number of washes?
Because we measure the number of washes the semi-permanent red dye will take to fade from your hair based on the brand you choose.
As such:
- If you’re planning to use a semi-permanent red dye on your hair and you want to know when you’ll have to freshen up your color , all you have to do is read the instructions from the brand you choose. For example, if the brand says the dye lasts up to 12 washes, then you’ll have to re-dye your hair after 12 washes.
- If you use a semi-permanent red dye and you don’t like the color , you can wait until it fades with the washes or you can use a clarifying shampoo to make it fade completely.
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That’s right, you don’t need to bleach your hair to get rid of semi-permanent red dye because this type of dye doesn’t penetrate the inside of your hair, it only deposits pigments in the external part.
Now, since red pigments are very resistant, even in semi-permanent dyes, you might need to wash your hair twice with clarifying shampoo to get rid of the red completely.
Conclusion
If you use a permanent red dye, the color will fade after six weeks, but it won’t fade completely. In order to get rid of it completely, you’ll need to bleach your hair.
If you use a semi-permanent red dye, how long the color lasts will depend on the brand you choose. Some brands fade after 10 washes and others after 20.
