Hair color help!

Feb 13, 2016

Dorothea S.

Hi beauties!
So back in January I colored my hair red, and I absolutely love it. However, I would love it if anyone had any ideas on how to stop the color from bleeding?!
I don't mean when the color runs in the shower, or when I go to the gym and sweat, or even when I sleep.
I mean it literally rubs off on everything. I can put on a sweater for a day and by the end of the day which is no more than a few hours, the color of my hair or like the hoods of my sweatshirts all LOOK like I've spent the afternoon sweating and the color ran out. I'm not entirely sure what to do especially since I plan on touching up my color within a few days. HELP!

Feb 13, 2016

Hannah K.

In terms of products, invest in a sulfate and sodium chloride free shampoo and conditioner. I really like the brands Pureology and Keratin Complex for hair color care. They're both brands devoted to keeping color vibrant, and they both work really well. They're expensive, though, so barring that I'd highly recommend you find a sulfate and sodium chloride free shampoo and conditioner, like L'oreal EverStrong.

I also recommend investing in a hair mask or deep conditioner. I like the Macadamia Deep Repair Masque, it's very moisturizing and leaves your hair feeling hydrated instead of dry, but it's also heavy, so if that's not for you Alterna's Bamboo UV+ mask is absolutely amazing. I also happen to love the L'oreal Power Moisture Mask, it's a weird, jelly-like texture, but I love how light it feels on my hair. It makes my hair extremely soft without weighing it down. I also recommend the Keratin Complex Vanilla Bean Deep Conditioner. It's a bit heavier as well, but it smells great and certainly hydrates your hair.

Third, in the shower, when you're washing your hair, make sure the water is as cold as you can stand. If your hair is light on the ends, like mine, apply conditioner to the ends of your hair before you wash it in order to prevent the darker colors from bleeding. If not, wash your hair first thing, so you can wet your hair quickly and then remove it from the stream of water (seriously, limit exposure to water as much as you can) to shampoo.

Shampoo only the roots and condition from your ears down. Rinse quickly in cold water, and then after that, apply your mask, focusing on the ends of your hair. Finger comb until you don't feel any knots, because that way you don't have to brush it, because brushing it can break it off like heck. then put your hair in a bun. Leave it that way for the rest of your shower, washing it out should be the last thing you do. I wash my hair around 3 times a week (with drier hair I can get away with it) and do the hair mask every time. If you need to wash your hair more than that, reduce your hair mask usage to 3 times :)

Fourth, in terms of heat protectors (which protect hair color and help keep it healthy), I like the Tressemme heat protector and the It's a 10 Leave in Plus Keratin. If you heat style your hair a lot, just make sure that you're taking care of it and nothing will happen.

A few random miscellaneous tips:
-dry shampoo is your friend, because if you wash your hair often the dye will fade really quickly.
-you can also put a bit of hair dye into your shampoo and conditioner (this only works if your hair is predominantly one color, otherwise it will cause the rest of your hair to shift colors as well).
-if you have to shower often, put your hair up to try and keep it out of the water and just wash your body.

I Have tried a whole bunch of hair masks and deep conditioners, so here are my reviews on them:
1. My ultimate favorite right now is the L'oreal Power Moisture Mask. It's not expensive, and it's sulfate and sodium chloride free. It's super light, kind of a jelly like texture that melts into your hair, and when you rinse it out your hair doesn't feel heavy or greasy, just hydrated. This is the blue one. I really, truly love it.
2. Aussie 3 Minute Miracle, which I leave on for a lot longer than 3 minutes. It's really nice, also cheap, smells lovely, and hydrates your hair. It's pretty light, but make sure you rinse it all out or your hair will be a grease pit.
3. Macadamia Deep Repair Masque. This was my favorite for a while, until I found the L'oreal one. After that, I find this to be a little too heavy for my hair. I have to be really careful with this one, otherwise my hair gets greasy the same day. If I rinse well enough, my hair feels super clean and hydrated, but there's a thin line between greasy and too dry if you rinse too much, so this mask can be tricky.
4. Keratin Complex Vanilla Bean Deep Conditioner (also used as a hair mask) it's awesome. It smells like vanilla and hydrates your hair flawlessly. It's also color protective, which is part of why I love it so much. It's not heavy, so if you leave it in for a while it's not going to weigh down your hair, but it is a bit more expensive than others.
5. Organix Renewing Argan mask. It's also a bit on the heavy side, because it's oil based, but it seems to work fine so far. Also color safe, and also $6. It's a pretty good find :)
6. L'oreal Total Repair 5 hair mask. It's like $6, has a super smooth consistency and hydrates hair really well. You do have to rinse pretty well, or your hair gets greasy quickly, but after you rinse, you can add a tiny bit to the ends of your hair and it will work really well.
7. Alterna Bamboo UV+ masque. It's awesome. It smells really light and nice, it's safe for colored hair and it's super lightweight so you don't have to worry about rinsing everything out incredibly well. I also find it super smoothing, I like this a lot.
8. Garnier Damage Erase Butter. It's thick, really thick, actually, but it's pretty great. I like how easy it is to work with, it really moisturizes hair and prevents it from feeling super dry and frizzy. It's pretty good for $5
9. It's A 10 Miracle Hair Mask. It's decent, I like the packaging on it a lot, and the product itself is nice enough. It feels like my hair is hydrated and it works through really easily and gets rid of any tangles I have.
10. Paul Mitchell Super Charged Moisturizer. This is great. It's super lightweight and leaves my hair feeling super clean and hydrated.
11. Alterna Caviar Repairing Mask. I really like this. It's also super light and it feels so amazing on my hair. I managed to get a 16 oz version on Hautelook for $30 or something, which is amazing. It's really worth it. It's so smoothing and it makes my hair really shiny and soft.
12. Biolage Matrix Conditioning Balm. I love this stuff. It smells like my childhood since this was the brand they used in the salon I went to when I was little. It's a really nice texture and there's a ton of it for like $25. It's also available at CVS and Target which is convenient. It leaves my hair super smooth and shiny, not heavy or weighed down.
13. It's a 10 Miracle Deep Conditioner plus Keratin. This is decent, it's been working okay and it smells really good, it keeps my hair smooth despite the humidity.
14. Briogeo Don't Despair, Repair! This stuff is decent. It's silicone free which I like since I've been trying to transition to silicone free products. It leaves my hair very soft but it's a little too light for my hair and doesn't help it keep its curl pattern very well. It doesn't do enough to prevent frizz, though.
15. Shea Moisture Shea Butter Deep Treatment Mask. This is great! It really keeps my hair shiny, nice and smooth, and it's not expensive, either. It's a really thick mask so I feel like it does a lot for my hair to seal it and keep it looking nice.

Those are just my opinions and what has worked for me!

That's my hair routine, my entire head was bleached for years and it is still just as healthy as it was before I dyed it.