How to Stop Brown Hair Color from Turning Red

Brown hair tends to turn brassy when color fades.

Whether you color your hair brown to cover your grays or to enhance your natural hair color, it's a great choice. Brown hair is fairly easy to maintain and coloring at home is more or less goof-proof.
The most common complaint is that color-treated brown hair turns reddish or brassy. That is usually a result of either not choosing the right hair coloring product or daily hair care products. Here is what you can do to keep your brown hair looking beautiful.

Instructions

1. 

   When choosing a hair color product, choose cool or neutral shades. They are usually represented by letters A and N following the hair color number. The color names for cool shades will have words like cool or ash in them. For instance, Clairol has colors like Medium Ash Brown (5A) and Lightest Cool Brown (6.5A).
   Avoid colors with names that have gold, auburn or warm in them. While the hair might look good right after coloring, it tends to turn brassy when the color fades a bit.

2. 

   Use shampoos and conditioners that are designated for color-treated hair. Other shampoos, especially cheap shampoos, have ingredients that strip the color down, and for brown hair make brassy undertones to surface.
   There are tons of good products on the market to choose from. Redken Color Extend is an excellent product although a bit pricey. John Frieda's Brilliant Brunette is a good cheaper alternative.
   If you are willing to spend more money, try Aveda's Clove shampoo and conditioner. It's made with natural ingredients, organically grown clove and coffee, which enhance brown hair color beautifully.

3. 

   If you live in an area where water is very hard, you may have mineral deposits accumulating on your hair and scalp. Hard water minerals such as calcium, magnesium, iron, copper, and led, can affect hair color greatly. If your brown hair color is turning red very quickly, this might be the culprit. To remedy this, look for shampoo that contains chelates - compounds that can capture the minerals mentioned above. Kenra Clarifying Shampoo is one such product, and it is also color safe. You might be able to use a clarifying shampoo once a week or so and still maintain nice color.

4. As with any color-treated hair, don't wash it every day unless you have to. Do it twice a week or every other day. It really does help to make hair color last longer.

5. 

   When in the sun, wear a hat or use a hair sunscreen product such as Redken - UV Rescue Brunette Guard. Remember, UV rays love to break apart hair dye molecules, and if you don't protect your hair, your hair color will most definitely fade.

6. 

   If you want to show even more love for your brown hair color, use a product that deposits some color in between colorings. Try John Frieda's Brilliant Brunette Color Glaze - it can be a bit messy to use, but it does work very well.

Resources

• Redken Color Extend Shampoo & Conditioner Liter 2pk
• Redken - UV Rescue Brunette Guard
• Kenra Clarifying Shampoo
• John Frieda's Color Glaze Brilliant Brunette
• Aveda Clove Shampoo
• How to Choose Brown Hair Color