Avoid Red Color Killers and Maintain Vibrant Red Hair

By Naomi KoganPublished On: March 4th, 20222.1 min readLast Updated: May 22nd, 2023

Hello, my little lucky charms! I couldn’t help but notice that fast approaching us is a fun and underrated holiday, St. Patrick’s day. Which instantly made me think about all the gorgeous redheads coming in and out of the salon every day. So, this one’s for all you artificial ginger snaps out there! Let’s talk about how to best care for and maintain those pigments.

A woman with vibrant copper-colored hair, displaying long, luxurious curls against a dark background.

As per usual, let’s start with the basics. When my clients ask about how long they should wait to wash their hair, I typically say that it’s a good idea to wait a day or two before shampooing. You want to make sure your hair has fully absorbed the pigments and molecules.

Then when you’re ready, wash your hair with COOL water and a color safe or sulfate free shampoo. While you’re in there, make sure that your shower head has a filter to protect you from minerals but regardless, turn down that water temp because hot water is a red color killer! If you’re in need of a product recommendation, I’d suggest the cult classic Hydrate shampoo and conditioner from Pureology. It’s known for it’s vegan ingredients and color safe qualities!

An animated gif of a character with a bar of soap for a head, slipping and sliding in a bathtub while trying to maintain balance. the shower curtain and a rug are visible in the background.

Next, we’re gonna talk about environmental and mechanical heat, AKA the second biggest color killer out there.

When I say environmental heat, I’m talking about the sun! That guy can be brutal, aside from sunburns and skin cancer, watch out for hair color fade-age. A product you must have in your arsenal is the Hairdresser’s Invisible Oil Primer from Bumble, it’s a normal leave in conditioner but it has UV protection so it’s like a sunscreen for your hair.

Now, when I say mechanical heat, I mean blow dryers and irons! Turn it down, girl. I promise you don’t need that 400 degrees. Put your blow dryer on medium and your flat iron on 300 or 350. If you struggle with styling your hair, check out the Heat Shield line from Bumble as well! There’s a Blow Dry Accelerator and a Thermal Protection Mist for faster drying time and shielding against hot tools up to 450 degrees.