Hair Care Tips for Colored Hair

Since I mostly receive emails from people regarding hair colors and hair problems, I am putting all the important tips right here to set some basics right, when it comes to colored hair care.

Before we start, let's see the structure of a hair strand.

The outer frilly layer is called the Cuticle. It protects the hair.
The middle layer is the Cortex. It provides strength to the hair
The innermost layer is Medulla. It also provides strength to the hair

HOW DO CHEMICAL HAIR COLORS WORK?

Here I am giving a general explanation. For detailed explanation for each type of chemical hair color, please refer to the article Difference between Permanent, Demi-Permanent, Semi-Permanent and Temporary Hair Colorants.

All chemical hair colors contain PPD (p-phenylenediamine), ammonia and/or resorcinol.

1. When you apply a chemical hair dye/color, the ammonia and/or resorcinol open the cuticles to allow the chemical molecules enter inside the hair.
2. Then a series of reactions take place inside the hair.
3. The PPD reacts with oxygen and gets converted to quinonediimine.
4. Quinonediimine then reacts and couples up with other chemicals in the coloring paste.
5. Finally these coupled molecules again react with oxygen (oxidize) and result in the final color molecule, which is big in size.
6. Being big, the dye/color molecule now cannot escape out of the hair through the open cuticles so these stay inside the hair. Hence the color gets deposited inside the hair shaft (in the middle layer cortex). For temporary, semi and demi-permanent hair colors, the color molecules are partly on the outer layer cuticle and some enter the middle layer Cortex.

HAIR CARE TIPS FOR CHEMICALLY DYED HAIR

1. Do not shampoo your hair for at least 2-3 days before as well as after getting your hair colored. Most saloons tell you to come with freshly washed hair and I have not seen a saloon to date, which does not give a shampoo wash to their clients after hair coloring. BUT this is wrong. Just rinse out the paste till water runs clear and use the conditioner provided with the color/ or your own color protect conditioner.

2. Do NOT ever rinse out the paste with hot water. In winters, you may use slightly warm water. Using hot water may damage and dry your freshly colored hair. Ammonia/ Resorcinol leave the hair cuticles open for the color to enter. Using cool/cold water helps close those cuticles. Your final rinse should always be with cool water.

3. Color treated hair need gentle cleaning. The primary reason for degraded hair quality, hair fall, dry and damaged hair ends and scalp irritation in color-treated hair is chemical overdose. Stop abusing your hair with ordinary shampoos no matter how tall claims they make in TV ads.

If your shampoo has Sodium Laureth Sulphate, Sodium Lauryl Sulphate, Ammonium Laureth Sulphate, Ammonium Lauryl Sulphate etc, it is a sulphates based shampoo. Some of these ingredients can also be derived naturally, however, chemically derived ingredients are cheap, so they are used. For a complete watchout list of chemicals, you can refer to THIS article. Sadly these harmful ingredients are present in kids shampoo too.

4. Use a sulphates free shampoo especially meant for colored hair. Color protect shampoos gently clean your hair and prevent your color from washing out soon. Hence your hair color lasts longer and does not lose its brilliance that soon. I personally use Organic Surge Color Protect Shampoo. This shampoo has restored my hair's health and tamed hair fall. It helped me recover from years of chemically damaged hair. 

I have even tried a Shampoo bar from Soulflower recently but though it is mild, it washes out color. There are many small brands claiming to be sulphates free, all natural or organic, but I don't trust their incomplete ingredient list. Most are drying and under-nourishing for colored hair.

SHIELO is a raved brand in the US for colored hair care and I so want to try it, but it is not available in India. TIGI Bedhead also has some good products, but besides the long list of natural ingredients, their color protect shampoo contains sulphates too.

5. If your hair ends are always dry and look like nylon fibers, and if they tangle really bad after hair wash, it is time you switch to a color protect shampoo. Please understand that sulphates free shampoos don't lather much and it takes a few weeks for your hair to adapt to them. Initially you may not like them but after the adaptation period, you will like your healthy hair.

6. From the emails I receive, I am shocked to learn many people shampoo their hair daily and most do thrice a week. Don't over shampoo your hair. I have explained later, why.

7. If you dye your hair with chemical hair colors, do NOT use Henna for conditioning in between. If you do, the lawsone color molecules of the Henna will not let the chemical hair color lock properly inside the hair. Color will wash out soon. And if your color starts washing out, you will color them more often, increasing your exposure to chemicals.

ENEMIES OF COLORED HAIR

WATER: When your hair get exposed to water while shampooing, during rain or during swimming etc, the hair strands 'swell up' and the cuticles open up by 20%. This allows the dye or color molecules inside your hair to escape out of the hair easily, resulting in color loss and color fading.

CHLORINE: People who swim have additional exposure to Chlorine, which is another enemy of colored hair. Chlorine may cause the color molecules inside your hair to split and become smaller. Smaller molecules and already expanded cuticles will let the color wash out even easier. So your color will be affected badly by both water and chlorine if you don't cover your hair.

SUN EXPOSURE: Exposure to harsh sun rays may again break the bonding in the final color molecule (explained above). So the color molecule may either lose its color or split into smaller molecules which can easily escape out of hair. This will cause both color fading and brilliance loss. 

Never expose colored hair to harsh sun rays directly. Use a head gear: Dupatta/ Bandana/ Cap etc to cover your hair. There are many stylish scarves and beanie caps available in the market easily or else, just learn to get creative with a scarf or bandana to protect your colored hair without compromising on your fashion sense.

OTHER FACTORS: Harsh hair styling products full of chemicals and pollution have the same effect on your colored hair. These can also disintegrate the dye molecule causing a loss in both color and brilliance/shine.

That's why hair care products or color protect shampoos rich in fruit extracts and high antioxidants can prevent color fade. Sulphate free shampoos are quite milder than foaming ones. They don't open up your cuticles much, so color fading slows down considerably.

If you can't figure out which hair natural products to use, try out Argan oil which has anti-oxidant properties and it also seals the cuticles left open by your hair color. Please don't use it a few days before coloring your hair, use only as an after treatment.

Hope you find these tips helpful and can now take better care of your color-treated hair. Appreciate your comments and feedback.

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