Maintaining the colour

Have you ever experienced your hair becoming an unwanted brassy or orange tone?

Too many times have I had that same trouble and it was only until a few months ago that I started to research ways to maintain my colour and combat colour fading.

  

So how can you combat this problem?

1. Install a good shower filter 

The water we use to wash our hair include particular minerals such as iron that affect our hair. Installing a shower filter will remove the iron from the water and prevent your hair from turning an orange or rusty colour.

How iron effects hair:

- Iron leaves the hair feeling dry, brittle and weighted down 

- Iron can cause dark hair to tint darker and blonde hair to turn orange 

- Iron can block perms and colour from properly processing

2. Shampoo and rinse with cooler water temperatures 

Just think of the strands of your hair as your skin. When you wash your face with warm water, the pores of your skin will open; whilst with cold water, the pores of your skin will close. 

Iron from the water is most likely to settle into the cuticles of your hair when it is open with hot or warm water. By washing your hair in cooler temperatures, the cuticles are less likely to open which will minimise how much iron will settle into the hair

3. Use pigmented shampoos

Purple/Silver shampoo will help maintain your hair colour for a longer period of time. The two i've used include-

- De Lorenzo Silver Shampoo: It did little to my hair so I was quite disappointed in the product. Not something I would purchase for my type of hair.

- Matrix So Silver Shampoo: It is a purple shampoo that I've been using 2-3 times a week and it works wonders! Just lather it up on damp hair and leave it in for a few minutes. If you have fine hair, leave it in for 5 minutes. For thicker hair, leave it in for 10-15 minutes. Once the time is up, wash it out with cool water.

Result

I've had ash hair for over two months now and so far I've been able to maintain my highlights thanks to Matrix So Silver. I love it! The only downside to this product is the sulfate in the ingredients as it gives an unfortunate drying effect to your hair.

Here's what my hair looks like -

As you can see, my hair is quite dry and brittle as i have only been using my deep conditioner once a week as an intensive treatment. Not such a good idea with the state my hair is in. In that case, regular use is needed if you want strong, healthy and beautiful hair. I recommend Redkin Heavy Cream as it is great at untangling hairs and you can definitely feel how conditioning it is to your hair when you wash it out. To use, comb the product through your hair with a wide tooth comb and leave it in for up to 15 min for extremely dry hair. 

Follow the above suggestions and you should be able to see a difference to your hair colour. It worked for me!