If I had to sum up all these doubts and fears in one sentence, it would be this:
How do I keep my hair color alive?
In this article I will answer these doubts and try to dispel these fears.
"Isn't it that with the first shampoo your hair goes back to being white?"
If you have used herbal dyes with awareness and have therefore used lawsonia (alone or in a dye mix) to cover your gray hair , I assure you that once the lawsone (the dye molecule of lawsonia) binds with the keratin present in the keg, it never goes away. So whites will always be colored.
And it is more than normal that after 7-10 days you start to see the new white regrowth. White hair has a faster growth rate than pigmented hair and usually after 10-15 days half a centimeter of regrowth is more than normal to be visible.
Read: Even hair ages
"But is it true that then the henna drains with the shampoos and I find myself red?"
All dyeing herbs discharge over time ( although never completely! ) precisely because they don't penetrate inside the stem like chemical dyes do but rest on the hair , dyeing it tone on tone.
Given this, if the vegetable pigment is stratified and you have therefore made more than one dye application to obtain a medium-dark or black brown , the pigment will fade with washing but you will never find red and/or coppery lengths .
How can I be sure?
When I had long hair, beyond my shoulder blades, I only colored the white regrowth for years , without applying dye mixes even on the lengths for months . Simply because the color remained dark thanks to the stratification I had done every 15 - 20 days during the regrowth phase and the delicate cleansing products that helped preserve the colour.
Obviously, if the lengths have been chemically treated / bleached and therefore are very porous, the pigment will tend to discharge with the same intensity and ease with which the shaft tends to absorb it.
In this case, monthly applications with a mix of herbal dyes will be necessary. Or, they will be needed as soon as you notice that the dark pigment has faded and you no longer like the shade of your lengths.
Read also: Bleached hair: the precautions to keep in mind
"When I shampoo, does the color fade and the hair become dull?"
Without a shadow of a doubt , colored hair needs treatments and cleansing products
- protect and fix the color longer e
- that perform a "nourishing" and moisturizing function that contributes to making them soft and luminous.
Frequent washing, the sun, salt but also chlorine and other environmental factors affect the state of the colored hair shaft, stressing it and accelerating the color fading process.
In addition, the vegetable pigment of dyeing herbs is much more delicate than the synthetic pigments used in chemical dyes precisely because it colors tone on tone and envelops the stem. So you are much more likely to download more easily.
Therefore, to keep colored hair shiny and in shape, it is necessary to follow some precautions that I will list below.
Rebalance the pH of the foliage
It's important rebalance the pH of the scalp and hair with a re-acidifying shampoo, not only to restore the physiological pH of the scalp, but also to recompact the scales of the hair And fix the pigment.
As you may already know, I always recommend using diluted eco-bio shampoo after the dye pack or one of the Beautilicious Delights shampoos from the Color Protect line to be able to remove any residue left on the skin.
Using only water it is easy for residues to remain on the scalp and subsequently cause irritation and itching.
The SIDR used as a shampoo 4 days after the dye pack carries out a mordant action on the stem, favoring the fixation of the dark pigment.
How to choose the right shampoo?
As always, I consulted our friend, Dr. trichologist Francesca Esposito Amendola
As we know , shampoo is a cleansing cosmetic whose primary function is to remove dirt from the scalp and hair.
In fact, inside the shampoo we find surfactants, molecules that have the ability to bind to dirt and remove it from the skin with rinsing.
But surfactants are not all the same.
In fact, there are primary surfactants - alkyl sulfates (e.g.: Sodium lauryl sulfate, TEA-lauryl sulfate), which while washing well, they are particularly degreasing.
Their action also affects the hair fiber and also the hydrolipidic film, the mixture of hydrophilic and lipidic substances which naturally protect the scalp.
Secondary surfactants (eg: Sodium cocoil isethionate, Sodium lauroyl sarcosinate) instead have a lower degreasing capacity but guarantee greater respect for the hair fiber.
In the case of colored hair, the choice of shampoo should be made based on the action of the secondary surfactants which, while carrying out their action, contribute to maintaining the color .
Functional substances to keep hair color alive
In this regard, the shampoo for colored hair is based on functional substances with a moisturizing and emollient action and also on antioxidant ingredients which slow down the oxidation of the pigment, helping to slow down the fading of the colour.
Maintaining hydration in the treatment of colored hair is of fundamental importance, in this regard the advice is to use moisturizing conditioners and masks, usually based on vegetable oils and butters and enriched with proteins.
Yes, you read that right: the same hydrolysed proteins essential for having lioness hair also play a fundamental role in maintaining a brighter color for longer.
An in-depth study dedicated to proteins can be found in this article dedicated to how to get more volume .
Here is a short list of the functional substances that we usually find in shampoos formulated to keep hair color alive:
- Coconut oil, one of the few vegetable oils capable of enveloping and penetrating the hair fiber at the same time
- Argan oil, Argania spinosa oil, used for its emollient, hydrating, elasticising and antioxidant properties. It is rich in vitamin E.
- Linseed oil (Linum usitatissimum oil) has an emollient action and gives shine and softness to the hair.
- Wheat germ oil (Triticum vulgare oil) With a film-forming and moisturizing action, it counteracts the dryness of the stem and helps to keep the cuticle intact.
Among the vitamins , B5 (Panthenol) and vit E (Tocopherol) are used, which give the right degree of hydration to the hair, preventing dryness and fragility of the stem, especially in the presence of colored hair.
Among the hydrolysed proteins, silk, wheat, rice, soy or quinoa proteins are used. In Beautilicious Delights Color Protect shampoos and conditioners, all these proteins work in synergy with green walnut and chestnut hydrolyzate as well as various botanical active ingredients to protect the pigment and to strengthen the stem and make it more and more beautiful wash after wash.
Protect the hair from the heat
If you have a habit of using the hair dryer to dry your hair, make sure that the temperature is set to "medium heat" and if you use straighteners, remember to use a heat protectant before drying, usually a mixture of vegetable oils and/or silicones which has the purpose of creating a barrier that protects the hair shaft like a sheath, shielding it from the action of heat, precisely preserving the color of the hair.
Avoid alcohol-based styling products
Many styling products such as gels, mousses and waxes have alcohol as the main ingredient. Unfortunately alcohol dries and weakens the cuticle and eliminates that bond that prevents pigments from escaping.
As you will have seen firsthand, it is essential to choose products specifically formulated to protect and preserve hair color and its nuances with full awareness.
For now I'll stop here. Obviously, if you have other advice or suggestions, thank you if you want to leave them in the comments area so that they will be useful to those who stop to read this article.
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Rozalia & the Beautilicious Delights Team.