8 Ways to Make Your Hair Color Last

Preserve Hair Color In Between salon visits

Red head Allison McNamara olive green floral dress

Redhead Allison McNamara olive green H&M floral dress

Allison Mcnamara red head olive green dress

Redhead Allison McNamara green olive dress H&M

Redhead Allison McNamara olive green dress

Redhead Allison mcNamara olive green dress H&M florals

If there’s one person who knows a thing or two about having colored hair, it’s me. Believe it or not, this red hair isn’t natural–shout out to my girlfriend Cassondra Kaeding at Mare Salon who unwillingly does my hair every month. I have been a really red redhead for just over three years now and I absolutely love it, but with a serious dye job comes a newfound role of taming to your tresses to keep your strands healthy and your color on point. Naturally, I’ve pocketed a few tricks to extend the life of my color in between salon sessions, take a look!

1. Cool Rinse

Life as me goes something like this–wakeup, workout, freezing cold shower. It’s depressing really, but cold showers make the world of a difference for your skin and extending the life of your hair color. Warm water causes the hair cuticle to open, allowing your hair color to fade out much quicker. Cold water closes the cuticle and prohibits this–you’ll notice your hair will look shinier and healthier too because the cold water flattens the hair follicles.

2. Wait 48 Hours to Shampoo After Color Appointment

But honestly, I try and go 72 hours if I can. The longer you wait to wash after getting your hair colored the better! It lets the color settle in and prolongs the life of your hair color by a week at least.

3. Wear a Hat

What happens when you have a piece of furniture in front of a window? It fades! And such is true for your hair color too–colored-haired gals should be equipped with a hat when spending a prolonged period of time in the sun.

4. Get a Gloss to Extend Full Appointments

Never discount the power of a good gloss. We use Redken Shades on my color in between appointments. They’re super fast–it takes like 15-20 min–and it makes my hair look healthier and shiner. It also extends the life of my color in between base color appointments so sometimes I can even go 6-7 weeks in between if I do a gloss in the middle!

5. Stop Washing Your Hair After Every Workout

This one was hard to get accustomed to, but I stopped washing my hair after every workout. Not all workouts are created equal–some of them you basically die and have no option but to wash the ‘do. But for those workouts where you perhaps cheated on those burpies or went knees down on your plank, do you really have to wash your mane? Sweat is basically water, salts and sugars… sounds like the natural base to sea salt spray to me. Sweat can add some nice texture and hold, trust me and try it.

6. Try a Cleansing Conditioner

But when you do want to give your hair a rinse, think twice before lathering up in shampoo. Cleansing conditioners are a great way to cleanse the scalp without shampoo, which tends to overly strip the scalp and hair of color, oil, etc.

7. Lay Off the Styling

You can’t have your cake and eat it too. Dying your hair means less styling because you want to have healthy hair, right?

8. Natural Masks

I find that natural hair masks work better then anything I can get in a pre-packaged jar. I like to heat up a little organic olive oil and sold my mid shaft and ends in it while I bath. The healthier my ends are, the less porous they are which means the color fades less fast.

Dress | H&M    Shoes | Tony Bianco    Bag | Chloe    Glasses | Tom Ford

Photos | Vincent Elejorde






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