How to Choose the Best Shampoo For Colored Hair
The right shampoo can help maintain your dyed hair's vibrancy between salon visits. Unlike regular shampoos, color-protecting formulas gently cleanse without stripping and drying.
To keep your color looking vibrant and fresh, look for a sulfate-free shampoo with ingredients that prevent fade. We've rounded up our favorite picks below.
1. Look for Sulfate-Free Formulas
If you color your hair, it’s best to wash with a shampoo that’s extra gentle—sulfate-free formulas are great for preserving the hue of your dye job. Sulfates strip the strands of their natural oils, which can cause the color to fade faster.
Many sulfate-free shampoos are created with dry scalps in mind, so they have a higher concentration of moisturizing ingredients to help lock it all in. Some even contain antioxidants, which counteract free radicals that can damage the hair cuticle and fade the color.
There are plenty of sulfate-free shampoo options that you can find at your local drugstore or beauty supply store. If you’re really unsure, you can always ask your stylist to recommend one for you.
One of our favorite sulfate-free shampoos for color-treated hair is from Olaplex, which offers both a reparative in-salon treatment and a beloved at-home shampoo. The shampoo is formulated with the brand’s bonding technology that helps repair broken bonds in the hair during the coloring process, which extends the life of your dye job.
Another sulfate-free shampoo that’s recommended by colorists is from Kevin Murphy, which contains a blend of ingredients designed to protect your strands and preserve your shade. The formula includes a blend of gentle surfactants (like sodium cocoyl isethionate), which cleanses without stripping, and moisturizing shea butter, vitamin E, avocado oil, and sunflower seed oil.
2. Look for Protein-Enriched Formulas
Choosing shampoo for colored hair that prioritizes your scalp health is important because it helps keep your color vibrant and healthy. A good coloring shampoo will usually contain ingredients like nourishing shea butter, avocado oil, coconut oil and squalane that work to douse your strands in moisture. This hydration minimizes long-term damage, which also makes it easier for your hair to hold on to its dye color.
Another ingredient to look for is strengthening proteins. These are a must for all types of hair, but especially so for color-treated strands because they help prevent the weakened hair that causes fading and breaks. Choosing a protein-enriched shampoo for color treated hair that contains ingredients like hydrolyzed barley, wheat and oat protein, silk and keratin will help to strengthen your strands.
Color-safe shampoos will also typically contain hydrating ingredients, like glycerin, shea butter and natural oils, to lock in the moisture that your hair needs. Keeping your strands adequately moisturized will also minimize the drying effects of shampoo and protect them from premature oxidization, which can cause your hair color to fade.
Another tip for getting the most out of your color treatment is to wait 72 hours before washing your hair after it has been dyed. This allows the color molecules to fully seal in your strands and ensures that the pigment stays vibrant.
3. Look for Antioxidants
If you color your hair, it’s crucial to keep your strands in tip-top shape. Regular shampoos can strip your strands of their natural oils and cause them to fade, but shampoos formulated for color-treated hair help ensure that your mane stays vibrant and healthy. These products often contain special nourishing ingredients like hydration-boosting botanical extracts and nourishing oils to lock in moisture, helping your color last longer.
Look for a formula that contains antioxidants to combat free radicals in your scalp and hair. These powerful compounds prevent fading by neutralizing the damaging free radicals that break down your hair color pigments and make them dull.
In addition to nourishing strands, these shampoos often feature special ingredients designed to smooth the cuticles for a healthy, lustrous finish. This includes sulfate-free formulas that minimize the friction that causes tangling and flyaways as well as a blend of sunflower seed, apricot, and flaxseed oils to nourish and boost softness and shine.
One of our favorite shampoos for colored hair, the Olaplex Love Shampoo, is a mainstay in the salon world and now comes in an at-home version. The sulfate-free shampoo is made to be gentle but effective, using the same reparative technology that’s in the brand’s beloved in-salon treatment to rebuild broken hair bonds and strengthen the strands so they’re resilient against damage, frizz, and breakage.
4. Look for Moisturizing Formulas
A color-protecting shampoo shouldn’t just cleanse your strands, it should also nourish them. Look for formulas enriched with shea butter, glycerin and coconut oil to keep your locks hydrated so they’re less prone to drying out and becoming dull.
This sulfate-free shampoo from L’Oreal Paris is a top pick among color pros. It contains a blend of amino acids that strengthens your hair while protecting it from color fade and damage. It also features a blend of natural extracts, such as bee pollen, kelp and soap bark tree that helps preserve your dye job and boost its shine and vibrancy.
Another sulfate-free shampoo that’s great for preserving your color is this one from Kevin Murphy. It’s formulated with a blend of antioxidants, including pomegranate and vitamin C that help prevent the fading of your hair color. It also contains a blend of moisture-boosting ingredients, such as shea butter, sunflower, apricot and flax seed oils, to nourish your locks and improve their softness, shine and color vibrancy.
It’s important to wash your hair infrequently, as too many washes can dry out your strands and cause the color molecules to fade faster. Try to wash your hair no more than twice or three times per week. On the days in between, you can use a dry shampoo or a clarifying shampoo to get rid of excess buildup.
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