Maintaining your hair at home for long lasting hair color.
Tips to help maintain your salon color and keep your hair healthy.
The color you just had done, it’s an investment. At the salon we created your new color, how you take care of it at home will greatly contribute to how well it lasts over time. If you had an overall gloss, highlights with toner, your monthly touch up, or Vivid color. These are best practices to maintain it.
1- Do not use hot water - keep it tepid or cool.
Hot water opens your hair cuticles, the cuticle is the door that traps your color into the strand. You don’t want to open that door. Hot water also destroys the keratin and lipid bonds. Lipid bonds seal and laminate hair from external damage. Destroying the cuticle leads to frizzy, dull and damaged hair.
2- Wet your hair with tap water before entering a chlorinated pool.
Hair is highly absorbent. If you wet your hair with regular tap water, your hair will drink it up, and help prevent it from absorbing the chlorinated water. Chlorine is a disinfectant, it is corrosive, irritating and acts similar to bleach. It will slowly remove your new hair color, or fast depending on how much chlorine your hair is exposed to and how often. Another recommendation is to apply a leave in conditioner before entering a pool. Always wash and condition your hair the same day it is exposed to chlorine.
3- Turn down the heat on your appliances.
It is highly suggested to keep the temperature of your appliances down. Temperatures over 300 starts to break down the keratin which will lead to weaker strands. Course hair can withstand heat as high as 392 degrees, that is the maximum threshold. Anything over 392 degrees is damaging. Don’t let that iron manufacturer who advertises temperatures up to 450 degrees impress you, it is not worth the money. Your hair is composed of a protein called keratin. Keratin is made up of amino acid molecules that are connected. It creates the strength, structure, texture and elasticity. Heat styling is one of the many factors which contributes to color fade faster in between salon visits, we have seen hot irons burn off hair color right in front of our eyes. Too hot of tools will dehydrate your hair and contribute to split ends. We recommend using a heat protectant, one of our favorites is Retain made by Eufora.
4- Use color safe shampoo and conditioner.
You might be thinking, “yeah, yeah” every hairdresser says that because they want to make a sale. That may be true for some salons, at Chrome Salon NY our goal is for you to have healthy, beautiful hair! We put so much effort into your hair color and want to see it last for you as long as it possibly can. You are our walking advertisement. The last thing we want is to spend 2-5 hours creating a beautiful new color for you, to have you go home and loose that color within no time at all, because you didn’t realize the shampoo you have at home is mostly made up of sulfates. To call us later call us and tell us we didn’t do something right. It’s okay to have a sulfate or two in a shampoo, but should not be at the top of the ingredient list. We definitely don’t want to see Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Silicones, Polyethene Glycol, Formaldehyde, Mineral Oil or Parabens. These are all nasty and harmful ingredients.
There is a huge difference between manufacturers, what they put in their products, what they “don’t” put in their products. The purer the ingredients the more expensive the product becomes. We’ve carefully chosen brands that perform really well over time, are planet, people and pet friendly. Each manufacturer is unique and they do have broad selections of shampoo, conditioners, treatments & other products, which may or may not be a good choice for you. They are made with different hair textures and conditions in mind. Although not always explained on the packaging, we take continual education learning about the products, and get a lot of feedback from our clients. Having a professional help you select a product specifically made for your hair type, texture and condition is a win, win! If you’re not happy with a product, bring it back after a couple of uses and we will gladly give your salon credit.
Chrome Salon NY