Achieving the perfect flattering hair colour—whether it’s a buttery blonde or a rich red—is no easy feat. Sometimes it takes multiple visits to your hairdresser or a couple of sessions in your bathroom with boxed dye to get your hair colour just where you want it. After investing all that time and energy on your strands, it’s essential to maintain your mane, and the environment in which your hair exists is just one of the many factors that can strip away your hair colour. Thankfully there are a few key tweaks and hair treatments you can add to your hair care routine that will keep your hair colour going the distance. Whether it’s the sun, pollution or bone-chilling temps that’s leaving your hair drab and colour-stripped, here are five key pointers to help keep your hair colour looking its best.
Arming yourself with a colour-protecting shampoo and conditioner is one of the most effective ways to prevent your beautiful hair colour from getting zapped by the elements. L’Oréal Paris Color Radiance Shampoo and Conditioner for Colored Hair acts as a shield on coloured hair to keep your hue on your head and prevent it from getting washed down the drain. This power duo will prolong your hair dye job while adding a healthy dose of shine to your locks. To prolong your colour and maintain your new hue, swap out your go-to shampoo and conditioner for a colour-specific formula as soon as you step out of your hairdresser’s chair.
While elements like the sun, wind and heat can take a toll on your hair colour, water is another one that can affect your shade. Frequent hair washing exposes your mane to water, but that’s not always a good thing. The water in your shower may be packed with minerals that can negatively impact your hair—more specifically your hair colour. Whether your water is stripping your red hair color or turning your blonde brassy, the more you expose your mane to water, the more damage it can do. Try to cut back on your lather, rinse and repeat sessions and spritz on a hair care products for colored hair like L’Oréal Paris Magic Invisible Dry Shampoo Fresh Crush to absorb excess oil between washes.
Healthy, hydrated hair holds on to colour better than dry, damaged hair, so keeping your locks in top-notch shape will go a long way toward keeping your hair colour intact. When your hair is weak, it absorbs colour easily but loses it just as quickly. To boost the strength of your strands, sub in a deep-conditioning treatment once a week to help protect your hair against damaging elements. Before reaching for the dye, try applying the L’Oréal Paris Total Repair 5 Replenishing Hair Mask; it contains cicamide and pro-keratin to nourish and repair damaged hair, which will, in turn, help it to stay put for the long haul.
One of the easiest ways to protect your hair colour from the elements is to wear a hat. During the summer especially, the sun can wreak havoc on your hair as damaging UV rays strip out the dye and zap moisture. Blondes in particular have a hard time keeping their hair from turning brassy in the summer, so a hat can make a world of difference in maintaining a flaxen mane. The next time you hit the beach (or even the streets), throw a wide-brimmed hat in your bag to pop on when you’re out soaking up some sun. Your hair will thank you.
In addition to wearing a hat, there’s another way to protect your hair against colour-stripping damaging UV rays. While there are leave-in conditioners that you can spray onto wet strands to provide sun protection for hair colour, get that same protection in the shower by using a UV filter shampoo and hair conditioner. L’Oréal Paris Color Radiance Conditioner and Shampoo for Colored Hair protects each strand from environmental aggressors and adds a colour-protecting UV filter to your mane to shield it from the harmful sun. This formula provides a quick and easy fix for maintaining your hair colour during the summer months and doesn’t require an additional step in your hair care routine to get results.
