Annie’s Advice: How to Maintain Vivid Colors at Home
Vivid hair colors have a reputation for being super high-maintenance - and while they can be, they don’t have to be! Here’s how to more easily keep your color looking fresh in between salon visits:
Wash with Cool Water
Cool or cold water helps prevent the cuticle (where vivid colors live in the hair strand) from opening more than necessary. Now, you don’t have to take freezing cold showers for the sake of your hair color - unless you’re into that (some say it’s good for you, but I’m not one of them). That said, cooler water is especially important if you have both light and dark colors in your hair, as it helps prevent darker shades from bleeding onto lighter ones.
Use a Non-Detergent-Based Shampoo
Detergent-based shampoos are designed to get your hair squeaky clean - which isn’t necessarily a good or bad thing. If, like me, you grew up thinking squeaky clean was the gold standard, it’s time for a reframe. Our skin and scalp need some of the natural oils we produce to maintain what’s called the acid mantle - a protective layer that helps keep our scalp balanced and healthy.
“Your scalp has an acid mantle (a thin protective layer of fats and amino acids), which means it functions best in a lower, more acidic pH range. Like your hair, your scalp likes to have an optimum range of 4.5 to 5.5. A healthy scalp microbiome thrives in this environment. When the pH is raised too high, it disrupts this protective layer and can encourage the growth of unwanted microorganisms.
Our microbiomes are fascinating and incredibly important to overall human health. We’re just beginning to uncover all the amazing ways it supports us, and one thing is becoming clear: it’s best not to disturb it, let it do its thing.
Think of the microbiome as a garden. The more diverse and full your garden is, the healthier it becomes. But if your good, healthy plants start to die off, that space gets filled by weeds (or, harmful microorganisms).”
Using a co-wash, like New Wash from Hairstory, cleanses your hair and scalp without over-stripping, leaving your natural oils intact and helping to maintain the acid mantle. This also slows down how quickly your color fades.
“New Wash cleans hair with a custom blend of essential oils and gentle, naturally derived saturated cleansers that also help balance your scalp’s natural oil production.”
Wash Less Often
Stretching out the time between washes helps preserve your color and supports overall scalp health.
Use dry shampoo in between washes. My hair gets super oily quickly so I like to apply my dry shampoo right after I blow dry my hair.
We fucking love Cult + King’s Hair Powder for this - ask us about it in the salon!
Try low-maintenance styles like buns, braids, ponytails, or hats.
Focus washing on areas that actually get oily or dirty (usually the roots).
Color Conditioners
Refreshing your color at home - especially if you have one or two shades - isn’t as hard as you might think (though it can be messy). A quick color conditioner applied right before your shower (let it sit while you do the rest of your routine) can stretch the time between color appointments.
We can make you a custom color conditioner that matches your exact shade! Ask us about it next time you’re in the shop!
A few tips:
Wear gloves
Keep bleach cleaner handy - especially for darker shades, which can and will stain everything
Protect your surfaces
Celeb Luxury also has some decent color conditioners in a handful of shades. Check those out here.
A quick word of caution:
Vivid colors are fun, bold, and expressive - but they bleed. Towels, pillowcases, and shirts are all fair game. I keep designated hair towels and use black pillowcases. Dry your hair before letting it touch your clothes, and just know: a few casualties to the hair gods are sometimes the price of great color.
TL;DR:
Wash with the coldest water you can handle
Use New Wash: not detergent based shampoo
Wash as little as possible, focus on your roots. Use dry shampoo
Refresh color with a conditioner like Celeb Luxury or a custom one from us
Be ready for things to stain (like… everything)
It’s a known fact that people with vivid hair color are cooler than everyone else
