My Hair Journey | Dirt Cheap guide to After Hair Color Maintenance

I have always wanted to have my hair in a different color since I was in highschool. But I only got to really try it out recently, this past 2016. My hair journey started with my virgin strands getting bleached, so from black I went to this outrageous, loud and bright red. My hair was also rebonded 6 months prior to the bleaching...

Afterwards, I let the red fade, and I was left with this orangey brown. Which I tried out another color by myself- blue. You know, the hair color that costs for less than 20 pesos per pop? Yung talamak sa Baclaran. Yeah, I applied that, and instead of a blue I got myself a dark slytherin green color. Which was totally fine by me- I am after all sorted into the slytherin house. :)

Afterwards that I got the chance to fix it up, and have actual blue hair- Or so I thought. Well, I wasn't able to manage expectations, and I was still left with green hair. Hay...

And now, after outgrowing a bit of the bleached hair, trimming split ends, getting some bangs... I am at it again. I had my hair colored once more, and I went red. A darker red though, closer to rose.

After all that, I was bound to learn a few tips on how to care for my hair. And here are some of what I have learned and some hacks I got during my hair Journey:

• Stock up on Hair Masks

Especially the ones that specialise on caring for dry, coloured hair. and make sure to read the ingredients, and research on what mask is best suited for your hair.. Hair Masks will be your best support in keeping your locks looking oh so healthy. You have to do this at least twice a week, especially if you have bleached hair.

• Conditioner is a MUST

Because I have colored hair, whenever I wash it I have to regularly add in conditioner, most especially to the ends of my hair where the bleaching is most severe. I would recommend a sulfate free conditioner so that you can protect the color more. I am currently using the L'oreal Ever Pure Sulfate Free Conditioner for my hair now, but Pantene's 3 minute miracle also worked fine for me. What I do with the conditioner is I let is sit in my hair for 3-5 minutes... I find that I get better, softer and brighter hair color when I let it sit in my hair. 

PS: Both conditoners can be bought in Lazada.com :D

• Supplement with Hair oils and Heat Protect before styling!

Because your hair is already damaged from the bleaching, hair oils can help bring back some of the beautiful sheen your hair lost from the bleaching and coloring. ALso, using heat protectants help minimise damages to our hair as well.

• Cold Water is the better option for your hair

What I've noticed is that I get more bleeding whenever I use warm water. The rule here is that the colder the water and the lesser time you can stand to not wash your hair, the longer you can keep your color. :D

• Dry shampoo or wash hair every other day

In a country like the Philippines, where humidity is apparent... You can't NOT bathe for too long or you'll stink. :p I would love to use dry shampoo, but I find it too expensive for my liking. Especially when I think about all the other food and loading of Timezone cards I can get with buying an itty bitty bottle of dry shampoo...

So what I do is I wash hair every other day, alternating for days with shampoo and days where I don't use shampoo. And if ever I do use shampoo, I use the ones that is suited for colored hair. If I have time to splurge, I use Tresemme shampoo for dry damaged hair, and if I'm kinda low on budget, I use Palmolive's shampoo for colored hair, the one with pomegranate...

It doesn't mean that you can't take baths though. All I'm saying is grab a shower cap whenever you have to take a bath. ;) 

So there we have it. I'm pretty sure other people also use purple conditioner for their hair, but I find it too expensive as well. With these tips I gave I am usually able to maintain my colored hair to atleast 1.5 to 2 months tops. :D I hope that you liked this post!

Comment down below if you have any other questions or if you have other tips and suggestions for maintaining colored hair :D