The importance of promoting and advising the correct hair aftercare.

Providing aftercare advice is part and parcel of providing a professional service so it shouldn’t be considered an optional extra. It should be considered an integral part of the service that you receive as a client.

By providing you with this advice, we are showing you our clients what is best for your hair and therefore how to maintain your look at home.

As with any chemical service, the components used in the hair colouring process can leave the hair more porous than it was prior to colouring the hair. This is because the alkaline products used to allow the colour to penetrate the hair shaft, and deposit the colour, do so by lifting the cuticle layer of the hair.

While the processes are generally designed to be as gentle to the hair as possible, while still being effective, the results are still that the hair is typically swelled, and the cuticle raised by the processing.

This means that while the hair is made better able to accept the deposited colour, it is also more likely to lose moisture and can slowly lose the added colour unless care is taken to reseal the cuticle.

This means that after you've coloured your hair, you should take care to use a good moisturizing conditioner. This will help to maintain the hair's moisture level and will help to smooth the cuticle layer and ease any problems with porosity. This is especially true if you have had a high-lift colour or bleaching agents to lighten the hair.

Additionally, if you have chosen a hair colour that is particularly vibrant, such as many red shades or golden blondes, you will want to use a colour-enhancing/colour-preserving shampoo and conditioner formula in order to help keep your hair colour looking as rich as possible for as long as possible. Under normal circumstances, most of the more vibrant hair colours will gradually fade somewhat after regular shampooing and environmental stresses.

For most colour-treated hair, I recommend a weekly deep conditioning treatment, in order to help rehydrate the hair and restore any moisture that may be lost during the week's styling. It’s within the client’s best interest to use the correct aftercare as it will increase the longevity of any colour that has been applied and in turn add a few weeks between return visits to the salon.

I always advise the most relevant aftercare products for the health and condition of the client’s hair. Its as important if not more important than the colour application and it has benefits for both the client and the salon as it secures the health and longevity of the client’s hair and keeps the salon fresh appearance for as long as possible,

The importance of correct hair aftercare