Keeping Red Hair Red
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So today I’ve decided to share with you what products I use on my (dyed) red hair. My hair has been this colour for five months now and I can’t see me being any colour other for a good while. Prior to going red, I had the ombre look, and although I did love it, the two boxes of hair dye a month was pretty expensive (two as I have to dye my hair brown first due to being naturally blonde). The hair dye I used I had bought back in May when I dyed my hair really dark brown for the Yolo Upon a Time Murder Mystery (I was Snow White) and I didn’t originally want to keep it so I was just going to shove some red dye over it and hope for the best. But in the end I never got around to it.
Anyway, that’s the story of my red hair. I do love it though. I’ve only been a red head once before back when I was seventeen but the red over my blonde just faded to ginger after a week or so. Having a brunette base has definitely given me a much nicer colour a few weeks post-dye. While in Edinburgh, a woman in a shop in the Castle told me it was the most “stunning” colour, her words, not mine. You can’t get better than that!
I’m not going to pretend to be an expert on the subject of keeping dyed red hair a nice colour and most importantly, good condition but these are the products I use and they’re working for me.
The hair dye and colour I favour is L’Oreal Paris Feria in Plum Power. Yes, plum. I don’t know about you, but when I think of plum, I think of a reddy purple but there is no purple in this hair colour. In fact my hair turns the exact colour as it is on the box, I think that’s why I love it. It leaves my hair in good condition, smells great and does what it says on the box, I think those are the reasons I always go for this one. It’s a permanent colour which is rare for me as usually I go for temporary but I figured if I get bored I can always dye it brown again because I won’t ever be going back to blonde. It retails for between £5 and £6, which isn’t bad giving it covers all my hair, I can’t imagine how much that would cost in a hair dressers!
Next up, washing said hair. Ever since I first dyed my hair brown seven years ago, I always favoured James Brown’s Colour Enhance Shampoo and Condition. It had nothing to do with Kate Moss either. I was drawn to the simple packaging and from the first smell, I was hooked. Of course that’s not the only reason I continue to use them after all this time. I do believe they work wonders at keeping my colour bright even after 5/6 weeks of washing. My biggest problem is my hair grows so fast I always get blonde roots, which against red, look really washed out (think dirty dish water). They’re not the cheapest shampoo & condition you can buy at £6.12 a bottle, however Boots often has them on 3 for 2 or two for £10 so I usually stock up. These are miniatures which I received in a set for Christmas.
I’m a huge advocate of the hair mask. I have quite a few for different things, preventing split ends, volume, general repair, but at the moment my favourite for coloured hair is Bleach London’s Reincarnation Mask. I picked this up on a whim when Boots had all their haircare on 3 for 2 mix and match over Christmas, mainly because I was so desperate to try the Bleach London range and I didn’t want to dabble with any of the colours. When I saw the hair mask that is formulated for dyed hair I thought I’d give it a try. Again, I love the simple packaging, the silver tube with the black writing is so professional. It also smells fantastic and a little bit of it goes a long way. I usually wet my hair, apply this mask then wrap it in a warm towel for 30 minutes to an hour. Then I wash it out and continue shampooing and conditioning as normal. I do this once a week and afterwards my hair feels so soft and looks so much healthier. It’s also only £6, which is a great price as far as hair masks go.
When I do use heat on my hair, which isn’t often (because I’m lazy) I like to use a heat defence spray. This wonderful VO5 Cherish My Colour Spray* is what I’m currently using because it not only protects your hair from the damaged cause by heated styling tools but it also protects from colour fade. As i’ve said with all the products I use, it really does smell great, which is important to me because I like to have nice smelling hair. This is also only £3.89, which is great as with the amount of hair I have, I tend to use a lot.
Being a mother means I don’t wash my hair as much as I’d like to these days and although I like shine, I don’t like that greasy shine so I always have a can of dry shampoo at hand. When my last one ran out I decided to give the new Batiste Vibrant Red a try. I’ve been a long time fan of Batiste and although some of their scented ones give my stomach a turn (urgh the Floral one!) so I had high hopes for this, luckily it didn’t let down. First let me say the contents of the can are red, very red, but luckily so is my hair. My favourite thing about this is I can use it cover my roots when they start getting really bad! It works like other dry shampoos, it buys you an extra day between washes. £3.99 for a can that lasts me a good few months, I can’t really complain!
Of course I use other styling products on my hair, but these are the only ones I specifically choose to help keep my hair colour for longer. I’d say in their own way, they all work and together if it wasn’t for my insanely fast growing hair and my horrible roots I’d get away with dying my hair every 12 weeks or so, alas I don’t and it has to be once a month!
10 Comments
Issy Goode
I’ve had my hair red going on five years now and it’s so hard to keep it healthy and bright! But I’ll definitely have to try out some of these products, so thank you for this post!
The only thing I’d say is, if you do plan to go back to brown in the future, expect it to take a considerable amount of time. When I dyed my hair brown after 1 year of being red, it took me about 9 months for it to stop fading back to red within a couple of weeks. And now I’ve been red for another 4 years, I don’t expect my hair will allow me to ever return to a light colour!
Really helpful post, thank you again!
xx
Hayley Warren
I love the heat spray and the dry shampoo, I use them all the time!
I always always go back to bright red hair, it feels more like me than ginger or dark red.
Rachael
I’ve had red hair for around the last two years, I find that often too many products for red hair make it more likely to fade and more likely to last with just cold water when cleaning it and only cleaning it a couple of times a week.
Nayna Kanabar
Good recommendations of products, I agree with you the dry shampoo is a life saver.
Vicky Wombwell Kuhn
Great tips for any vibrantly coloured hair. I did wonder about the Batiste coloured sprays – knowing that they come out brown/red/blondish. I have purple hair right now so none would fit, but it’s good to know the coloured spray looks natural. I’m not so keen on he normal Batiste because of the white powder and use Dove Dry shampoo, which is the only clear dry shampoo I have found. Great post – thank ypu for sharing 🙂
Love Vicky
http://aroundandupsidedown.co.uk/
Tania Franco
Thanks for sharing the products you use on your hair. I’ve been wanting to dye my hair for a while no, and I may just try some of these products. :))
xx,
Tania
http://inspiremyfancy.blogspot.com
Jennifer Tulip
I use the same dye colour as you and just use Rose Red Directions on top to make give it a glossier and brighter berry colour. I just add it to my conditioner each time I wash my hair and leave it on for 5-10 minutes. I find that my hair looks dry and washed out quickly if I dont use the directions.I really recommend using the semi permanent Directions as it makes my hair so shiny and vibrant but it does mean you have permanently pink tile grouting!
Jenni x
The Thrifty Magpies Nest
Kate Pirouette
I miss having red hair, but mine always seems to gain a gingery flow that I despise. I need to remember this post for future redness reference!
Kate xx
Just Pirouette and Carry On…
Jodie Santer
Thank you for recommend these products! I’ve be dying my hair red for a while now and I’m always on the look out for new hair care products – red hair is high maintenance!
Jodie x
lisa prince
i tried keeping my hair red before , being blonde it went flourescent pink then orange lol, never again but thanks for sharing x