- When you finish coloring your hair, you have two options.
- You can wash your hair immediately after coloring with a shampoo for colored hair or wait 72 hours.
- If you want a professional tip, it’s best to wait 72 hours to wash your hair to allow the color to settle in.
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Unbelievably, the coloring process doesn’t end when you rinse the dye out of your hair.
It takes 72 hours for the hair to fully absorb the hair dye.
It takes up to three days for the cuticles, which are lifted during coloring, to close and trap the color molecules that give you the vibrant color you crave.
If you wash your hair immediately after coloring, the cuticles that are still open absorb water. So, it reaches the core where the hair dye is located.What happens then?
The color is diluted and will look dull and faded.
That’s what one of my clients discovered. She ignored the advice and washed her hair the day after coloring it at the salon. Why did she wash it?
For the same reasons we all wash our hair: when we feel it dirty.
She also said that her scalp felt terribly itchy, and she couldn’t help scratching it. While she was struggling with that horrible feeling, her cell phone rang. The call was to set up a job interview.
My client had been dreaming of that job for about five months. Imagine her joy!
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At that moment, she didn’t remember my advice not to immediately wash her hair. Instead, she had to wait three days.
So she washed his hair. Result?
She got the job, but she also got a completely faded, washed-out color.
It was the result of immediately washing her hair after coloring it.
What was my client’s first mistake?
First, believing that her hair was dirty.
She had colored it at the salon, and I had made sure that there was no hair dye left in her hair. Then, immediately after coloring it, I shampooed it.
What was my client’s second mistake?
Not waiting three days to shampoo it. On top of that, she used shampoo with sulfates.
So, as a professional, my advice is to avoid shampooing your hair immediately after coloring it.
Coloring hair has its secrets.
And that’s what I’ll talk about next.
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Which shampoo and conditioner should I use three days after coloring my hair?
The characteristics of colored hair are very different from those of uncolored hair.
Therefore, to protect the color, you should change a few things in your hair washing routine.
- To begin with, check the label on your regular shampoo. If you can’t read the phrase “color-treated hair”, it’s time to change shampoo. Why?
Because coloring damages the hair and the cuticle. It means that your hair can appear coarse, dry, and dull.
Shampoos and conditioners for color-treated hair visibly repair the hair surface. They also create a protective barrier that makes hair look shiny and less coarse.
- You can also add a dry shampoo into your hair care routine and use it once a week.
You should apply it only to the roots to absorb excess sebum production that gives you the feeling of having dirty hair.
Also, dry shampoo prevents you from exposing your color-treated hair to water, thus protecting the cuticle and color.
- You can also add a leave-in conditioner for the ends and mid-lengths, which could be dry and broken.
How to care for the color of color-treated hair?
One of the worst enemies of color is water. Of course, as a stylist, I’m never going to recommend that you don’t wash your hair for seven days. No. Everything has to have a certain balance.
If you want the color to last longer, you need to modify your wash routine.
- 72 hours after coloring your hair, you can wash it with shampoo for colored hair.
Then, wrap your hair with a towel to remove the excess.
- The water should be as cold as you can stand it because heat opens the cuticles.
- If you use a flat iron or curling iron, add a serum as a protective barrier because extreme heat could wear away the color.
- Nourish your hair with coconut oil once a week.
Coconut oil is an infallible ally for your color-treated hair. You can even use it as a mask during the night.
Distribute the organic coconut oil evenly from mid-lengths to ends. Then, wrap your hair with a shower cap.
You can watch some of your favorite series on Netflix until you finally fall asleep. The following morning, wash your hair with shampoo for color-treated hair with cool to lukewarm water.
