How to Keep Your Hair Color Longer - 5 Easy Ways

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By lucyvphd
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Keep Your Hair Color Longer - 5 Easy Ways

Hate having to keep coloring your hair, or going to the salon to get it colored? Not only is it a pain, but it is expensive and time-consuming as well. Here are 5 easy tips on getting your hair color to last longer.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Your favorite hair color
Rinse-out conditioner
Leave-in conditioner
Shampoo for color-treated hair

Step 1

Cool it!
The first and easiest thing you want to remember about making your hair color last, is to always use cool water (as cool as your can use without it being uncomfortable) on your hair when shampooing, rinsing, conditioning, etc. It is best to use even cooler water when rinsing. Any kind of heat can damage your hair, which leads me to my next tip...
Step 2

Air Dry
Try not to use your hair dryer, flat iron, or any other heated styling tools anymore than necessary, and just let your hair air dry whenever possible. These styling tools can damage your hair and make your color fade faster.
Step 3

Wait!
As most hair colors suggest, it is best to wait 24 hours or so after shampooing your hair to apply hair color, and then to wait 24-48 hours after applying hair color, to shampoo your hair. The natural oils in your hair help the color to stick better and to hold up longer. Don't shampoo your hair every single day if you don't have to. It is good to build up some oils in your hair even well into your color.
Step 4

Condition, Condition, Condition
Always condition your hair with rinse out conditioner, as well as leave in conditioner. I like to use spray-on leave in conditioner like Thermasilk Detangler Leave-in Conditioner. It also helps to use the once-a-week conditioner that you get with the hair color, if you do your own hair color.
Step 5

Treat Your Color
Use shampoos that are made specifically for color-treated hair. These are designed to make your hair color last and you can often find shampoos that are designed for blonde, brunette, and red hair.