How long does professional hair dye last

With so many options on the market, changing your hair color is relatively simple nowadays. But all good things must end, and hair dye eventually fades away.

How long does hair dye last? There’s no easy answer to that. It depends on a number of factors, including the quality of the dye and your current color. On top of that, your daily habits may also cause your dye to fade prematurely.

Different hair dye formulas last longer than others. So if you’re curious to know how long your new look will last, keep reading. Here you will find out what impacts the longevity of hair dye and learn how to prevent your new color – and money – from going down the drain.

Factors That Contribute to Hair Dye Fading

How long does hair dye last? Unfortunately, dye results are different for everyone. There are different factors that may contribute to how long your color lasts.

Generally, hair dye can last 1-2 weeks for temporary color and 4-10 weeks for permanent dye. However, the following factors can impact that estimation:

1. Hair Color Type

What type of dye did you use? The hair dye type is listed on the box, or you can ask your stylist if you went to a salon. Hair color usually falls into one of these four categories:

Permanent

As you may expect, permanent hair dye lasts the longest. For most people, it lasts until your hair grows out or you re-color your hair. Although some people experience fading that leaves the hair a different, often washed out, shade from what they started with.

These hair dyes are so long-lasting because you use full strength developer to fully penetrate the hair cuticle cortex. Doing this also changes the natural melanin of the hair permanently.

Semi-Permanent

These hair dyes generally don’t need a developer or activating agent. Instead of penetrating the cuticle, the dye coats it with large color pigments. This gives your hair the illusion of color, but it only lasts 8 to 15 shampoos, though some can last up to 28 shampoos.

Demi-Permanent

Demi-permanent hair dye lasts slightly longer than semi-permanent without the extra damage that permanent dye can cause. This is because it only partially penetrates the hair cuticle using a low-level developer. These hair dyes are typically a mixture of big pigment colors and smaller intermediate ones.

Temporary

Vibrant fashion colors like blue, green, and pink are generally temporary dyes. They can last anywhere from a day to a week. Some dyes are designed to wash out after one shampoo, while others have more staying power.

These hair colors coat the hair cuticle instead of penetrating it, so they’re easy to wash out.

2. Color of Dye

What does your color have to do with it? As it happens, the dye color really does factor into how long it will last.

Dye colors are made up of different pigments. The more pigments a color has, the longer it lasts.

For example, a purple dye may have 8,000 pigments. However, a red dye may only have 3,000 pigments, and blue dye has even fewer at 1,000 pigments.

In general, darker colors last longer than lighter ones, especially if you need to “lift” or open up the hair cuticle to take the lighter hair color. You can lift your hair by bleaching or using a hi-lift color.

However, if you do need to open up your hair cuticle, it’s less likely that your new color will lock into the cuticle, which contributes to how quickly you lose the dye.

3. The Shape of Hair Pre-Dye

Next, your hair’s natural condition prior to coloring contributes to how long your color lasts. You may already know this, but the more damaged your hair is, the faster you’ll lose the color. This goes back to your hair cuticle health.

Even if you don’t lift your hair color, if your cuticles are abused with constant styling or past coloring, they become porous. This can cause your hair color to “leak” out easily.

4. Hair Color Care

Additionally, how you treat your newly colored hair contributes to the longevity of the dye.

Washing

Washing your hair using specially designed shampoo and conditioner for colored hair can help it last longer. Look for shampoos that restore pH balance and repair the hair cuticle. At the same time, stay away from harsh shampoos that can strip your color like those designed for oily scalp or dandruff treatment.

Furthermore, don’t wash your hair in hot water. Shampooing your hair causes your hair to swell, which can cause color leakage. However, more pigment escapes with hot water.

Sun

Do the elements contribute to fading? Absolutely. As such, you must make sure to grab a hat when you step out into the sun. Atoms, molecules, and free radicals can pull electrons from pigment molecules and contribute to fading.

Heat Styling

If you can’t live without your hot iron, consider buying a good thermal protection cream for your hair. Heat styling including straightening, curling, and blow drying can further damage the hair cuticle. This, in turn, may make it easier for the color pigment to escape when you wash your hair.

Home Color vs. Salon: Which Lasts Longer?

Are you torn about where to go to color your hair? Coloring your hair at home may be easier and cheaper, but heading down to the salon may have more reliable results.

Home coloring has come a long way, but it still doesn’t have the professional staying power that salons have access to. Does that mean that salon-colored hair always last longer? Not necessarily.

Whether you use box color or go see a colorist, it still depends on the factors we have previously discussed. However, professional colorists can assess your hair condition as well as its type and color it in a way that’s best for you. Sometimes that means adding additional conditioners and treatments to further lock in color.

What to Expect from Hair Dye

How long does hair dye last? The answer to this question depends on a variety of factors. Hair dye type is certainly one of the key factors when estimating color longevity.

However, all hair color may be subject to premature fading without proper care. So make sure to buy the right products, be careful about heat, and grab a hat when going out. Don’t let your vibrant color fade because of bad habits.

References:

http://www.beautyundercover.sg/Reasons-Hair-Colours-Last-Longer https://www.bustle.com/articles/137016-what-hair-dye-actually-does-to-your-hair-according-to-science https://www.wella.com/retail/en-AR/article/text/tips-before-coloring

https://www.webmd.com/beauty/features/colored-hair-protection#1

You’re looking for things to do when you’re stuck at home and you’ve found yourself looking at those coloured strands (or showing roots!) wondering ‘how long does hair dye last?’ You’re not alone, and if colour fade’s a worry, keep reading for our top hair hacks to prolong the life of that much-loved hue…

When you’ve just stepped out of the salon, your colour is nothing less than immaculate. Whatever luscious shade you’ve opted for whether that’s a multi-faceted chocolate brown, holiday-inspired beachy highlights or a perfectly pastel pink, chances are that your colour will never look better. Or, so you thought. While there was a time that your colour started to fade the moment you began your at-home regime, nowadays you can maintain that bright, fresh and bold colour for weeks or months longer than ever before.

Enter colour protect hair products, an entire category designed just to protect and perfect your shade for as long as possible. Want to know how they work? Let’s start with the colour process and how long hair dye lasts….

First of all, it depends what type of colour treatment you’ve had done as to how long hair dye lasts.

• Permanent colour
If you’re wondering, “How long does permanent hair dye last?” the answer is simple. If you’ve had a permanent hair dye, in a salon or at home, whether a full head, lowlights or highlights, the colour will essentially last until your hair grows out or you decide to recolour. As the process opens up the hair shaft it’s able to embed the dye deep within it, completely changing the colour of your hair, permanently, until that hair grows out. This is the only way to change dark hair to light or to make any really drastic change but inevitably, your natural shade will start emerging at the roots anywhere between 6-10 weeks afterwards, depending on how fast your hair grows.

• Semi-permanent
If you’ve opted for a more of a commitment-free semi or demi-permanent colour, your new hue should last up to 24 shampoos as the colour is deposited around the hair shaft rather than deposited within it. Perfect for tonal changes and accenting your natural base shade it’s less damaging, but also means it doesn’t last as long. Depending on how often you wash your hair that could be anything from four weeks (if you shampoo every day) to several months if you only do it once a week. However, as the colour is only fused to the outside of the hair cuticle, those colour particles are being washed away with each and every rinse, revealing more of your natural base shade beneath as the weeks go on.

What can cause hair dye to fade?

All types of colour processes are vulnerable to tonal changes the longer they are left on the hair. Whether it’s the minerals in your shower water, UV damage from sun exposure or overuse of heated styling tools, almost all colours will change over time, and some are more susceptible than others. ‘How long does permanent hair colour last?’ and ‘How to limit shade fade?’ are questions that every hair stylist across the world has heard at some point from clients in their salon chair. And it’s no wonder, but how you plan on keeping it is entirely down to how you treat your tresses. But it’s not just what you wash your hair with that can make a difference to colour fade, it’s also how often you do it.

Human hair is incredibly absorbent, think of a dry sponge versus a wet sponge when it comes to soaking your hair and then consider what happens to your colour with each and every soak in the bath or long session in the shower. It’s no wonder then that excessive washing is the number-one cause of premature colour fade, so wherever possible, try shampooing your hair every other day anywhere up to once a week. out the days between with dry shampoo to keep it feeling clean and refreshed without the damaging effects of water stripping away your precious colour.

What can cause hair dye to fade?

The first essential step in your fight against colour fade’s a super gentle but effective shampoo that’ll help to preserve that beautiful – and hard won – hue. Meet Pantene Pro-V Colour Protect Shampoo: it gently cleanses tresses, while fuelling hair with active Pro-V nutrients, to help protect colour and shine. This specially formulated shampoo for coloured and highlighted hair nurtures strands inside and out, helping to protect against damage caused by styling. Pantene Pro-V Colour Protect Shampoo’s clinically proven technology protects colour vibrancy while smoothing hair cuticles for touchably smooth strands.

The colour-lock technology adds a protective layer to help seal hair for healthy-looking radiance. Free from mineral oils and colourants, it’s perfect for a longer-lasting colour. Follow up with Pantene Pro-V Colour Protect Conditioner for best results. Protection against colour fade’s founded on moisture. If your hair’s well hydrated, your colour’s more likely to hold. So, condition is a must as part of your haircare routine!

If you were to look at the structure of healthy hair under a microscope you’d see that – like tiles on a roof – the layers are smoothed down, even and flat giving hair an even surface to reflect light, making the hair feel soft and look shiny. However, when the hair is dry or damaged, those layers begin to lift, creating a rough, uneven texture, that allows colour to easily leach away. Uniquely designed for coloured and highlighted hair, Pantene Pro-V Colour Protect Conditioner uses keratin protection complex to give hair a protective layer, sealing strands for healthy-looking radiance.

For more colour-saving hair hacks, take a look at our guide on how to stop hair dye fading.

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