Isn’t freshly coloured hair a thing of beauty? Blonde, brunette or redhead, newly tinted locks have a vibrant sheen that just glows. Everyone compliments your new colour, and you swish your hair around feeling pretty pleased with life.
And then a few weeks later, you suddenly realise that your radiant hair colour is no more. That zingy freshness has gone, replaced by a slightly faded equivalent. Blondes especially may notice that the bright tint when they left the salon is gradually morphing into a slightly brassy, yellowish shade which is altogether less pleasing to the eye.
So, how do you get rid of brassy tones on blonde hair?
Colour is always going to grow out and fade with time. But there are sneaky little low effort things you can do to keep that elusive vibrancy for longer. Read on for the best way to tone your hair and some super handy colour maintenance tricks:
Lay off the washing. How many times a week should I wash my hair? We hear you asking. Every time you wash your hair after a colour, it fades a little more. So, it makes sense that if you can cut that down to 2 or 3 times a week, you’ll see your colour last longer. Especially bleached blondes – bleach often makes hair more porous, which means it will absorb more of the minerals from tap water, causing discolouration.
When you do wash – use the right products. Blondes, that means dedicated purple toning products. The best hair purple shampoo is Lee Stafford Bleach Blondes Purple Toning Shampoo and Conditioner is violet tinted, banishing yellow tones and infusing hair with much needed post-colouring nourishment from hair loving ingredients like Chamomile and Moringa Seed Extract. (Tip – only use violet shampoos once or twice a week to prevent colour build-up).
Embrace the cold wash. While it may make you shudder, cold water helps seal the hair cuticle and makes hair shinier. Shine is coloured hair’s best friend.
Hit up the shine Spray. Speaking of shine – keep coloured hair vibrant for longer with a shine spray.Lee Stafford award winning Head Shine Spray is a lightweight, non-greasy high shine topcoat that will give your colour a dazzling finish. Zing!
Use a Treatment Mask. Blondes, this is especially important to keep that brassiness at bay. Lee Stafford Purple Toning Treatment is formulated with violet pigment to keep your blonde bright – while also lavishing hair with nourishment to protect and reduce damage from bleaching, UV rays and heat.
Maintaining colour is about protection and care – with the right products and washing tricks, you can keep that fresh vibe right through to your next salon visit. Try our vibrant colour tricks and let us know how you go.
Bleach Blondes Everyday Care Colour Love Tone Saving Shampoo and Conditioner are great to use daily to maintain your blonde in-between toning washes. Containing nourishing Moringa Extract (also known as miracle tree) this delectable duo will gently cleanse and conditioner whilst providing that nourishment you’re searching for. With ingredients like Camomile and Pro-Vitamin B5 they work together to keep natural, highlighted, and bleached hair nourished moisturised , shiny and healthy.
Add a kiss of life for bleached hair using Bleach Blondes Colour Love Everyday Care Golden Girl Oil. A life saver. This weightless, non-greasy, non-oily oil is perfect for everyday care for all blondes – whether you are completely natural, have a few highlights or a bit of balayage or are 100% Bleach Blonde. This simple serum- like magical mixture helps hydrate nourish hair. This oil helps wet hair feel more manageable when styling, more combable, leaving hair silky smooth. The unique blend of ingredients includes Sunflower Seed Extract, a lightweight, taming hydrator that boosts radiance and amplifies shine.
2 - Treat it regularly
We all deserve a little treat every now and then and so does your hair. When you feel like your hair is at breaking point it’s important to restore and replenish and bring life back to you blonde. We recommend Bleach Blondes Colour Love Tone Saving Everyday Care Treatment is an intensive and luxurious treatment packed with ingredients such as Cuapuacu extract, Cocoa and Omega 9 work to instantly re-texturisereinforce fragile hair.
And the clever part, it has advanced damage targeting technology to rebalance and seal the cuticle for smooth and sleek results. Our blonde friends, we’ve all been there. We’ve got you. Don’t panic. Be a mane queen and let your blonde be the jewel in your crown. And wear that crown proudly!
3 - Always use protection
It’s inevitable, heat styling and environmental nasties like UV rays and pollution cause damage to our hair and it’s almost impossible to avoid them. Take extra care of your blonde locks by using a protection spray that will reduce the damage they cause. Professional Heat Protection with P2FIFTY Complex isa true hair hero. This Heat Protection Spray is part of our Poker Straight range which contains our P2FiFTY complex™ to protect your hair from the heat of irons up to 250 degrees.
The special blend of ingredients includes Olive Leaf and Cactus Flower extract this protective mist ensures guilt free heat styling for complete confidence every time you pick up your straighteners. Leaving your golden locks bright and feeling healthy.
PURPLE REIGHN OR ICE WHITE?
Tones got you confused? Colour theory has a huge part to play in why toning shampoos do what they do. You see, the reason that pigment is used to correct blonde shades is that they immediately neutralise unwanted warm shades and help you on your way to the perfect tone. But why are there two different colours in the Lee Stafford Bleach Blonde collection? Why purple and why blue?
Purple colour is the opposite to yellow on the colour wheel, where as Blue colour Is the opposite to orange on the colour wheel.
Be extra physically gentle with your hair. Use a detangling brush to gently separate, starting at the ends. Avoid tight hair bands and pulling the hair into rigid styles.
Switch to a specialist hydrating shampoo and conditioner. Lee Stafford Scalp Love Surge of Moisture Shampoo and Conditioner are a sulphate free, super moisturising indulgence for your hair. Packed with natural hydrators, a complex of Avocado and Coconut Milk and pure Aloe Vera, hair is given an extra hit of moisture that will help protect against further breakage. It’s also the best product for a dry scalp and seriously helps reduce any flakiness or itchiness.
And finally - take those broken ends for a trim. We all want to know how to get rid of split ends. They make hair appear thin and unhealthy, while a fresh trim will help the condition give the appearance of thicker, fuller hair.
Sound hopeful? Give our hair recovery plan a go, and in no time at all your hair will be back on is A game.
Boost Your Hair Protein: Protein is really important for your follicles and growing strong hair because, well, hair is mainly made of protein. People on crash diets often find their hair starts to fall out, as the body priorities key organs. Try adding in some extra eggs, sweet potatoes, avocados, berries and spinach.
Lee Stafford’s Hair Growth Stimulating Scalp Serum is available from www.leestafford.comand selected Boots.
How do you volumise hair? Blow dry upside down. No, it’s not rocket science but it is quick, simple and it Blast the roots with the hair dryer for a few minutes, then flip hair the right way round and style as usual. That little bit of added volume at the roots turns flat hair into fabulous hair – hassle free.
Backcomb your way to volume success. An essential styling tool for ponytails and ‘hair up’ styles, backcombing hair a little at the root holds the volume all day long. Lee Stafford’s The Back Comberis the best brush to create volume and has a multi teeth design, meaning you can plump, lift and build volume in just a few strokes.
Tie hair up in bun before bed. This works because firstly, you won’t flatten long hair while you sleep on it and secondly, it encourages volume enhancing waves.
Finally – try flipping your hair to part of the other side. Yes, it might feel a bit weird and it might keep trying to flip itself back – but it will also give it some extra volume at the root with no extra effort whatsoever.
So go forth and create the low effort, lazy girl voluminous hair you always wanted.
