Asian woman with red hair color

How Often Should You Color Your Hair?

This is for the all the girls who love switching up their hair color!

There is something fun, exciting, and empowering about being able to change your hair color anytime you want. After all, having a new hair color is like having a new persona and starting a new life.

That’s probably why women—and men, we don’t discriminate here—love to experiment with hair color. But just how many changes can your hair undergo without damaging it too much? Read on to find out.

When Should You Update Your Hair Color?

Orange hair: Closeup shot of a girl with apricot hair against a light gray background
Look pastel-pretty in this sweet apricot hair color. Credit: Shutterstock

When it’s a matter of necessity

Some people decide to re-color the moment those unsightly roots start to show. After all, nobody wants their roots peeking or an unintentional two-toned hair. Others color because they want their hair to stay bold and vibrant. Some hair colors, especially pastel colors, tend to get duller over time so recoloring will retain their hue.

Editor’s tip: Protect your hair color and make the hue vibrant for longer with a good hair conditioning routine. We love Cream Silk Color Protect Conditioner as it has a Color Protect Complex and is specially designed to protect colored hair from dryness and dullness.

When your hair can take it

How often should you color your hair: Profile shot of a woman with long green hair wearing a black dress
Can your tresses handle another coloring treatment? Credit: indigitalimages.com

Coloring your hair also has a profound effect on your tresses. The process involves more than just staining your strands especially for us with naturally dark hair. Usually, to get the hair color we want, we need to bleach our hair first. Since the bleaching process involves harmful chemicals, we recommend going to a salon professional to get it done. Having the wrong mixture may cause damage on your hair, on your scalp, and even on the skin surrounding your face

What happens to your hair when it’s colored?

First, the ammonia found in your hair dye breaks through your cuticles (your hair’s protective barrier) to let the dye’s molecules in. Once that’s done, the peroxide strips your hair of its natural color to make way for the new color. While this allows you to play around with your hair any way you want, the harsh chemicals found in dyes can lead to brittle, frizzy hair and split ends.

Even a one-time hair coloring process can cause damage to your hair. Doing it over and over again over a small time frame would damage it even further and may even lead to hair loss. So before you schedule another hair coloring appointment, assess your tresses and determine if it can withstand another round of coloring.

Tub of TRESemme Keratin Smooth KERA10 Smoothing Mask

Editor’s tip: To keep your hair from frizzing out and feeling rough and dry, include a hair mask as part of your weekly hair care routine. Apply TRESemmé Keratin Smooth Treatment Mask as it helps to nourish hair by infusing keratin from root to tip, great for hair damaged by hair coloring.

But don’t let this deter you from expressing yourself and trying all the hair colors available out there. If you’re itching to get a new shade for your mane, schedule it in four or six-week intervals to give your strands time to recover.

Fab Hair Colors to Try

Ready for a change of hair color? Try these.

1. Ash gray

How often should you change your hair color: Woman with shoulder length dip dyed gray hair wearing a black coat and black hat
Ash gray hair? It’s a yay for us! Credit: Melodie Jeng

You may be asking, “Why would anyone want gray hair?” The answer: it’s hip, street, and edgy! You don’t have to color all your strands gray. Go for dip-dyed or ombre gray hair, and for sure, your look will be major #goals.

2. Two-toned hair

How often should you change your hair color: Woman with pink and blue long hair wearing a black sleeveless top
Two pastels like blush pink and light blue can go together on your hair. Credit: Shutterstock

We don’t mean getting an accidentally two-toned hair because your roots are already showing. If you fall in love with two gorgeous hair colors, pick both of them! Just make sure they are complementary so your hair colors form one cohesive look.

3. Pink ombre hair

Woman with purple to pink ombre bob
Go for a vibrant ombre hair with these happy hues. Credit: Shutterstock

Make pink hair color even more dramatic by going for pink ombre hair. If you’re the artsy and creative type, this hair color is perfect. Who knows? It might even cheer you up on a gloomy day.

Editor’s tip: Got damaged hair because of frequent styling and coloring? Use TRESemmé Total Salon Repair Shampoo to help repair your strands and help restore your hair’s natural protective barrier. 

4. Multicolored hair

How often should you change your hair color: Asian woman with long wavy multicolored hair wearing a black top
Ready for a bold move? Go for multicolored hair!

Dreaming of becoming a unicorn? You can be one through your hair! Choose different pastel shades and let your stylist combine them in your hair like a rainbow. To keep the focus on your colorful hair, wear neutral clothing and accessories to ground your look.

5. Chestnut brown hair

How often should you change your hair color: Asian woman with long dark hair wearing a black shirt outdoors
Give depth and dimension to your naturally dark tresses by dyeing your hair chestnut brown.

If you want something classic and more natural-looking, you won’t go wrong with brown. There are a lot of brown shades to choose from—from dark, decadent shades like chocolate brown and deep chocolate to medium and light ones like cinnamon and ash brown. If you want a brown shade with a tinge of red, try chestnut brown hair. It will surely look great with your morena skin.

Taking Care of Damaged Colored Hair

If you have damaged colored hair, you shouldn’t ignore it or leave it alone because it can become worse and may affect overall styling. Instead, you should take care of it and take steps to revive your damaged hair. Interested? Do read on and learn.

1. Avoid too much heat styling

How often should you color your hair: Asian girl is holding a hair straightener and clipping her hair with it.
Heat destroys your hair. Credit: Hariono Halim

Yes, we understand how heat styling gives us smoother and shinier hair. But overdoing it is the perfect recipe for worsening damaged colored hair! As much as possible, keep your heat-styling tools away from your hair and just let your hair air-dry while scrunching it to achieve the same shiny results.

Editor’s tip: On occasions where you really need to use your tools, make sure to protect your hair with VO5 Heat Protect Spray. It gives your hair a smooth and shiny finish while protecting the strands from heat for up to 230°C. 

2. Avoid straining hair

How often should you color your hair: Asian girl wearing a white jacket is stretching her ponytail
Hair trauma can worsen damaged colored hair. Credit: Hariono Halim

Do you like putting your hair up in a tight ponytail or bun? This is causing your hair strain and trauma which can cause further damage. When it is stretched too much, you run the risk of pulling them out which can eventually lead to baldness in extreme cases. But why wait for that to happen if you can start saving your hair today?

3. Protect your hair

How often should you color your hair: Asian girl is wearing a bandana on her hair
Protect your hair from the sun the conventional way. Credit: Natasha Estelle

Yes, there are so many hair products today that claim to protect your hair from the elements. But why spend when you can protect your hair the natural and conventional way–with a bandana? It doesn’t only keep your tresses safe from the sun’s harmful rays but it also serves as a fashion statement. There are so many ways of wearing this bandana style that you can learn!

4. Trim your hair

How often should you color your hair: girl is smiling at the camera and has her hand touching her hair softly
Trimming your hair’s tips regularly keeps it looking healthy. Credit: Natasha Estelle

Do you start seeing split ends as your hair grows longer? This is because the longer your hair, the fewer nutrients reach it. And nobody likes to have split ends on their hair! So, to keep this from happening, get a regular hair trim every 4 to 6 weeks to ensure that your hair grows healthy and split-free.

Nothing is stopping you from experimenting with different hair colors. As long as your strands have recovered and you’re giving your hair extra TLC, you won’t risk damaging your tresses after each dyeing session.