Color Treated Hair

What if I have color treated hair? 

Honestly, this is a tricky question without a straightforward answer.  The less frequently you wash your hair, the longer your color will last (because even water itself will cause color to leak).  If you have dandruff, you will need to shampoo a couple times a week to keep things at bay. If you have color treated hair, you can choose a sulfate free shampoo, which utilizes alternative soap-forming ingredients to make shampoo foamy.  They are not universally proven to be gentler on color treated hair; they don’t have sulfates, but may have other harsh soaps that can strip color just as well. Below are a few tips:

1. Use the conditioner first method, as I described above.  Put conditioner on the ends of your hair prior to putting shampoo on your scalp to avoid getting shampoo on the ends of your hair.  It’s not necessary to wash the ends of your hair anyways — just the scalp needs to be cleaned.
2. Wash as infrequently as you can tolerate.  Many people know this intuitively: people with straight/oily hair need to shampoo more frequently than those with curly/dry hair.  If your scalp isn’t oily and your hair looks okay, don’t wet it or wash it.  

I’d recommend using a showercap so that you can take a quick bodyshower without ruining your hair.  It will preserve your color, save you time in the morning, and save water!  Win-win. Any old showercap will do, but fancy showercaps have becoming more popular (as featured in the NY Times), including this one from Shhhowercap.  Make it fashion!