4 Reasons Why Color Bleeds And How To Prevent It behindthechair.com (2024)

Last updated: June 04, 2020

Instagram via @cynthialumzy

4 Tips For Preventing Color Bleeding At The Sink

We’ve all had that “Oh $H*!” moment while rinsing a vibrant hue and watching the color wash right down the drain. Or worse. After spending hours painting a multi-color masterpiece, rinsing only to reveal a muddy brown finish. To ensure you never suffer this face palm moment again, below, we’re sharing four common reasons why color bleeds and Cynthia Lumzy’s (@cynthialumzy)tips for preventing it.

1. The Water Isn’t Cold Enough

One of the biggest reasons why color bleeds is because the water is too warm, which is why thenumber one rule when rinsing vibrant colors is to always, always, always use cold water. Here’s why: Hot water will open the cuticle, letting a huge portion of the color you just applied to rinse right out. Cold water closes the cuticle and basically traps the color, preventing it from washing out.

2. She Isn’t Properly Prepped

Yep, you read that right. Prepping the hair before you rinse can help prevent color bleeding and Matrix is launching a product in February that can do just that.Total Results Keep Me Vivid Color Lamination Spray is designed to lock in haircolor, prevent fading and enhance shine. Simply rinse the hair with cool water, apply Color Lamination Spray, let it sit for 1 minute and then rinse. The result? No color bleeding! Don’t believe us? See for yourself in the video below:

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A post shared by Colorist RAINBOWHAIR & WIGS (@cynthialumzy) on Nov 25, 2018 at 3:41pm PST

3. Leave Her Hair Alone For A Minute

When your client lays back at the sink, do you turn on the water and then immediately start running your hands through her hair? That’s a major no-no when rinsing fashion colors. Instead, Cynthia says to let the cool water run over the hair before you move it around to help prevent the pigments from transferring.

Pro Tip: If her hair has multiple colors, rinse the darkest one first to prevent transferring any pigment to the lightest shade.

4. There’s No Cool Down

Like we said, heat of any kind is a major culprit if you’re dealing with color bleeding and fast fading. So if you like to use heat to intensify your semi-permanent colors, like Cynthia sometimes does, let the hair have a cool down period of at least 10 minutes. “The longer, the better,” she advises.

Now that you’ve got these tips down, click here to learn how to create this desert rose halo melt!

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