How long does temporary hair color last? (Tips To Make It Last Longer)

Hair color is the go-to method to shake things up. Whether you want to look different for an event or you are just bored, you can always count on temporary hair color. However, using temporary hair color is not as simple as it sounds.

There is a lot to coloring your hair, even temporarily, besides choosing the kind of coloring you want. Depending on what kind of results you want to achieve, you should use different methods. Further, you should know all the relevant details about temporary hair color before you decide to use it.

How Long Does Temporary Hair Color Last?

On average temporary hair color lasts about four to 6 weeks, provided the hair is healthy. However, this amount can be considerably higher if you have very light hair. Also, in case your hair is color-damaged, your hair color will last longer than 6 weeks. This is because temporary hair color is able to penetrate into the layers of damaged hair.

What Causes To Fade Out Temporary Hair Color?

Some practices may cause temporary hair color to fade out faster than it should. Here are some reasons temporary hair color may fade out quickly:

Split Ends

Believe it or not, split ends cause your hair color to fade away faster. If your hair lacks proteins, the molecules of your hair dye may not have anything to hook themselves on to. This will prevent them from attaching to your hair properly. Thus, your hair color will wash away faster than you expect it to.

You Did Not Leave It On Long Enough

When you dye your hair, you need to leave the color on your hair for some time. This ensures that your hair absorbs all the color. This is especially true if you want to cover your hair that has gone gray.

This is because the strands of your hair that are gray take additional time to absorb and lock in the hair color. However, you want to be careful with the amount of time you leave the dye on.

If you leave it on for too long for the fear of it fading out too quickly, you might get a lighter or darker shade of color. Then, it would take a few days to weeks before you get the color you were originally going for.

In some cases, you may not even achieve the hair color you wanted. You would have to wait for the current hair color to wash out completely. Then, you would have to apply the dye again to get the desired color.

You Do Not Use Good Water

When it comes to hair, you should not ignore the water you wash it with. This is because water contains many dissolved elements. Some of these can be unhealthy for your hair. One of the most common issues with water is that people have access to hard water.

This water contains a very high amount of minerals. It forms when water passes through limestone, gypsum, etc. Then, minerals like calcium, magnesium, and sulfates dissolve in it. These minerals deposit on your hair.

Once these deposits are formed, they make your hair look dull. Also, they make it difficult for your hair to absorb anything, including moisture and color. Thus, if the color is not absorbed properly, it wears out quickly.

You Did Not Use The Right Technique

If your hair color does not last as long as it is supposed to, the root cause is that your hair has not absorbed all the color properly. In turn, this can be due to improper technique.

You should first mix your hair with shampoo. Then you should massage the hair and color together. This ensures that you have opened up your hair cuticles. It gives your hair the chance to absorb as much color as required.

Wrong Temperature

So, suppose you have colored your hair. Now it is time to wash off all the excess color. You grab the nearest available water and wash the extra color without making a mess. Right? Well, wrong. You should make sure that you use warm water.

However, using water that is too hot will not help you. It will make your hair cuticles open up again. So when you shampoo your hair, the color will also wash out. While it seems like a small step, using the right temperature water will make a world of difference.

Washing It Too Soon

Usually, when you do something to your hair, you wash it as soon as possible. However, you should not do this with hair color. This is not to say that you should not wash the excess color off. Once you have removed the extra layer of color, you should wait at least one day before applying shampoo.

This will ensure that the color settles in your hair. In addition to this, you should not shampoo your hair too often with hair color, if you want to preserve it. Otherwise, your hair color may not last very long.

Moreover, you should use the right products to ensure that your hair color lasts. You should make sure that you use products with the right pH. If you use products that increase the pH, your hair cuticles will open up again. This would make your hair color fade away.

With a bunch of products in the market, it can often get confusing as to which ones to buy. You want to look for hair care products with SFS. That said, you must ask your stylist for help if you are unsure. They would be able to tell you which ones suit your hair type.

Alcohol-Based Products

If you style your hair often, you must have come across an alcohol-based product or two. However, this is one of the reasons why your hair color is fading out before it is supposed to. This is because alcohol makes your hair dry. Thus, it makes your hair color fade faster.

How To Make Semi Permanent Hair Dye Last Longer?

If you have dyed your hair with Semi-permanent hair color and you want it to last longer, you can use the following tips:

Find The Health Of Your Hair

This is something you should do before coloring your hair. You should first test how healthy your hair is by assessing the moisture and protein levels. If these levels are low, you would want to first do a treatment that improves them. In this way, you can ensure that your color lasts longer.

Apply Protection

When you go out in the Sun, you want to protect yourself from the UV rays. However, you should not forget to protect your hair. Even though your hair may not feel pain, direct exposure to sunlight can damage it. Also, it can make the hair color fade.

Thus, you should apply products that protect your hair from the rays of the sun. Some shampoos come with such abilities. If applying an additional product is too much of a task, you can try using shampoos or conditioners that come with built-in protection.

In addition to this, you should also protect your hair from heat when you style it. So, if you are using an iron or a curling wand on your hair, you should first apply a spray. This will minimize the damage to your hair and make your hair color last.

Touch Up

Temporary hair color is not meant to last very long on your hair. However, if you love the color and want it to last a bit more, you can use touch-ups. That said, it cannot replicate what you had initially.

Avoid Blow-Drying

You should try drying your hair whenever possible. This is because too much heat can be bad for your hair color. However, avoiding heat completely may not be practical. Hence, when you blow-dry your hair, you should reduce the heat. In this way, you are keeping the hair color on for as long as feasible.

Use Aiding Products

Did you know that there are shampoos that aid hair color? This is because, whenever you wash your hair using such shampoos, they will add a bit of color to your hair. However, if you cannot find any such product, you could do it yourself.

You could simply add a bit of your hair dye into the shampoo or conditioner. This way, every time you wash your hair, you would also be coloring your hair. That said, you should be careful of this method. This is because you cannot exactly control the amount of color.

Further, after you wash your hair, do not expect your hair color to be exactly the same. This does not mean that it will take a turn for the worse. In addition to this, you can shower with cold water every time you wash your hair.

This will keep your cuticles closed, thus preserving the color. Another trick is to wash your hair with a bit of vinegar soon after dyeing it. This will help keep your hair color fresh.

Conclusion

You now know how long you can expect your hair color to last. Additionally, you can avoid things that make it fade faster and follow the tips to get the best results. Hope you have a fun time with your colored hair!