So you saw Kim Kardashian’s new hair and are suddenly struck with an intense desire to dye your strands candy-floss pink.
You’re not alone. That woman has the power to launch a thousand people into Boots to pick up hair dye, a contour kit, or butt pads.
Before you commit to the bleach, it’s worth thinking about the upkeep of such a trendy look.
Kim Kardashian has hair colourists on call as well as plenty of money to spare on touch-ups – she doesn’t really have to worry about her hair going a faint shade of peach in a week’s time.
Us normal people, however, should probably take this into consideration before we think pink.
Along with many other non-natural colours, pink fades at hyper speed. It’ll look gloriously bright when you first dye it, but after a few washes you’re likely to be left with a faded pastel hue.
This is because of the way colour gets locked into cuticles, and how it essentially falls right out every time you wash and dry your hair.
Sophia Hilton, colour expert of the year and director of Not Another Salon, explains it like this: ‘Cuticles are like lots of little doors wrapped around the hair to protect it.
‘With heat, colouring and lots of other factors, the doors are constantly opening and closing, and so the hinges get weekend and some of the doors fall off.
‘Then, when you are desperately trying to keep a colour particle in, in this case your pink shade, you can’t, because the colour literally keeps falling out of the door frames!’
The more damaged your hair is, the more open the cuticles are, and the more your colour can drop out. But even perfectly conditioned hair will fade as you wash it and go about your life in the world – all you can do is slow down the fade, not stop it entirely.
Here’s how to make your pink colour last for as long as humanly possible.
Make sure your hair is in good condition before you hit the dye
The healthier your hair is, the better it will hold colour.
Make sure you’ve snipped off split ends and your hair isn’t dry or frazzled from excessive colour or styling.
Make sure you choose a great colourist
Yes, you can dye your hair at home armed with bleach and box dye, but if you want the absolute best results, it’s better to go professional.
This is for a few reasons.
First off, they’ll use the best quality dye, and will use their expertise to make sure the colour you’re after will suit you. They’ll also make sure your hair is in good enough condition to dye.
Secondly, they’ll have access to conditioning treatments that will make your dye last longer, such as Olaplex and Innoluxe. These make the dyeing process less damaging, meaning your colour will stick around.
Use shampoos and conditioners for coloured hair
Seems like an optional thing, or a way to get you to spend more money on the same old conditioner, but it really does make a difference.
Products designed for coloured hair are intensely hydrating and keep the cuticles more closed than regular shampoos will, while products not designed with colour in mind can have all kinds of stripping properties that’ll rinse your colour out in a few showers.
Invest a little cash in a specialist shampoo and conditioner and save money on touch-ups later.
Avoid hot showers
Heat opens up the cuticles, cold closes ’em.
When your cuticles are open, colour can fall out.
So naturally, you want to avoid heat and avoid opening up cuticles… which means you may want to swap to cold showers. Sorry. Feel free to use hot water on your bod then splash cold water on your head to make things more bearable.
Minimise heated tools
Same logic applies to straighteners, hair dryers, heated rollers, or any other high-heat tools you want to use on your locks.
It’s tempting to curl your freshly dyed hair every day for the exact look you took into your hairdresser for inspiration.
Do not do this. If you want your colour to last, it’s not a great idea to go hard on the heating tools. Stick to once a week, then let your hair dry naturally the rest of the time.
Use a colour top-up at home
Most salons will let you take home pots of colour that you can apply as a glaze in the shower. That makes it easier to keep your colour fresh.
Reduce how regularly you’re washing your hair
It’s common sense, really. Each wash you do washes the colour out of your hair a little bit more. So if you’re trying to keep hold of colour, wash your hair a little less frequently.
It’s better to put up with oily roots for a day than get rid of your colour a week after you dyed your hair.
Embrace the fade
Eventually, your gloriously bright hair will fade. That’s the nature of coloured hair.
Don’t obsess over maintaining one colour. Instead, embrace your hair’s changing hue, and rock a pastel pink as well as you did when your hair was bright fuchsia.
And remember – fading colour makes way for new colour. If you get bored of pink, you’llwantit to fade so you can dye it blue.
‘In all honesty, how many people really want pink hair to be permanent?’ says Sophia. ‘When your pink fades, just think, would I really want it in my hair in 5 years time? Probably not.
‘Keep your hair healthy, get as much out of it as you can and don’t be annoyed when it fades, be grateful.’
Up Next
MORE : Woman shares her hairy pits and legs on Instagram to inspire others to embrace their body hair
MORE : Planning your wedding when you have depression: how I made it work
MORE : Stylist gives the geode hair trend a sparkling upgrade
