7 Important Things Nobody Tells You About Coloring Your Hair

Coloring hair can be fun. However, it can also damage your hair and bring you problems like hair breakage.

I know a lot of you who have either started your transitioning journey or just finishing it up are really excited about your new natural hair. But you want to make sure that when you do switch it up, you don't ruin or damage any of the progress that you have made because you know how long that took and how much dedication that took.

I don't mean that you can't add some color to your life. There are many tips and tricks when it comes to color your hair. Actually, you can also keep your hair protected and healthy after dyeing your hair. Today, I partner with JC Hair Factory to bring you 7 important things that nobody tells you about coloring your hair. If you want to know, keep reading.

Things before coloring hair

#1. Try the color first

The first thing you should do is try the color out and make sure you will like it since you will have it in a long period of time. You can go down to your local hair supply store or online hair store to get you a human hair wig and try out any color you want. I highly suggest that especially if it's your first time trying to color or you're trying to do a drastic, crazy color like pink, blue, purple etc. Try it out with a wig first and see if it actually suits you or if you're feeling good with this color. It is because, after a week, you might find you don’t like it at all and want your old hair back.

Besides, if you just want some colors for festival or events, there are many alternatives instead of permanent dye to getting an instant color change. You don't have to damage your natural hair. You can also use color risers, you can use hair chalk, which sits on top of your hair without damage.

#2. Consultation and done by a professional

The second thing is to actually get your hair done by a professional. Knowing that some people are against this since there are so many tutorials teaching you how to color your hair at home and how to DIY, but you should know coloring is not for everyone and it is not for every hair type either. Honestly, coloring textured hair can lead to predictable changes in your own hair. So I highly recommend go into professional and have a conversation with them about your hair especially when you decide to color your hair at the first time. In that way, they can really look at your hair, examine your hair and determine what coloring method may be the best for you. What’s more important is it is more likely to get the color you desire when it is done by a professional.

Another thing with stylists is making sure that your stylist actually cares about the overall health of your hair because some stylists will actually just color your hair or just do whatever you ask them to do to your hair even though it's not beneficial for your hair or it will hurt your hair in the long run.

How to maintain the color for a long time

#3. Say no to sulfate shampoo

The third thing is definitely to shampoo less frequently and if you're going to use a shampoo, make sure to use one that does not have sulfate in it. Sulfates naturally are used in a lot of things that strip grease from tires and they're just really harsh. You only need that if you have serious product build-up. Honestly, I don't see the need for them outside of that. Shampooing less frequently means your color is getting stripped out less.

Also, dye naturally makes your hair drier. So you just don't want to be stripping your hair twice since it already being dry. That just sounds brutal, but you do want to treat your hair like fine silk.

#4. Avoid hot water and heat

The sixth thing is to avoid hot water. I know a lot of you are hot water shower lover. Avoid that hot water because hot water opens your hairs cuticles and make that hair color slip right out; make that moisture slip right out. Then you're just left with dry dull crusty hair that needs a touch-up.

Limit the use of heat tools. The thing about heat is it's instant and you all want that instant result, but look at those heat tools. Your hair is already stripped from dye and coloring. You do not want to strip it any further with heat tools.

Keep your hair healthy

#5. Deep conditioning

Another thing after shampooing your hair, I recommend if you have color treated hair, you should deep condition your hair to add the extra moisture to your dry hair. It is super duper important to get that healthy hair look as what deep condition does is they deeply penetrate your hair strands and they restore that luster, shine, and glassy glow. You can get that same glow in color treated hair with regular use of deep conditioner.

You should do a deep conditioning maybe about twice a month but you don't really do anything special. Just put a deep conditioner or a mask on and then I put a shower cap on top of it. Let it sit for like 10 to 15 minutes and then I rinse it out.

#6. Protein treatment

The fifth thing is doing a protein treatment. I'm not talking about protein shampoo conditioner as well as whatever styling product. I mean like an intensive protein treatment for at least once a month.

What dye does and how it gets into your hair shaft is it breaks those protein bonds in your hair to insert that color. Since your hair is made predominately a protein, what you want to do is reinsert some protein. I know there's a lot of stuff where people use home remedies for protein treatments. Those are good temporary treatments but you do want to use a brand that's made for hair because sometimes the protein particles in eggs and mayonnaise etc are too big to actually insert themselves into your hair strands.

#7. Color your hair gradually

The seventh thing that you may not know is dyeing your hair gradually. Honestly, I say this all the time. People do not listen to me when I say this and it may be the reason why their hair is all damaged. Color your hair gradually to give your hair some time to adjust to new change.

I know you may wake up one morning and say I want blonde hair and you want immediate results. Please keep in mind don't do that especially when it comes to light color such as blonde unless you want to ruin your hair.

Through my experience, I did not go blonde in one week. I didn't go blonde in one month. My hair was being professionally colored over the course of four months to get to that Brittney Spears blonde. Actually, I could have done my hair in one time but I just wanted to give my hair a break after a while. Doing deep conditioning to restore health and then coloring again. Just using a high lift blonde dye every time to lift that color instead of heavy bleach.

Those are seven things that nobody tells you about coloring your hair. You should take it into your serious consideration before you decide to dye your hair. It will definitely enhance the chance to get shiny and healthy hair.