Burgundy is such a beautiful dark red, wine hair color, but it can sometimes be a hassle to care for. So if you’re thinking about changing your hair to burgundy this season, you should look into the aftercare for it.
The biggest challenge that comes with this hair color is fading. That’s because most red tones fade faster than any other hair color because it’s the most pigmented. Plus, the UV rays from the sun love to absorb its pigment and cause it to lose color over time.
However, with the right haircare and helpful tips, you can make your hair color last a lot longer. And not just for this season. For as long as you want it to last.
Keep reading to see the 5 best tips on keeping your burgundy color healthy and vibrant.
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Is Burgundy Hair High Maintenance?
Burgundy hair can be high maintenance, depending on how vibrant your color is. If your hair is dark from levels 2 – 5, then it is low to medium maintenance. If you have a vibrant burgundy color that ranges from levels 6 – 8, it can become high maintenance.
Naturally, when the hair is lifted (bleached) to the blonde levels (7 – 12), the hair cuticles are open and exposed. So when you apply burgundy red on top of blonde hair, it grabs the color and stains the cortex. But since the hair cuticles are now open, the red pigment is easier to escape, which causes a faded look.
That’s why it is important to use products such as conditioners and protein treatments to help close the cuticle and seal in the color. You must create a color care routine that will keep your color from fading or experiencing breakage.
Does Burgundy Hair Fade Fast?
Yes, burgundy hair can fade fast. The 3 main factors depend on how often you shampoo your hair, your sun exposure, and if you use protein treatments.
If you’re shampooing your hair more than once a week, you are literally washing your color away. The more you wet red hair, the more likely the water will rinse your color away.
Remember when we talked about how lifting your hair will cause your cuticles to open up?
Well, if you aren’t using a conditioner or leave-in to close the cuticles, water and shampoo can easily get inside, grab any red color deposits, and rinse them away.
Eventually or immediately, you will notice your hair color will look dull, bland, and kinda ashy looking. In other words, it will start to look a little… dusty.
5 Ways to Prevent Burgundy From Fading?
To help prevent your red hair from looking dull, ashy, and dusty, here are 5 tips on keeping your hair always looking vibrant for a long time.
1. Limit Sun Exposure
The sun’s UV rays and your burgundy hair color are not the best of friends. The more your hair is exposed to the sun, the more likely it will fade your color away. That’s because Ultraviolet radiation waves (UV rays) break down the chemical bonds in hair color and cause it to fade faster.
And red hair color is one of the biggest risks of fading from the sun’s UV rays. Because red hues are so highly pigmented and rich in tone, any amount of fading will become very noticeable.
The best time to go burgundy is the fall and winter seasons when the sun isn’t positioned as high as it would be in the spring or summer. That way there is less sun exposure, and your hair color will stand a chance of fading from the UV rays.
2. Use a Red Depositing Shampoo & Conditioner
Another way to prevent your hair from fading is using a red-depositing shampoo and conditioner. This is the best way to keep your burgundy color looking fresh and vibrant, even if you are always exposed to the sun.
The idea behind a color-protecting shampoo and conditioner is their ability to deposit color pigment onto the cortex and surface of the hair.
That way, if any of your color is lost from UV rays or rinsed away from water exposure, the red shampoo and conditioner will replenish the color back in your hair.
NOTE: Don’t use a clarifying shampoo on your colored hair. A clarifying shampoo’s main purpose is to strip the hair from dirt and product buildup. So if you are using a clarifying shampoo, make sure it is color-safe.
Keracolor Clenditioner
Punky Colour 3-in-1 Color Depositing Hair Cleanser & Conditioner
Quantum Colors Color Replenishing Shampoo
3. Rinse with lukewarm water
It’s important to use lukewarm or cool water when shampooing your burgundy hair. The cooler the water’s temp is, the less likely you will wash away your color.
Your water’s temperature can help or hinder your hair color. The hotter the water’s temp, the more it will open up your hair cuticles and rinse away the color from your hair. The science behind this is that hot water opens up the hair follicles and causes the cuticles to slightly lift.
You can see here how untreated hair’s cuticles react to hot water. Versus how chemically-color-treated hair’s cuticles react to hot water. During the coloring process, the cuticles are lifted to allow the color to penetrate and stain the cortex.
This is how hair color alters the structure and color of our hair. So when you are rinsing your color-treated hair with hot water, the cuticles are opened wide enough to allow color deposits to leave.
That’s why it is important to use lukewarm or cool-temperature water on burgundy hair to keep the cuticles down and closed. Cool water can help close cuticles, but it is the conditioner’s job to seal them shut.
4. Use a Protein Treatment
A protein treatment is a conditioner that will seal the hair cuticles. Most protein treatments contain amino acids, hydrolyzed keratin, and wheat amino acids, which help rebuild and repair the hair structure. It helps fill in the gaps of missing cuticles and repair the damage from hair color or excessive heat.
When you use a protein treatment on your burgundy hair, it will help lay and keep your cuticles down. This will give your hair a smooth and shiny finish. If your hair is extremely damaged, you won’t see results overnight. But the more you treat your hair, the more improvement you will see.
5. Always use a Leave-In Conditioner
Finish your color care wash day routine with a multi-purpose leave-in conditioner. What’s a multi-purpose leave-in? It helps moisturize, repair, detangle, and protect from heat damage and gives the hair a reflective shine.
All of those are important to keep your hair from fading, looking dull, and feeling dry as a bone. Chemically treated color hair tends to become dry fast, due to the cuticles being slightly or overly raised.
In this case, think about hair cuticles as doors. When they are closed, they are protecting everything on the inside. As for your hair, they protect it from moisture, color, and the overall structure of the hair strand.
But when they are opened, they let out color deposits, and moisture, and exposing the hair to anything and everything coming its way.
The same goes for moisture. Hair that is damaged in any kind of way has a hard time retaining moisture because the cuticles are too open. When open, they can’t seal any moisture inside.
So when you use a leave-in conditioner that repairs and moisturizes at the same time, this is a win-win for color-treated hair. You are giving everything the hair needs to thrive and be as healthy as can be.
Conclusion
Burgundy hair is a great hair color choice for the fall and winter seasons, or year-round if that’s your signature color. Just be sure to create your own color care routine that will keep your hair looking vibrant, lively, and shiny.
Use lukewarm or cool water when rinsing your hair. If you are a swimmer, wear a swimming cap to protect your color from the chemicals in the pool. The same goes for swimming in the ocean. Saltwater can fade hair color as well.
If you experience any fading, purchase a red depositing shampoo and conditioner. They will replenish any color that has been lost from sun exposure, swimming, or using too much hot water on the hair.
Afterward, grab your favorite protein treatment to help close the cuticles and seal in the hair color. This will help keep your hair from fading and becoming dry or brittle.
Once you are done, apply a good leave-in conditioner and style away. Go flaunt your burgundy hair to the world and pop your stuff on IG and TikTok.
I hope this helps my love.
– Much love, Ash ❤️
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