Earlier this week, we posted about best practices for coloring your hair at home and extending your haircolor. Getting to the salon, as stated, sometimes is just impossible. Things come up, excellent stylists book up- and if you, like me, have some super-premature gray hair, those in-between periods can be nearly unbearable. (It doesn’t help when your best friend points out that she didn’t realize how peppery your roots are.) Even coloring at home can be a commitment- I’ve been doing it for the better part of two decades and I still manage to touch up the sink, part of the wall and all my towels.
Whether you color at home, in a salon or have a personal stylist who touches up your roots poolside while you sip Dom Perignon, sometimes it causes less damage and work when you can color less frequently. Here are some ways to put off the task of coloring your hair a bit longer- although, very few beauty thrills are as potent as freshly tinted locks.
Color depositing shampoos: These aren’t going to dramatically change your hair hue, but they will go some way in staving off a stint in the salon chair. For me, it’s Aveda’s Black Malva. Options are available for every shade, but you might want to try a smaller size or keep the receipt when beta-ing a new product- I learned this the hard way when a British henna formula turned my black hair an unfetching eggplant color.
Wash it less: My friend Amy has the most amazing hair- and frustratingly, when you ask her what her secret is, she says it’s washing it infrequently. Finer haired girls can’t quite get away with such shenanigans, but my hair is the finest texture ever, and even I can go two showers without washing if I touch it up with heat.
A dry shampoo like Fekkai’s Au Naturel will freshen and perk up post-shower cap hair, and Bumble and Bumble’s Hair Powders come in a range of shades to boost color when removing unwanted shine. And one thing I have noticed is integral for this task is a decent shower cap. Any large one with a tight band is sufficient, but there are some cute fancy versions like Dry Divas that could make not shampooing a bit more palatable. (And adorable.) The fewer washes your hair is subject to, the longer color will last.
Be prepared: Inevitably, there will be times when your roots feel so obvious right before a proper touch-up. Luckily, there are some last-ditch options til your stylist makes space for you. Rita Hazan’s Root Concealer helps hide grays and demarcation, and Oscar Blandi’s Pronto Colore Root Touch-Up & Highlighting Pen comes in a wealth of shades to match hair accurately.
Do you have any tips or tricks for the awkward period just before you recolor?
