Hair Dying Tips

You’ve picked the color, you’ve picked the dye, and now you have a brand new look. The most effective way to keep your hair color from fading is to pick up a great hair dye shampoo and conditioner combination. A standard shampoo can end up washing out your color, or make it fade. Getting a top hair color shampoo and conditioner will prolong the lifespan of your new hair color.

Shampoos and conditioners that are designed for color-treated hair are made by many hair care product brands, and can range from the drugstore to salon price. To get the salon hair care level at a drugstore price, try the Matrix hair color line’s Biolage Colorcaretherapie shampoo and conditioner, which will fight fading with natural proteins that enhances your hair’s brilliance. Another well-reviewed brand is John Frieda’s collection, which is designed toward the three main hair color groups: blonde, brunette, and red.

A salon line at the top of product reviews is Redken’s Color Extend line, which strengthens and coats your hair for color protection. When hunting around your local drugstore, look for shampoos and conditioners that say sulfate-free, which means that they lack a sulfate that can dry hair out. When you first look for the best shampoo and conditioner line for your dyed hair, try out the sample sizes to help your decision-making process. Also consider asking a hair professional because they have already tried out hundreds of products, and are happy to recommend their favorite ones.

Though changing your hair is a great way of changing your overall look, always keep in mind the damage this can do. If your hair starts to lose its healthy silkiness, you’ll want to give it a hand with some deep conditioning. But even before that, keep these tips in mind when you want to dye your hair without drying it out:

• Choosing your hair dye – Look for hair dye that conditions at the same time. L’Oreal Paris has one of the best hair dyes for dry damaged hair, with the Feria hair color line that is made with a deep conditioning formula. Each dye comes with a conditioner in the box that you use immediately after dying to make your hair feel soft and silky, so you don’t have to worry about drying out your hair as you dye it. If you’re really worried about damaging your hair, avoid hair dyes with ammonia in them, which can cause the most damage. Lastly, a general rule of thumb is that the closer you stay to your natural hair color, the less damage you will cause when dying your hair.
• Daily care for your hair – Unless necessary, do not shampoo your hair every day. You don’t have to forgo your daily shower, but shampooing removes the natural oils your scalp produces to keep your hair silky smooth and healthy. Look for shampoos that are protein enriched, or keep your hair out of the water with a shower cap every other day.
• Treat your hair – Use a special deep conditioner once a week to keep your hair at its healthiest. If your hair is already damaged, up this treatment to two or three times a week until your hair feels moisturized again. If you plan to spend a lot of time in the sun, use leave-in conditioner that will act as a protective barrier between your hair and the harmful damage of the sun’s rays.
• Drying methods matter – If you allow your hair to air dry, it will stay healthy longer. Heat from hair dryers, curling irons, and flat irons will damage your hair as they dry it. If you must use a blow dryer to style your hair while it’s wet, try to keep it on the lowest heat setting.

If all else fails, cut it off. Your hair often becomes damaged from the tips up, so getting a new haircut will make your hair feel healthier again because it cuts off the worst of the damage.

When deciding what color to dye your hair, you’ll also want to keep in mind whether you want it a solid color or with highlights. Many people just highlight streaks or the tips of their hair for a refreshing change to their current look, in order to use fewer chemicals and cause less damage to their hair. Others prefer all-over hair dye products that come with highlights in them. No matter what you’re looking for, the Kao Liese hair color line is one of the top hair dyes for highlights and will have just what you want.

Their Chunking dye will give you bold chunks of highlights. Want an edgier look with colored streaks? Check out their Colour Rays dyes in colors like purple or red. The best all-in-one dye at home product is their Couleur Experte line, which gives you both a permanent base color as well as highlights in one kit. These shades are coordinated to give you the look of a salon dye job at a more affordable price.

Any chemical processing can damage hair, which is particularly important to remember when doing more than one chemical process. This is even more important to keep in mind when dying African-American hair, which can be naturally drier than other hair types. Here are some tips to keep in mind when dying African-American hair:

• Use deep conditioners. These conditioners are good to use before and after getting your hair dyed. They’ll help add proteins and other helpful things that chemicals strip away. Deep conditioners are a great way to keep hair moisturized.
• Space out your hair processes. Do not immediately follow one chemical process with another—especially when it comes to dying your hair. This will only strip your hair’s health away further. Try to space out heavily chemical processes, like relaxers and dyes, about two weeks apart so you don’t turn your hair to hay.
• Beware ammonia or peroxide in your dyes. When dying your hair, avoid dyes that have ammonia or peroxide, as these are two of the most harmful chemicals in hair dye. Natural dyes are a great way to change your hair color without damage.
• Choose semi-permanent over permanent dye. Permanent dyes use more chemicals in order to penetrate your hair strands. Semi-permanent will give you a different hair color, while causing less damage. You may have to dye your hair once a month with your semi-permanent color, but it is less harsh on your luscious locks. You could also try natural hair dyes, like henna hair dye, which are safest but only come in a limited range of color.

So you used a permanent hair dye? This means the color won’t come out until it’s cut out or dyed over. This also means that as your hair grows back, your roots will be your natural hair color while the rest of your hair will be your dye color. If you don’t like that idea, follow these tips on how to do hair dye touch ups.

Your best bet is in the planning stages. Some brands of hair dye also sell separate touch up kits for any of their color options. One example of this is the touch-up kit made by the Naturtint hair color line. This particular line also says that it can match any shade of any brand, even salon color, so you can give this a try even if you didn’t use a Naturtint dye to begin with.

Once you’ve picked the dye that best matches the color you want, and are ready to touch up your hair dye, start by testing the dye. Test it on a patch of skin to make sure you won’t have an allergic reaction to the dye. To achieve the best color match, do a strand test: cut some of your hair from roots that are generally not seen, tape them together while keeping the roots exposed, cover this test section completely, and check it as it is dyed. Keep track of the time, until the color closest to the root is the same as the rest of the strand. This is how long you’ll want to do the touch up on the rest of your hair, so make sure you note the time.

Bleaching your hair at home can be one of the most damaging processes you could put your ’do through. Think this over carefully before deciding to try this at home, as it is safer to have a hair professional bleach your hair. If you decide to make your hair lighter than it naturally is, and you want to do this from home, your healthiest option is to purchase a bleaching kit and follow the directions. Many people, however, would rather save their money and bleach it themselves with hydrogen peroxide. Below are some preparation tips you should consider when bleaching your hair.

Before bleaching, make sure you’re using a great conditioner or deep conditioning regularly beforehand, to protect your hair. If your hair has color in it already, remove the existing color before bleaching. Well in advance, test a patch of skin for an allergic reaction, and some strands you’ve cut from your hair. The night before bleaching your hair, wash it and use leave-in conditioner. Make sure you have a pair of rubber gloves and some towels and clothing that you wouldn’t mind getting bleach on. You can also put some Vaseline on the skin by your hair roots to keep the peroxide from staining your skin. With all of this done, you’re now ready to bleach your hair! Work your way from tips to roots, keeping it off your skin as much as possible. Follow the bleach kit directions exactly to avoid unwanted results.

The first thing to keep in mind is that if you have pain or redness after washing the bleach out, see a doctor. Bleach is harmful, and it’s best to have your hair bleached by a hair professional. Another thing you’ll want to keep in mind after bleaching is to stay out of pools. Chlorine in pools can turn your bleached hair into unwanted colors. Now that the damage of bleaching is done, you’ll want to remember these words: condition, condition, condition.

The best products to help with your hair bleaching damage are different types of conditioners. Especially if your hair feels like hay, you’ll want to use a deep conditioner every other day, as well as your normal conditioner, until it feels healthier. You can then reduce your deep conditioner use to once a week to maintain the moisture in your hair. Two more products that help fix hair damage caused by bleaching: a leave-in conditioner and a restorative mask for your hair. With the use of various types of conditioners, your hair will be feeling moisturized in no time.

When dying your hair, one of the first questions you’ll want to ask yourself is: will you be using a temporary hair dye or a permanent hair dye? Hair dye can be one of three general types: temporary, semi-permanent, and permanent. Consider the following tips and information before making your next decision about which hair dye to use:

• Consider the way your hair will grow out while it is dyed. Choosing a permanent dye like Clairol Color Sunwashed blonde means that your natural hair color will start growing back in at the roots, which can be distracting if you choose a drastically different color than your natural hair. A semi-permanent dye will fade gradually as it is shampooed repeatedly—water by itself will not wash out the color.
• Keep your hair’s health in mind. Permanent dyes are the most dangerous for the health of your hair, as over-processing with chemicals will make your hair dry to the point of breaking. If you plan to use a permanent hair dye, go to a hair professional who will maintain your hair’s health at the same time. If you plan to do it yourself, your best bet is to use semi-permanent or temporary dye, which is less damaging.
• A third thing to consider when picking your dye type is how often your hair will encounter water. If you swim often or expect to be in the rain, avoid temporary hair dye. This usually comes as a spray on hair dye, which is good for a short time of a fun color, but can wash out with just water. Semi-permanent dye like Manic Panic temporary hair dye and permanent dye penetrates the hair instead of sitting on top of it, so both types are safe when submerged in water.
• Here is the breakdown of a general shampoo guide for hair dyes. Permanent hair dye does fade slightly and new roots grow in, but the dye chemicals do not wash out of your hair and the color will stay until it is cut away. Semi-permanent hair dye will not wash off with just water, but can wash out within six to ten shampoos. Temporary dye sits on top of your hair strands, so it can wash off with just water and will usually wash completely out with one to three shampoos. Remember that these time and wash estimates will vary due to many factors: the brand of dye you use, how different it is from your natural hair color, whether you do touch-ups, what type of shampoo you use, etc. Read on to find out more.

Unfortunately, permanent or semi-permanent hair dye can cause an allergic reaction in some women. This reaction can vary from simply an itchy irritation to hair loss, which is why it’s important to test the hair dye before applying it to your scalp. Your scalp is what has the reaction, not your hair follicles, so test out the dye on a small patch of skin to see if you’ll have an allergic reaction to the chemicals.

If you are allergic, the best non allergic hair dyes to use are natural dyes. The most popular is henna hair dye, which is made from the leaves of a henna plant. Be aware of the type of henna hair dye you buy, because it varies from 100% natural henna to henna that is blended with other chemicals or salts. Again, you’ll want to test the dye before applying it. Make sure to use a moisturizing shampoo like Dabur Vatika henna cream conditioning shampoo to make your color lost longer.

If you want to recolor your hair after using henna, be sure to test your new hair dye on some of the hairs from your hairbrush. A henna and chemical blend, when dyed again with an all-chemical hair dye, will sometimes turn green or another unwanted color, so it’s very important that you test this before applying it. Some henna hair dye can even be good for your hair, adding strength and thickness with multiple uses.

Dying your hair is an easy way to change your look. Whether you decided to have a hair professional dye your hair or do it yourself at home, you want to prevent your hair dye from fading. Follow these tips below to keep your new hair color as long as possible:

• Considering the type of hair dye you pick is the first step to the duration of your new hair color. Temporary dye only lasts for one to three shampoos—also be aware that it can wash off with just water. Semi-permanent dye can wash out with about six to ten washes with shampoo. Permanent dye does not wash out, but will fade until it is cut out.
• Keep your color choice in mind. The closer you stay to your natural hair color, the easier it will be to maintain. A good rule of thumb is to stay within three shades of your natural hair color. If you decide to go for a drastic color change, you’ll have to work harder at keeping your new ’do.
• Be conscientious about how much your hair is exposed to the sun and chlorine. These two elements will bleach your hair, so the color fades faster. You can cover your hair to protect it, with a hat and a swim cap. Also consider getting a chlorine filter for your shower, which is an easy way to keep your hair color longer.
• Since shampoo is one of the leading reasons your hair color fades, try using a shampoo and conditioner that is designed for color-treated hair. These come in either drugstore brands or salon brands, like the Redken hair color line.