How To: Keep Red Hair Looking Vibrant

More and more, it seems, ladies are coloring their hair shades of red or adding red tones into their hair. Hey I do it too! I love the way the sunlight hits it, and it goes well with my skin tone.

The only problem: red fades quick. Red is somewhat of an in-between pigment that our body produces, so when you color your hair red, it has a harder time grasping the strand’s cortex and fades more quickly than other hair colors. Although you can’t stop the fading completely, here are a few precautions you can take to slow it down.

1. Wash your hair less frequently. For those of you that wash your hair every day, it’s inevitable for any color to fade quickly. If possible, try waiting every other day or even two days if you can stand it. For the extremists out there, you can aim for once or twice a week. The less frequent, the better.
2. When you do wash your hair, use color safe shampoos. My pick: Artec by L’Oreal, a line of color depositing shampoos that help keep the red in your hair longer.
3. Rinse in cold water. Warm water washed the color out more easily, so washing with cold water will help to keep your color looking brilliant.
4. Try a color glaze like John Freida’s Red Glaze or Matrix Shade Memory to give your hair a mini-refresher course in crimson shades.
5. Lastly, skip the box color. Stick with professional coloring or buy color from a beauty supply like Sally’s. Not only will this be healthier for your hair, but it will also help in getting more of the specific color you want. Box color can stain the color, and fade much more quickly.

Photo source: Supermodels.nl