Brassy Hair No More: How to Maintain Blonde and Bleached Hair
Bid brassy tones goodbye and preserve your hair color with these tips.
Imagine this: You step out of the salon, perfectly happy with your new platinum blonde hair. You show it off to your friends, take selfies and post on social media, and confidently rock your new ‘do. But after a few weeks, you look in the mirror and see that your once gorgeous, blonde mane has been replaced by brassy hair. How did this happen?
You get brassy hair when warm undertones pop out of your current hair color. It’s common in dark hair that has been bleached to blonde, ash, or any light color. It’s especially true for Asian hair, with its black and brown pigmentation, thicker cuticle layer, and compact cuticle cells.
What Causes Brassy Hair?
Because of Asian hair’s characteristics, it takes several rounds of bleaching to lighten it, as you have to get past this thick cuticle layer. When you finally get rid of the dark pigment, you’ll see your hair turning reddish or orange. These are your hair’s warm undertones. To get blonde hair, your hairstylist will then use a toner to counteract this brassiness and get the color you want. However, after a few weeks, the effects of this toner will start to wear off; hence brassy hair.
How Do You Fix Brassy Hair?
1. Use purple shampoo.
Let’s talk about colors for a bit. Remember the color wheel your art teacher showed you when you were in elementary school? There, you’ll see that purple and yellow are placed opposite each other on the color wheel. This means that they are complementary colors and they balance each other out.
This is why when you have your hair bleached, it’s recommended that you switch to purple shampoo like TRESemmé Pro-Color Series Blonde Brilliance Shampoo. Its purple formula neutralizes brassy tones as bits of the violet dye get deposited on your hair. The result? Your hair appears ashy instead of brassy.
For best results, complement TRESemmé Pro-Color Series Blonde Brilliance Shampoo with TRESemmé Pro-Color Series Blonde Brilliance Conditioner. Aside from purple formula, both have jojoba oil which moisturizes your hair.
2. Stay away from hot showers.
Hot water opens up your hair cuticles, making your dye fade more quickly. The best way to wash bleached and color-treated hair is to use lukewarm or cool water along with products designed for colored hair. After shampooing and conditioning your hair, rinse off with cool water to close your hair cuticles.
3. Protect your hair from the sun.
The sun’s UV rays are known to damage your hair and cause discoloration and dryness and make your hair fibers weak. When going out, make sure to shield your hair from the sun by wearing a hat or a bandana or by using an umbrella.
4. Pamper your hair with deep conditioning treatments.
Bring back lost moisture to your bleached hair by giving it a moisturizing hair mask treatment at least once a week. This will help your color-treated hair look smooth, shiny, and vibrant.
With these easy tips, you can preserve your blonde and other bleached hair colors and keep your mane from turning brassy. You may need to go the extra mile in the hair care department, but trust us, the effort is worth it, as you can enjoy your hair color for longer.
