How to Color Damaged Hair

Hair Care and Prep

Space out your dye sessions by 2 months or so. Don’t color your hair too frequently, or you'll worsen the damage. Instead, wait at least 10 weeks before you dye your hair again. This is especially important in the winter, when your hair is dryer.

Trim away any split ends. Unfortunately, there’s no sure-fire way to permanently fix broken hair besides giving it a trim. Comb through your hair and pinch the bottom of the strands with your pointer and middle fingers. Grab a pair of clean, sharp scissors and snip away any damaged, broken hair. Take a close look at all your hair to make sure you’ve snipped away any broken, damaged sections. Unfortunately, natural hair tends to get damaged more often since it’s so bendy.

Double-condition your hair. Lather your damaged hair with a nourishing conditioner while you’re in the shower. Rinse out the extra product before stepping out of the shower. Afterwards, massage a leave-in conditioner into your hair while it’s still damp. Once a week, you can switch out your traditional leave-in conditioner for a deep conditioner.

Nourish your locks with a protein treatment. Protein treatments can help strengthen and replenish damaged hair. You can get one done at a salon, or try an at-home treatment. As a general rule of thumb, only do protein treatments every 1-2 weeks—otherwise, they could actually make your hair more brittle. Make sure that you follow all of the instructions for using the protein mask. Leaving the product on for too long can cause your hair to become brittle.

Use a conditioning hair mask the day before coloring your hair. Apply a deep conditioning mask the day before you plan on dyeing your hair. Then, leave it in for the recommended time frame before washing it out. Look for a mask labeled as “hydrating,” which helps nourish your hair before you color it. You can find hair masks at a salon or department store. These products help hydrate your hair before you actually dye it, which minimizes further damage. Some great hair mask ingredients are honey, egg, apple cider vinegar, coconut oil, green tea, and more.

Best Products and Practices

Pick out a semi-permanent dye to prevent extra damage. Permanent hair dyes can do a lot of damage to your hair, and aren’t a great option if your hair is already damaged. Instead, try a semi-permanent hair rinse that can change up your hair color without doing a lot of damage. Look for products that have some nourishing ingredients in the formula, like aloe vera, jojoba oil, or vitamin E. Temporary dyes are the safest dye to use since they usually wash out after a day.

Color your hair with a moisturizing dye. Look for moisturizing dye products that are specifically designed to help repair damaged hair. It’s okay if the dye has ammonia—while this ingredient isn’t great, ammonia-free dyes can do even more damage to your hair, since they need to stay on longer.

Apply the dye just to your roots if you can. Avoid applying dye throughout your hair—since your hair is already damaged, you don’t want to expose it to a lot of extra chemicals. Instead, apply the dye over your natural roots, which protects your actual strands.

Stay away from highlighter cap kits. Highlighter cap kits are really convenient when you’re at home, but bleaching already-bleached hair damages it further. Instead, look for manual highlighting kits, where you brush on the product yourself.

Use shampoos and conditioners designed for colored hair. Look for products labeled as “sulfate-free,” so you don’t end up damaging your locks. Search for shampoos and conditioners that are listed as “color-safe” or “for color-treated hair”—these are gentler on your tresses.

Wait 1-3 days before washing your hair. Your dye will fade a lot faster if you wash it right after the fact. At a bare minimum, wait at least 24 hours before you give your hair a good wash. As a general rule of thumb, don’t wash your hair everyday. The more you wash your hair, the faster your color will fade. Only shampoo a couple of times during the week after you’ve dyed your hair.