Whether you’re making a subtle shift or completely changing things up, colouring your hair can make a big difference to your overall look.
Soft copper, onyx brunette and sandy brown tones—along with bolder and braver choices like peachy highlights and platinum blonde—are making waves in the hair scene right now, so updating your hue may be on your beauty to-do list.
So before you head to the salon for a professional colouring treatment, there are some critical steps to colouring your strands.
Here, we speak to the details you don’t want to miss before you take a pigmentation plunge.
1. Give Your Hair The Love It Needs
The golden rule in haircare? Healthy hair is happy hair.
It’s especially vital for our strands to be looking (and feeling) their best before we add colouring fuel to the (metaphorical) fire. Hair cuticles that are damaged and dry are less likely to hold on to pigment resulting in a colour that’s not the desired shade or fades after just a few washes.
Additionally, some colour treatments like bleaching dissolve the pigment molecules in hair and damage the keratin proteins within. Having healthy hair from the outset can make a big difference in reducing the damage that comes with the final result.
Use hair-loving treatments, like masks and serums, to keep hair moisturised and strong in the weeks leading up to hair colouring. Kérastase’s Elixir Ultime Original Hair Oil is formulated with three powerful oils (marula oil, argan oil and camellia oil) to nourish, tame frizz and seal split ends for shiny, healthy hair.
The multi-use hair oil also has thermo protection anti-humidity properties, strengthening capabilities and restores shine to the hair fibre, all while leaving it with an intoxicatingly irresistible fragrance. Use on wet or dry hair, working one or two pumps into the mid-lengths and ends of hair.
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2. Consider The End Result
Whether you spot your new hue via an Instagram influencer, a celeb on the red carpet or a fashion runway, considering how a colour may look on you can make all the difference.
Ensure you pick a shade that compliments your skin tone and undertone (think warm, cool or neutral) so it looks good in all types of lighting and through every season.
As a general rule, warm colours like copper, chestnut and golden-brown suit warmer skin tones, while those with cooler tones should stick to cool shades like ash, French brown and platinum blonde.
If you’re choosing to go lighter, consider the time frame needed to achieve the final result. When it comes to going blonde, slow and steady wins the style race, so it may take up to six months to achieve the light look you’re going for.
3. Know Your After Care
Having healthy hair before any dye job is imperative, but so too is choosing a care routine that keeps your colour in tip-top shape afterwards.
While switching up your shade can make hair look and feel healthier, coloured hair is more prone to damage and breakage, so choose products that focus on repairing and restoring your strands.
Keep an eye out for shampoos and conditioners that are specifically formulated for colour-treated hair (like the sulfate-free Kérastase Chroma Absolu collection), with ingredients that gently cleanse and hydrate at the same time.
Blending expertise with innovation, Kérastase’s iconic products are backed by pioneering science, offering solutions for every woman wanting exceptional hair. Explore the innovative products and bespoke rituals here.
Brought to you by Kérastase.
Since 1964, Kérastase has built its success on delivering exceptional performance to the scalp and hair through exquisite products and bespoke, in-salon treatments, all powered by scientific expertise, professional knowledge and an intuitive understanding of what people truly want from hair care.
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