Colorists know that artificial hair color can be sensitive. Sometimes colors don’t last as long as expected and sometimes they last longer than desired. Who doesn’t know the horror of a fun carnival color that was supposed to last for only one shampoo but keeps its shimmering effect for much longer?
Environmental influences, porosity and chemical treatments can all affect the durability of hair color. Think summer holidays spent in the ocean. They’re not at all friendly to a fresh hair color. The exposure to sunlight causes fading and water flushes color from the hair.
It is extremely important that colorists understand what different dyes and pigments do to hair as well as how they react. With this knowledge you can recommend products and procedures to help your clients take care of their hair color in much the same way they protect their skin.
The first hair colors were made from plants. Ingredients such as Henna, flowers, nut shells, and berries provided the natural dyes needed to color hair. Incredibly it is still common to use such products but the results are limited and depend very much on the hair structure and base color.
Read more about the difference of dyes and pigments in this chapter.