Beauty: How to keep dyed red hair looking bright
With natural redheads being as beautiful, rare and striking as they are, it’s no surprise when mere mortals (aka non-redheads) want a piece of the ginger pie. (We don’t blame you for wanting to have such eye-catching, multi-tonal and awesome hair, too.)
But the tricky thing with dyed red hair is maintaining its brightness. Ginger colour from the bottle is the hardest to maintain, as the colour particles are larger than other shades, which makes the pigment more difficult to coat the hair – it fades quickly, and that’s not a good look for any redhead.
Here are some top tips for maintaining your dyed red hair.
Don’t wash your hair too often
Washing your dyed red hair too frequently (and with the wrong products) is one the biggest culprits of faded colour. Try to train your hair to not need washing so frequently. It can be tricky to start off with, but the longer you can stretch the gap between washes, the better for your hair. Your hair only becomes greasy when it believes it’s time to be washed, so training it to go longer has massive benefits.
Use hair products designed for redheads
It’s not just natural redheads that can benefit from using natural henna hair products. Gingerful hair products for redheads contain enough henna to boost ginger shades, but without permanently changing the colour – their effects only stay with continued use.
Deep condition your hair every week
In addition to using conditioner every time you wash your hair (in fact, conditioner is actually more important than shampoo), invest in a deep conditioning treatment to help lock in your dyed red colour for longer. A leave-in conditioner is also a great way to keep your hair shining and bright between washes.
Cool rinse after every wash
This tip is key for anyone, not just dyed redheads. After washing, your hair follicles are open as a reaction to the warm water, so to give it an extra shine, rinse your hair with cool water after conditioning. This closes the hair follicles and strands to reveal a multi-tonal shine, and helps to protect it from the elements, too.
Hair gloss for glossy hair (duh)
A hair gloss is another great way to lock in your dyed red hair’s moisture and colour. They close the hair and its cuticle really tight to reveal a much smoother surface, reflecting more light and giving softer, shinier hair.
View our top 10 hair gloss picks for redheads
Keep your hair (and everything else) protected in the sun
Dyed red hair is particularly prone to bleaching when exposed to the sun for long periods. Either cover up your hair with a bandana or hat, or invest in a sun protect spray – it’s like having SPF for your hair!
View our tips on protecting your hair in the summer
Limit use of heat styling
There are plenty of things in the world that dries out our hair, from pollution to over-shampooing, and dyed red hair is particularly prone to breakage and fading. Heat styling it particularly drying, so try to limit your use of straighteners and blow-dryers.
Discover cute and fun hair up dos to avoid the need!
By Emma