Color-Treated Hair Help

Color-treated hair that isn't taken care of can often look dull, dry and unhealthy. This is because often the chemicals in hair dyes damage your hair cuticle beyond repair, leaving the ends broken and the hair shaft itself rough and fragile. It's not a pretty picture.

"Moisturizers hydrate colored hair."

The first step is to limit your hair product use to products designed for color-treated hair. These products will contain special intensive moisturizers to hydrate your damaged hair without stripping the color. Start with a good shampoo and conditioner that you can use on a regular basis, then try to use a deep-conditioning hair treatment or mask at least once a week. Massage it into your hair and let it penetrate for about 15 minutes, then rinse and you'll notice your locks looks instantly revitalized. Redken, Artec and Clairol all make excellent hair-care and hair-styling lines designed to keep colored hair in good shape.

Another tip: I've found that not washing my hair every day, and instead washing it only every second day, keeps my colored hair looking and feeling a lot healthier. Keep blow-drying time to a minimum to save your hair from the damaging effects of heat styling.