In present-day, seventy-five percent of women color their hair — a significant change in comparison to the five percent of women in the fifties.
But how often should you color your hair? This is one of the most essential and smart questions you can ask when it comes to the hair coloring process because even the teeniest detail of it can be confusing.
Luckily, we’ve put together the ultimate guide to hair color maintenance. Read on for the hair-saving answers to all your burning hair care questions.
What Hair Color are You Starting With?
If you’re planning to make a drastic change from your current hair, you’re going to have serious maintenance in your future. A subtle difference, like an Ombre or a dip-dye, will be quite simple to refresh and maintain.
Is Your Hair Damaged and Porous?
Your answer will stay between us, but if your hair is damaged more than a former child star’s childhood, we’re going to have a problem. Sometimes it’s easy to know if your hair is damaged, it’s breaking off and feels like straw.
Sometimes it’s more subtle. This subtlety makes it challenging to know what level of damage you’re dealing with. An excellent way to test for damage is to drop a clean strand of hair into a glass of water. The lower it sinks, the more damaged and porous it is; if it floats, your hair is not damaged and has little to no porosity.
Why Your Hair’s Porosity Matters
Hair porosity shows how capable your hair is at retaining moisture. If your hair is healthy, its cuticle is sealed and guarding the hair shaft, your hair is porous when it’s frayed and limp.
The color penetrates it too quickly. The formula itself can further wreck your locks. The more porous hair is the more your touch-ups and allover redying you will need.
Hair Color Crash Course
The hair coloring process is more layered and complicated than you’d think. You have to know your hair colorant basics like levels and longevity.
Permanent Hair Color
Permanent hair color is the most potent dye out of all the others. When applied to the hair, it penetrates the hair’s cortex. After that, it lifts your hair’s natural pigment and replaces it with your chosen hair color.
What makes it permanent is the molecules that enter the hair’s cortex and expand to a size you can’t just wash out.
Root touch-ups will happen every four to six weeks, the color itself fades a bit over time but will remain in the hair.
Semi-Permanent Hair Color
Semi-Permanent color penetrates the hair’s cuticle and cortex. But doesn’t interfere with your hair’s natural pigment or lift your it. Its molecules are tiny and leave the shaft of your hair after several washes.
It lasts six to twelve washes before it needs a complete redo. If your hair is dry and damaged, a semi-permanent color may stain your hair.
Demi-Permanent Hair Color
Demi-permanent color penetrates the hair’s cuticle and cortex. They team up to create medium-sized color molecules. These larger-sized molecules take a bit more time to wash out.
It can become permanent if your hair is already colored. Or if it is chemically treated and processed.
Lightener
Also known as bleach, hair lightener penetrates the hair’s cuticle. It strips your hair of its natural pigment. When it’s used for highlights or balayage, the upkeep won’t be as demanding. When used for an allover change, maintenance becomes a tad more of a chore.
Rate of Hair Regrowth
Do root touch-ups every four to six weeks. But if your growth rate is slower, the fewer touch-ups you’ll need. If faster, you’ll need to touch it up more often.
How Often Should You Color Your Hair if You’ve Gone Gray?
Grey hair tends to need more root upkeep than the standard colored hair. White and grey hairs sprout up in the mids and roots of hair between colorings. To cause less damage between the frequent touch-ups, you color the roots first.
Next, you sheer out the mix of the remaining color. Use a clear shade diluter or regular conditioner. Apply the mixture to the rest of your hair to refresh the allover color.
Virgin hair or hair that isn’t dyed or chemically treat can stand more coloring sessions. You’re beginning with a strong and healthy blank canvas.
How Often Can You Dye Your Hair Without Damaging It?
With permanent color and lightener, wait three to four weeks to go back in. This is how you avoid severe damage to your hair.
No matter what level of permanence you choose, always use a hair bonding product. Products like Olaplex maintain your hair’s current bonds.
It also creates new ones while keeping the integrity of your hair intact.
Touch-up and Upkeep Hack
These are easy and quick to refresh your hair color if you’re on a time crunch or have no time at all.
Use a Temporary Root Cover Up
Temporary Root Cover up’s cover up regrowth and grey hairs within a few seconds. It will leave you with a natural-looking touch-up that lasts for up to one wash. The Color Wow Root Cover up is the best one out there.
Temporary Hair Color
Temporary hair color will revitalize your current hair color. (In a non-damaging way that will last up until your next wash).
Hair Color Glosses and Glazes
Glosses and glazes are a mix of hair treatment and hair toner. Think of it as the tinted lip gloss of the hair world. It’s a popular hair color refresher. It adds vibrancy to your hair once more without an allover recoloring.
Doing It Right
Coloring is a great way to change things up. You researching “how often should you color your hair” proves something. It shows you want to know as much of how the hair coloring process works as you can.
So if you’re planning to make a drastic change, use that good head on your shoulders. Go to a professional hair colorist.
You want to avoid the color correction nightmare at all costs!
So, ready to switch up your hair color? Learn more about how Shear Genius Salon can enhance your cut, color, and styling techniques.
