There’s nothing worse than losing your vibrant hair colour between visits to the salon. But the reality is, with all of the elements against you (sun, swimming, washing, styling… just about anything can strip those strands) you’re likely to lose at least a little of your richness between visits. With this in mind we’ve rounded up our top tips for protecting your hair colour.
Brunettes:
To keep your brunette anything but boring it’s essential to keep the deep lustrous colour of your locks. Whether you be a light toffee, a rich caramel or a deep chocolatey brown, your brunette is at risk of losing its luster during the weeks between salon visits. The biggest risk for brunettes is losing shine and the richer notes of your colour.
This can be combatted by using a colour glaze between colourings, such as Jon Frieda Brilliant Brunette Luminous Color Glaze in Chestnut to Espresso ($10). If home colouring, it can be helpful to blend some natural brown base into your colour of choice. This will give your brown extra holding power.
Rescu. Recommends: Dove Colour Radiance Express Treatment Shampoo and Conditioner. These unique products contain a colour revitaliser and UV Filter to keep your colour firmly in place.
Blondes:
Maintaining blonde tresses can be particularly expensive, so it is all the more disappointing when beautiful blonde turns to brass. To protect your blonde you need to limit exposure to damaging elements such as UV rays and chlorine (particularly in the summer, which is when, ironically, many of us choose to go blonde).
Hair can be protected from sunlight using a UV spray, reapplied regularly. For chlorine, a clever trick is to apply a blonde-protecting hair treatment, leave in, and slip a swimming cap over the top – this will protect your tresses while you take a dip.
If styled regularly or over-coloured, blonde hair can become coarse and straw like. Use a restorative mask once a week to keep your hair soft and luscious.
Rescu. Recommends: Marc Daniels Blue Cypress Blonde, a new collection that draws on powerful Blue Cypress Oil to keep your blonde brassless without staining blue or purple.
Redheads:
From flirty strawberry blondes to fiery cherries, red is a colour to be a reckoned with. Redheads are a rarity, so if you’ve chosen this bold shade you’ll want to protect it. Reds are the first shade to disappear after a colouring, so the best approach is to wash red hair less often. It is also important to wait before you wash your hair, allowing a good 24 to 48 hour period between your colouring and the first wash to lock in the tone.
Protecting your hair from sun damage with a hair sun protector or a simple chic hat is a great assistance to reheads. As with blondes and brunettes, colour protecting shampoos, conditioners and treatments are a must.
Rescu. Recommends: Pureology Reviving Red Collection, a range designed especially for the fiery of us, that will keep reds rich throughout the month.
