Last Updated on December 31, 2022 by Gaga
Blonde hair can look stunning, but blonde dyed hair requires extra effort to keep it looking its best. If you don’t care for your blonde hair properly, it can become dry and brittle or may turn yellow or brassy.
The bleaching process leaves blonde hair more fragile and delicate than other colorings. That’s why blonde-dyed hair needs extra protection from heat, harsh products, and environmental factors that can cause discoloration and damage. In this post, you can learn some good methods to minimize damage when dying your hair blonde and some useful tips on how to maintain your blonde color fresh and bright.
There is a range of related products you can find, to protect your new blonde hair from further damage and prevent your beautiful color from fading and brassiness.
How to Keep Blonde Hair Healthy
- Shampoo Your Hair Less Often: Don’t wash your hair daily because excessive shampooing will remove the protective coating of natural oils and can strip the color pigments. Don’t wash your hair at least two days before bleaching because the bleach will burn your freshly clean scalp. After the coloring process, wait at least two days before shampooing to allow the color to set properly. Wear a shower cap to keep your hair dry, while you are in the shower.
- Use Sulfate-Free Shampoos: Switch to sulfate-free shampoos and gently massage the scalp with your fingertips. Follow with a final rinse of cool water, to seal the cuticles and slow down the fading process.
- Use Dry Shampoo for Blondes: If your hair starts looking greasy, refresh it using a dry shampoo. Moroccanoil Dry Shampoo Light Tones is formulated with rice starches to keep blonde hair refreshed between washes while neutralizing brassiness. Additionally, this dry shampoo adds volume and helps curls stay in good shape.
- Avoid Heat Damage: Never use flat iron until your hair is completely dry. Allow your hair to air dry if possible. Make sure to apply a heat protectant before using hot tools. Keep your flat iron below 350 degrees and avoid pressing it tightly. Make sure to detangle hair well before flat ironing.
- Avoid Excess Sun Exposure: Blonde hair is more sensitive to sun exposure than dark hair because it lacks protective dark pigments. Additionally, the chemicals used in the coloring process raise the cuticle and leave the hair susceptible to UV damage and color fading. When going out in the sun, use a spray with UV protection and reapply it regularly. Cover your head with a scarf or hat to guard the hair against harmful ultraviolet rays.
- Use a Conditioner After each Wash: Conditioning rinses are a necessary part of the hair care regimen for blonde dyed hair. Conditioners infuse hair with moisture and close the cuticle, which helps color stay inside the hair.
- Do Deep Conditioning: Since colored hair needs lots of moisture and protection, apply a deep conditioning treatment once a week. Deep conditioners moisturize the scalp and hair, restore shine, and keep your color looking fresh and beautiful.
Blonde Hair Products and Treatments
1. Purple Shampoos for Blonde Hair
Over time, unwanted warm tones can show up in blonde-dyed hair. It is the right time to include a violet shampoo in your hair-washing regimen. Purple shampoos are designed to brighten blonde hair and neutralize brassy tones. These shampoos work by depositing violet pigment to neutralize yellow tones. Look for a plant-based blonde shampoo with a dark purple color.
Use purple shampoo once weekly and leave it on your hair for the recommended time. Using a purple shampoo too often or leaving it on longer than directed can leave purple hues. Meanwhile, use a sulfate-free and/or color-safe shampoo.
If you find purple shampoos to drying to your hair, you don’t have to change your favorite daily shampoo. Instead, you can use Mixed Feelings Leave-In Blonde Drops. Just add a few drops of this highly effective purple pigment to your shampoo, conditioner, or any styling product you currently use. This will get the brassy tones out of your hair and keep your blonde cool-toned.
Purple hair masks are less drying than purple shampoos and will reduce brassiness in blonde hair.
2. Chelating Shampoos
Before you go swimming, soak your hair with a protective leave-in conditioner. Use shampoo for swimmers to prevent build-up and discoloration from chlorine.
If you live in an area with hard water, use a chelating shampoo periodically to remove mineral deposits that can make your hair appear dull and brittle. Consider purchasing a shower filter to prevent hard water minerals from reaching your hair.
3. Hair Lightening Shampoos
If you want to go a shade lighter without using bleach, a lightening shampoo might work for you. This kind of shampoo progressively lightens your blonde hair by reducing the color pigments. Hair lightening shampoos are free of ammonia and peroxide and use natural ingredients like chamomile, citrus extracts, and honey to make your locks lighter. To intensify the effects, use it in conjunction with the matching conditioner.
4. Hair Lightening Sprays
A lightening spray is designed to lighten highlighted, bleached, color-treated, naturally blond, and light-brown hair. This product uses citrus, chamomile, and honey, and works in the conjunction with heat to gradually lighten the hair. Certain formulas include bleaching agents, while others use natural, plant-based ingredients. The effects are noticeable after 3-5 uses.
5. Leave-in Conditioners for Blondes
These products are formulated to help reverse damage from bleaching, cancel out brassy tones, and extend vibrancy. Apply the product to your clean, towel-dried hair. It makes combing easier and leaves your hair silky and shiny.
Related products: John Frieda Blonde Hydration Leave-In Conditioner, Equave by Revlon Professional Detangling Blonde Conditioner, and It’s a 10 Haircare Miracle Leave-In for Blondes.
6. Hair Glaze/Gloss Treatments
Get hair gloss or hair glaze treatment two weeks after your coloring session. This treatment refreshes the color, tones down brassiness, and adds shine. You can apply an at-home glaze treatment every 2-4 weeks to maintain color vibrancy and shine.
7. Hair Oil for Blondes
To restore moisture and shine to your damaged hair, apply Moroccanoil Light Oil to the ends. This oil helps with styling and protects your ends from dryness. This lighter version of Moroccanoil oil is developed to avoid any discoloration that applying hair oils can leave on lighter blonde shades. To avoid frequent washing, you shouldn’t apply the oil close to the scalp.
More related products: Joico Blonde Life Brilliant Glow Brightening Oil and UNITE Hair BLONDA Oil – Argan for Blondes.
8. Toners for Blonde Hair
A hair toner is used to neutralize yellow and orange tones and to create delicate shades on pre-lightened hair. The toners usually need to be mixed with either a 10 or 20-volume developer. Some toners are meant to be mixed with 5 volume developer, which is a gentler option to achieve the desired tone of your blonde hair.
9. Bond Reinforcing Products
To minimize the damaging effects of bleaching, find a salon that carries Olaplex. This product enables colorists to lift your color to a lighter level, without significant hair damage. It repairs the structure of previously damaged hair from the inside and helps reduce breakage after color service.
There are also several Olaplex alternatives available such as Bond Angel Plex Effect, Bond Multiplier Treatment Kit for Bleaching, and Coloring. Consult your stylist on which color additive to include in your color service.
Bond Maintenance System also includes Olaplex Hair Perfector – an at-home maintenance product that helps restore hair’s healthy appearance between salon treatments.
Olaplex has recently released two new products. Bond Maintenance Shampoo and conditioner are supposed to strengthen bonds, tame frizz, and improve the manageability of processed hair.
10. Protein Fillers
The Neutral Protein Filler is a pre-color treatment that normalizes hair porosity after bleaching. This product helps your hair to absorb color more evenly. It repairs previously damaged protein bonds and protects hair against new chemical damage.
11. Keratin-Infused Hair Products
Include keratin-enriched hair products in your hair care regimen. Shampoos, conditioners, or leave-in conditioners that contain hydrolyzed wheat protein, hydrolyzed silk, hydrolyzed keratin, and amino acids will replenish your hair with missing keratin, making it stronger, fuller, and shinner.
12. Coloring Blonde Hair
It is highly recommended to consult a well-trained colorist to help you achieve and maintain your desired level of blonde, with minimal damage to your hair. When touching up the color, you should only lighten your roots without overlapping on previously lightened hair.
13. Root Touch-Ups
Around one month after coloring your grown-out roots are a sign that your colored hair needs refreshing. Although hiding your roots is not necessary, you still have some options to easily get rid of the dark roots.
Color touch-up kits are particularly suitable for touching up your roots at home. These permanent color kits come in multiple shades designed to match different colors. The product is easy to use and it takes only ten minutes to apply.
Another way to extend the time between regular coloring sessions is by using temporary root concealers, which will hide your roots until the next shampoo.
14. Regular Trims
Routine trims are necessary to remove split ends. Trimming regularly (every four to six weeks) prevents the ends from splitting and helps maintain healthy-looking hair.
Gaga is a blogger and founder of the Softer Hair website. She often says that insomnia is to blame for her first blogging attempts. Being the night owl, she hated the morning alarm. She left her office job and returned to what she loved most - writing.