Kelly’s question…What is the best way to prepare hair for hair dye? Freshly washed, day old etc?
The Beauty Brains response
If you’re having your color done by a professional stylist, he or she should give you good direction on how to prepare your hair. But if you’re doing it yourself at home, or having a friend do it for you, here are some tips that should ensure a better coloring process.
Top 5 Do’s and Don’ts For Coloring Your Hair
1. Ban bleaching
Avoid chemical processes like bleaching and highlighting in the weeks prior to getting your hair colored. These treatments can damage your hair, making it more porous and potentially preventing it from retaining some of the dye molecules.
2. Skip the stylers
Try not to go up your hair with a lot of heavy styling agents in the day or two before styling. If you haven’t done a good job of cleaning them off your hair they may inhibit penetration of the hair dye. If you typically use heavy conditioners, like those containing dimethicone, you might want to forego that for a few days as well.
3. Do a deep cleansing
Just in case you do have residue on your hair it doesn’t hurt to do a good deep cleaning right before coloring. (Freshly washed hair helps ensure there’s nothing that will interfere with the hair dye deposition.)
4. Stay away from straighteners
Here’s a tip that even your stylist may not know: don’t use temporary straighteners before coloring because the chemistry involved in these products damages the protein bonds in hair. Just like bleaching and highlighting, these chemical straighteners can damage are hair to the point where the coloring treatment may not be as effective.
5. Watch the water
Lastly, you want to be careful what you do after you color your hair. Research has shown that washing is the main cause of hair dye loss. Therefore you want to be careful about how frequently you shampoo your hair after coloring. There are products on the market that contain technology that really helps protect wash out; for example, we have seen data showing Tresemme Color Revitalize shampoo and conditioner are effective, particularly on reddish-brown shades. (Tip: Don’t waste money on hair products that charge more because they contain expensive UV absorbers. Sunscreens do very little to preserve color.)