With so many amazing, vibrant colours available, who wouldn’t want locks that resemble an exquisite unicorn mane?
A couple of weeks ago, we talked about how to safely take your hair to a healthy platinum blonde which opens a world of potential colour options. Once we’ve ensured your hair is still in great condition after the lightening process… The fun can begin!
This week we wanted to give you our best tips for maintaining your colour of choice in between salon visits, so you can keep turning heads with your unicorn mane for as long as possible!
Unlike blonde or brunette, pastels & brighter colours require a little more TLC. Starting with quality hair colour products at the salon will ensure that your hair will be in top condition, but it’s so important you take the same approach to your home haircare routine.
The following are some of our best tips for maintaining your colour in between salon visits:
1. Say no to SLS
Speak to any hairdresser and they’ll talk about SLS like it’s their worst enemy. But what exactly IS it and why do hairdressers hate it so much?
SLS is short for Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, which is commonly used as an additive to create lather in hair care products. They’re essentially a detergent, designed to cleanse the hair meaning they can cause hair colours to fade prematurely & potentially cause irritation to sensitive scalps.
To protect the integrity of all our clients’ hair, we stick to the best quality salon-grade products, including Olaplex, NAK & Label M, which are all free from sulfates & filler ingredients.
Salon shampoos and conditioners can be expensive, but due to their concentration only a small dime-sized amount is needed and depending on how much hair you have, bottles can often last up to three months! Don’t compromise the strength of your hair by going cheap on your hair care products, as tempting as it may be. Cheaper shampoos and conditioners may also contain other ingredients such as alcohol and silicones which can damage and weigh down hair.
2. Dry shampoo is your BFF
Get acquainted… Dry shampoo is going to be your best friend! The less washing, the less colour will be stripped from the hair. We recommend washing no more than twice a week with cold or lukewarm water and using dry shampoo in between washes when it feels necessary.
Why cold water? Cold water will massively increase the longevity of your colour, so if you can’t stand it for the whole washing & conditioning process, then at the very least give your hair a cold rinse at the end.
A few spritzes of dry shampoo on oiler sections of the scalp with help absorb some of the natural oil that can accumulate during the day.
Using heat tools like hair dryers and hair straighteners will also strip colour at a quicker rate, so if you must use them, make sure that they are on a low heat setting and a quality heat protectant is used to protect the colour & integrity of your hair.
3. #TreatYourself
The lightening and colouring process can weaken the moisture barrier around each strand of hair, so treating your hair to a weekly masque or leave in treatment is essential for maintaining hydration & health the weeks after. All it takes is a quick 5-minute colour-safe hair masque in the shower while washing your face or body.
So there you have it – may your colours stay vibrant & your hair stay strong! If all these steps are sounding like too much work, don’t worry – there are still lots of different ways we can help you mix up your look which don’t require as much maintenance. Just ask us one of our experts next time you drop in!
Give us a call on (02) 9907 2624 to book yourself a touch-up or click HERE to book online this week.