How to take care of dyed hair - Garnier How to take care of dyed hair - Garnier

How to Take Care of Dyed Hair

Last updated March 27, 2026

Achieving your perfect hair color is a big step! Now you need to keep it vibrant and healthy by using the right hair care techniques and products. Whether your color change was dramatic or subtle, nourishing ingredients are key to preserving shine and softness. Follow these expert color-treated hair care tips from Garnier to maintain hair color that looks and feels like the day you dyed it.

The Quick Checklist for Dyed Hair Care

  • Time between dyeing and first shampoo: 2-3 days
  • Frequency of shampooing dyed hair: 2-3 times/week
  • Time before root touchup/recolor: 4-6 weeks (permanent dye)
  • Wash water temperature: Lukewarm (never hot!)
  • Rinse water temperature: Cool
  • Styling tool temperature: Low
  • UV protection: Limit sun exposure and cover your head when outside. Look for shampoo, conditioner, and stylers with UV filters

How to wash colored hair without fading - Garnier

How can I Wash Colored Hair without Fading?

The best shampoo for color-treated hair is a gentle, color-safe, and formulated with moisturizers, antioxidants, and UV filters. However, avoid choosing a shampoo that contains parabens, sodium chloride, petrochemicals, DMDM hydantoin, sulfates, and silicones.

What’s the Best Way to Condition Dyed Hair?

Maintaining peak moisture is key to keeping your color vivid and your hair soft. The hair conditioning routine below yields amazing results without much effort or time.

Can I Style Dyed Hair as Usual?

Another important aspect of color care is drying and styling your hair with as little heat as possible.

Drying

  • Let your hair air-dry as often as you can. Frequent blow-drying tends to do more than simply dry your hair, it can also dry it out and cause damage.
  • After washing, gently squeeze out water with a soft microfiber cloth. Rubbing with a regular terry towel causes too much friction and may lead to breakage.
  • If you must use a hairdryer, apply a heat protectant spray beforehand and keep the setting on low.

How to dry colored hair - Garnier
How to style dyed hair to prevent fading - Garnier

Styling

  • Keep hot styling tools on the lowest temperature setting to minimize color fading.
  • Once styled, reduce the heat with a cool-shot finish to reduce fade and breakage, lock in shape, and amp up shine. This is done by using the cool setting on your hair dryer.

When can I Recolor my Hair?

For optimal hair health and strength, wait at least four weeks before recoloring with a permanent hair dye and at least six weeks if using a bleach or lightener. To keep your previous color consistent, focus the dye on your roots for the first 20 minutes, then comb it down through the lengths for the final 5 minutes to refresh the ends.

Even if you did not have a reaction the last time your colored, don’t skip the 48-hour patch test. It’s also a good idea to redo a strand test to figure out the best processing time for your hair and shade.

References

1 Lee Y, Kim YD, Hyun HJ, Pi LQ, Jin X, Lee WS. Hair shaft damage from heat and drying time of hair dryer. Ann Dermatol. 2011 Nov;23(4):455-62. doi: 10.5021/ad.2011.23.4.455. Epub 2011 Nov 3. PMID: 22148012; PMCID: PMC3229938.

2 Locke B, Jachowicz J. Fading of artificial hair color and its prevention by photofilters. J Cosmet Sci. 2005 Nov-Dec;56(6):407-25. PMID: 16538296. 

3 Elaine K Howley. Tips for Protecting Color-Treated Hair from Chlorine. U.S. Masters Swimming, October 2, 2023.

FAQ

  • Many additives and some active ingredients can dry out and eventually damage dyed hair. Try to avoid sulfates (SLS/SLES), silicones and sodium chloride. Also look for color-safe hair products that are free of parabens, petrochemicals, and DMDM hydantoin.
  • After washing your color-treated hair, towel-dry with a soft microfiber cloth and air-dry it naturally whenever possible. Always try to minimize drying and styling with heat. If you do use a blow dryer or hot tool, be sure to use a heat protectant spray.
  • It’s recommended to wait at least one month before reapplying permanent hair color and six weeks before bleaching again. This will give your hair time to rest and help prevent damage the next time you color.
  • Anyone with color-treated hair should generally pay more attention to moisture. After the deep conditioner provided in the hair color kit runs out, never skip conditioner after every shampoo. To maintain vibrancy and softness, it’s also best practice to apply a daily leave-in conditioner and a weekly hair mask.

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