Except for a month of brunettes, I’ve been blonde my whole life. Granted, I’m a darker blonde, but in recent years I’ve dyed my hair a light blonde (almost white). Well, I love being blonde (blonde is more fun, right?!?), but it definitely comes with a lot of grooming. Mainly because I like ash blondes…brassy hair is not my thing!
Over the past few years, I’ve learned a lot about how to take care of light blonde hair, so I wanted to give you some tips on how to protect yours and keep your color looking fresh!
Shielding Your Color
Environmental factors play an important role in the durability of hair color. If you like to be on the lighter side, consider investing in a water softener for your shower. Alternatively, you can rinse your hair with bottled water or a fresh pitcher from your sink strainer. Hard water (or mineral-rich water) can change color, especially if it’s lighter in color.
When it comes to discoloration, sun exposure is also a culprit. No one wants to hide their beautiful style indoors! So enjoy the great outdoors and do some preparations to protect your new business. Invest in a good quality sunscreen for your hair. You can simply spray most products on dry hair before venturing out into the Colorado sun.
Stay away from shampoos that contain sodium chloride
Melissa Franco, a 10-year hairdresser and owner of EmberRose Salon in Silicon Valley, recommends avoiding shampoos that contain sodium chloride. Studies have shown that shampoos containing sodium chloride can cause severe color fading when color-treated hair is used.
Do not confuse sodium chloride with sulfate. Sodium chloride is the scientific name for salt.
Wash your hair with purple shampoo
Squeeze a bouquet of purple shampoo into your hand and brush your ash blonde hair. Rub into roots and work product throughout hair. This product will help maintain the cool tone of your hair and keep it from looking too shiny.
If your hair tends to be brassy, look for a shampoo with blue undertones.
You can find purple shampoo at most stores that sell beauty products.
Away from the pool
Melissa also explains that chlorine can cause hair to fade and lose color. Chlorine is a chemical added to swimming pools to help disinfect the water and make swimming safe. It is also not recommended to completely submerge the hair in water.
If you must submerge your hair in water, wet it with clean water before entering a lake, pool, ocean, or any body of water that is not a shower. Your hair is like a sponge. It can only hold so much water. If you fill it with good water, it won’t be able to absorb as much bad water.
Wash your hair less
In the past, our hair was never washed every day. In fact, liquid shampoo wasn’t invented until 1927. Our scalps don’t actually produce enough oil to constantly strip away their natural oils. When you degrease, your scalp actually goes into panic mode and produces excess oil to compensate.
So when you wash oil out of your hair, you’re actually washing away your beautiful color (and money) while making your hair greasy.
Buy a shower filter
Have you ever wondered where the word brassy came from? Yes. Minerals in water. The reality is that unless you buy a brand new house and change your filters all the time, you’ll have mineral-filled pipes through which water must flow to reach your shower head.
Test your water to see what you have so you can buy the filter you need to properly filter minerals from your water. Different filtration technologies filter out different types of minerals, so it’s important to know what’s in your water.
Get Salon Treatments
Get a salon treatment to keep your hair as strong and healthy as possible. Stronger hair with color retention. Lightly damaged dry hair will fade quickly. Keep this in mind the next time your stylist offers you a moisturizing or restorative treatment. Ideally, you can alternate between the two to keep your hair looking its best.
try bottled water
Kryz Uy, a beauty expert from the Philippines, recommends using filtered water instead of rinsing your hair straight out of the shower. She recommends using water from a sink filter to remove minerals in the water that can cause hair color loss. Alternatively, you can use bottled water, but this may not be as cost-effective as using filtered water. Bonus Tip: Use cool water when wetting or rinsing hair.
