How to Make Hair Color Last Longer on Gray Hair

To make color last longer on your gray hair, try this:

Wait at least 72 hours to wash your hair after dyeing
Always use hair products specifically designed for colored hair
Wash your hair less, and preferably with warm to cold water
Try to space out the use of blow dryers and irons

If you follow these four tips, I assure you that color will last much longer and you will be able to space out your dye touch-ups.

the dye lasts a month

If you start by trying these easy and basic rules, you will notice how dye in your gray hair will last much longer.

Think for a moment what this would mean, firstly for your hair and, then, for your pocket.

This is because, after all, every time you apply dye to your hair, you use chemicals such as peroxide and ammonia that definitely have a negative effect on your hair.

Whether you like it or not, these ingredients damage your hair. It may not be excessive damage but, dye after dye and more dye, eventually ends up irreversibly damaging the ends and taking away moisture from your hair.

Therefore, if you can avoid coloring your grey hair too often, you will gain in hair health.

In addition, you’ll save money.

It is not the same to touch-up your hair every 15 days than every 30 days. That’s why, if you follow these tips, you will be able to squeeze out more time between salon visits and save a fortune in the meantime.

I invite you to get a calculator. If you currently visit the salon twice a month, that would add up to 24 visits per year. If you change some hair care habits in your colored hair, you will start visiting the salon 12 times per year.

Can you imagine what you could do with all the money you’ll save?

To begin with, you could invest in specific, quality products for colored hair to protect color.

Are you tired of that chocolate dye turning a sad, dull brown and having gray hair roots appearing impertinent and determined?
Does your bright honey hue become a washed out and graceless yellow, splashed by stubborn gray hair that seems indestructible?

It’s time to take the lead on color duration, so that your hair looks beautiful and without grays.

Moreover, even if you have to recolor your gray hair eventually, there are some secrets to extend the color in your gray hair.

Shall we start?

Wait at least 72 hours to wash your hair after coloring it

wait at least 72 hours

The first days after coloring are crucial.

If you do things right those first few days, your color will last longer.
If those first days you do everything wrong and don’t follow your hairdresser’s advice, possibly the color will last less.

Pigments in the dye need that time to hold on properly to the middle layer of the hair, better known as the cortex. Hair cuticles will use that time to close and trap color.

Use your creativity! If you can’t stand the look of your hair being unwashed for 72 hours, you can always wear something up, improvise a bandana or ask your mother for a collector’s hat.

It is your choice: grays covered for longer or washed hair… but with diluted color.

Always use products designed for colored hair

to make the color last longer

Tell me the truth; do you think that products for colored hair are pure marketing?

Well, I’m sorry to discourage your conspiratorial suspicions, but colored hair shampoos and conditioners are actually sulfate and silicone-free.

Those components are responsible for quickly sweeping away the pigments in dyes, changing the tone of your hair and making color look lifeless. That’s why it’s important to choose shampoos and conditioners for colored hair.

Do you need to moisturize your gray hair?

You should also use masks for colored hair.

It is essential that you keep your hair hydrated with these products so that the hair fiber is healthy and can retain pigments longer.

However, it’s very important that you only apply those that are specific for color-treated hair. If you don’t, you’ll have your color wash out faster.

It’s your choice: continue to use any shampoo that makes your grey roots appear faster or invest in a specific product so that they don’t show through so quickly any longer.

Wash your hair less

I don’t know where people get the idea that clean hair is synonymous with hair washed every day.

Firstly, it is not necessary or healthy to wash your hair each day of your life.

In addition, if your hair is colored, this is a huge mistake. Water is the worst enemy of dye. The more you wash it, the more the dye fades. The more the dye fades, the faster your gray hair appears.

It’s crystal clear, pun intended.

In addition, remember that water should be warm or cold, because hot water opens the hair cuticles. If that happens, goodbye pigments and welcome gray hair!

Don’t abuse heat tools

We all like to enjoy sunny days, especially in the summer. However, hair, like skin, needs protection from the harmful effects of ultraviolet rays.

That’s why it’s possible to buy sunscreen these days.

Would you go to the beach without sunscreen?

So, don’t go without your hair protection either. This way, you’ll also be protecting the pigments in your hair color.

And if you forget your hair protection, you can always wear a hat.

Speaking of heat, do you have a blow dryer in your bathroom? And a flat iron?

If you do, hide them! The less you use these heat tools, the longer it will take for your gray roots to show.

And for those occasions when you must use them, heat protectant spray, which will protect your dye from heat damage, while moisturizing hair fiber.