Red Hair: How to slow the fading process!

I've gotten quite a bit of questions on my new hair color. What brand? What color? Upkeep? I've tried this color before, but it was way back in 2005! Wow! The main reason why I picked it was because of how red it makes your hair. If you don't want an actual red in your hair, pick a different color, maybe one with more brown in it. I'm still in love with it. It's been over two weeks now and it's still red! If you are thinking about going red, I have a couple of tips for you below.

As you may know, red fades the easiest out of any color you can put into your hair. It takes some dedication to keep the fiery color going over time. Here are some tips to help you lock in the color you love and slow down the fading process:

- Wash your hair with cool water: Hair follicles are like your pores, they open up when hot and close when cool. If you wash your hair with hot water, it opens the hair follicles and washes out all that beautiful color! Try rinsing with cool water to lock in that color! This gets easier in the summer, since hot showers are usually out of the question in the summer heat. I've def had to get used to this.

- Use a low sulphate or color-specific shampoo: Some of those color-shield shampoos don't really do the job huh? It's because even those have sulphates in the mix which actually fades your dye even faster! Yikes! So look for shampoos with low sulphates or none at all. Some "red" shampoos actually have color in them to keep your color nice and bright!

- Don't wash your hair 2 days after coloring: I'm sure this is the one that everyone has heard, but in case you haven't, it's a good tip to know!

- Don't wash your hair every day: This is obvious. The more you wash your hair, the faster it will fade! Use a dry shampoo between washes or do what I do, use baby powder on your scalp, a little trick my mama taught me growing up! If you don't have problems with greasiness after a day or two, good for you, just let it ride!