Taking Care of Your Color

You spend hours searching Pinterest for the perfect inspiration photo to show your stylist. You book your appointment and anxiously await the day when you can finally get the hue that will change your life. After talking with your stylist, she goes and formulates the perfect blend to make all your dreams come true. After a hours and many a dolla... it's perfect...beautiful and you feel like your inner Beyonce is shining through!As a stylist, I have done my part to bring your vision to life. Maintaining it is in your hands now. There are a few things that will ruin your color and cause it to fade. Given that we spend so much time and money to achieve these beautiful locks, it's important to take care of it!Shampoo & ConditionerA lot of people balk at the cost of professional products but the better quality and concentration of ingredients are worth every penny. Especially because it will keep your color for longer, lowering your salon cost. Your shampoo and conditioner are the products you use on your hair the most and therefore they are the most important. It's likely that your stylist recommends products before your leave and you should get them!I sell Olaplex and Pravana at my salon. Olaplex is excellent for repairing hair after color and lightening services and Pravana is the color line I use and their products are reasonably priced, great quality and also keep your color from fading.Olaplex has shampoo & conditioner as well as styling products and treatments that you can use to protect and repair your hair after a coloring serviceHeat StylingI cannot stress enough how much heat styling fades hair. I always ask my clients how often they heat style and almost everyone tells me "not that often." Then I ask, so how often is not that often? And some people have said "only once or twice a week..." FYI - that is very often! One of my favorite products to use to protect the hair from heat and give your hair a beautiful bounce is from Oribe. Their blowout creme is expensive but it will last for a while and I believe it has magic in the bottle.If you want a visual on what happens when you heat style colored hair - check out this video from Guy TangIn his video, it shows how heat tools burn color almost completely off. Always, always ALWAYS use a heat protector and a lower setting to style your hair. Unless your hair is very thick and course there is no need to use your irons on their hottest setting.Sun..Sand..Sea and the PoolAny of the elements will fade out your color quickly, especially salt from the ocean or chlorine from a pool. I recently started using the IGK products and I love that they have UV protection in them but nothing will beat staying in the shade and out of the water when caring for your color. Filling your hair with clean water and putting a UV protecting leave in conditioner, like this one from Sun Bum in your hair before diving in will help but the truth is: If you are a swimmer or beach bum, the best thing I can tell you is budget for refreshing your toner every 4-5 weeks.As your stylist, I can do everything to make your color beautiful, but you have more responsibility to maintain your hair than I do, because you take care of it every day. Please protect my masterpiece!