Caring for Colour-Treated Hair Between Salon Visits

Colour does not so much wear off as wash out. Every wash swells the hair shaft slightly and lets pigment escape. Most of what extends the life of a colour service comes down to washing less aggressively, less often, and in cooler water.

Wait before the first wash

Give fresh colour at least forty-eight hours before it meets shampoo. The cuticle needs time to close, and pigment lost in the first wash is pigment that never had a chance to settle.

Turn the temperature down

Hot water opens the cuticle. A cooler final rinse closes it, which both keeps pigment in and leaves the hair noticeably shinier, because a flat cuticle reflects light more evenly.

Sulphates are not the enemy, but they are efficient

Sulphates are effective surfactants, and effective is the problem: they strip colour along with oil. A gentler surfactant system cleans slightly less thoroughly, which is exactly what you want on coloured hair.

Heat and sun both fade

Use a heat protectant before styling, and drop the iron temperature — most hair does not need the maximum setting. UV fades colour the same way it fades fabric, so a hat on long summer days does real work, particularly on reds, which fade fastest.

Between appointments

A weekly deep conditioner or bond-building treatment addresses the structural side rather than the colour side. Colour-depositing conditioners can top up tone between visits — introduce them gradually, as they build.