Can You Wash Hair 24 Hours After Coloring?

What Happens if You Wash Hair 24 Hours After Coloring?

It’s one of the biggest faux pas clients can make with their colored hair: washing it too soon after leaving the salon. By lathering up within 24 hours of their appointment, they risk fading their shade – so encourage them to wait. This is especially important if you’ve colored their hair with a demi-permanent or semi-permanent hair color. As you know, these products are designed to wash out gradually, so every single wash day counts.

The good news is, because you shampoo your client’s hair when you rinse out their color formula, their roots should be fresh and clean enough that they won’t need to lather up the day after they visit the salon. If they’re still concerned about getting greasy roots 24 hours after coloring, advise them to mist in a dry shampoo, like EIMI Dry Me. This will help to bridge the gap until their next shampoo.

So, How Long After Coloring Can You Wash Hair?

Put simply, your client should wait as long as they can before washing their freshly colored hair, as this allows the cuticles to fully close up and seal in their dream shade. For some, this could be 48 hours, while others may be able to hold on for up to one week. Waiting also gives color-treated strands a well-earned break from any chemical, physical and thermal damage, so your client is putting less pressure on their just-processed hair.

Should You Wash Hair Before Coloring?

Every colorist has their own answer to this question. Some pros think the hair shouldn’t be freshly washed before coloring, as the natural oils in your client’s hair can act as a form of protection against hair damage. Others say they prefer the hair clean, as it’s easier to work with and apply color to. We say it’s all about striking the right balance: hair doesn't need to be squeaky clean, but it shouldn’t be oily either. So, if your client asks you whether they should wash their hair right before heading into the salon, tell them it’s not necessary unless it’s oily. Day-old or two-day-old hair can create a great canvas for flawless coloring.

What’s the Best Shampoo for Colored Hair?

When it’s time for your client to wash their colored hair, not just any shampoo will do. Here are three features to look for in the ultimate color-kind formula:

1. It Promises Color Protection

First up, your client should look for shampoos that are labeled ‘color safe’ or offer color protection, like INVIGO Brilliance Color Protection Shampoo. This isn’t the case for all formulas, so it’s important they find a shampoo that specifically states it’s for colored hair. There are a range of color-friendly formulas in the Wella Professionals collection, each offering different levels of nourishment to care for every type of hair.

2. It Purifies Fading Metals

Metals in the hair are a key culprit for shade fading – and they’re more present than you think. In fact, even the water you wash hair with can be packed with metals, such as copper from the plumbing pipes. That’s why we’ve included Metal Purifier in all Wella Professionals shampoos. It neutralizes these harmful metals to maintain health, shine and vibrancy from one wash to the next.

3. It’s Tailored to Hair Condition

Your client doesn’t have to compromise on tailored hair care in their quest for color protection. As well as shielding their shade, the right shampoo should also enhance condition and support their style. So, whether they’re working a curly balayage, highlights through dry, brittle hair or an all-over red on strands that are prone to dullness, their shampoo should put in the work to make the most of their mane. Which leads us to the next step…

How to Pick the Right Shampoo for Colored Hair

Now your client knows exactly what to look for in a color-kind shampoo, here are three that tick every box. They’re protective, packed with metal purifying powers, and offer benefits for all hair types.

For Color Vibrancy and Shine: INVIGO Brilliance

If your client’s hair is prone to dullness – or they just can’t get enough of shine – INVIGO Brilliance Color Protection Shampoo is their new go-to. It’s pH-optimized, so it helps to close the cuticle post-salon, which boosts color retention. Plus, the radiance-enhancing formula is packed with Lime Caviar and potent antioxidants to keep fading free radicals at bay. Your client also gets the choice between two formulas: one for fine to medium hair or one for coarse hair. So, if their hair is on the thinner side, they don’t have to worry that their shampoo will drag strands down.

Use it with: INVIGO Brilliance Vibrant Color Conditioner and, as a weekly treat, INVIGO Brilliance Vibrant Color Mask. The mask should be left on for at least five minutes to smooth the hair surface and level up shade vibrancy.

For Color Maintenance and Nourishment: ColorMotion+

For hair that craves a little extra nourishment, suggest ColorMotion+ Color Protection Shampoo. It offers up to eight weeks of color protection*, while elevating smoothness and shine from root to very tip. Gentle to hair and kind to even sensitive scalps, it also teams up perfectly with the ColorMotion+ Structure+ Mask, which features the bond-strengthening WellaPlex ingredient to support brittle, breakage-prone strands after coloring.

Use it with: As well as the Structure+ Mask, which your client should use once per week as a deep treatment, the shampoo partners with the ColorMotion+ Color Reflection Conditioner for a boost of moisture after every wash.

For Color Protection and Damage Repair: ULTIMATE REPAIR

When colored hair is deeply damaged, ULTIMATE REPAIR Shampoo is the answer. The rich, luxurious lather delivers a skincare-inspired blend of AHA and Omega-9, which cares for strands from the inside out. This dream duo kick-starts the bond rebuilding process to restore strength, smoothness and shine, then rinses completely clean to leave straight, wavy, curly and coily hair feeling fresh and sumptuously nourished.

Use it with: The complete ULTIMATE REPAIR regimen. First, your client should apply the ULTIMATE REPAIR Conditioner to just shampooed hair, focusing it through the mid-lengths and ends, where hair tends to be most damaged. Then, after towel drying, advise them to mist Miracle Hair Rescue from root to tip. The leave-in treatment repairs damage in just 90 seconds**, leaving your client with 12x smoother hair*** and 99% less breakage***.

Can I Use a Clarifying Shampoo on Colored Hair?

Just like your skin sometimes needs a facial to hit the ‘reset’ button, your client’s hair may call out for a deeper cleanse when it’s feeling overworked. A clarifying shampoo is the answer to ridding strands of product build-up or excess oil, but is it almost too effective for colored hair? In other words, could it strip out your client’s dream shade?

The goal of a clarifying shampoo isn’t to protect colored hair, so your client won’t want to use one too often. However, as a once-in-a-while treatment, it will give their roots the detox they crave, but not so much that it will affect their color. Their favorite color-safe shampoo should be enough to leave their hair clean and purified from day to day, then they can reach for their clarifying shampoo when signs of build-up appear.

Recommend your client tries INVIGO Balance Aqua Pure Purifying Shampoo, which whisks away impurities, oil and pollutants for purified strands from root to tip. By working it into the roots of wet hair then letting it run through the lengths, they refresh the scalp, while giving the rest of the hair a gentler (yet still effective) cleanse.

3 More Color-Boosting Tips For Hair Wash Day

When hair wash day arrives, small updates to your client’s routine can help their color stay intact for longer. Here are the tips they need to start following now…

1. Turn Down the Water Temperature

Washing with too-hot water can open up the hair cuticle, allowing the pigment inside to escape and causing your client’s color to fade faster. Meanwhile, all that heat can be drying on strands, resulting in dullness and hair damage. That’s why you should recommend your client turn the temperature down when they wash their hair, so they’re lathering up with lukewarm water only.

2. Use a Shower Filter

While the Wella Professionals shampoos all feature the Metal Purifier, clients living in areas where the water is extra hard (meaning extra polluted) may want to fit a filter to their shower head too. This will give their strands even more protection against the damaging effects of metals in their hair.

3. Follow with Conditioner

To keep their colored hair looking healthy and shiny from one wash to the next, advise your client not to skip the conditioning step. By applying one after every shampoo, and treating strands to weekly hair masking, they give their shade the best chance of a long lifespan – with a boost of radiance too.

Looking for more ways to help your client care for their hair? Discover our complete collection of Hair Care Guides, featuring tips for every type and concern.

* When using Structure+ Mask.

** When using ULTIMATE REPAIR Miracle Hair Rescue.

*** When using ULTIMATE REPAIR Miracle Hair Rescue. Instrumental test versus non-conditioning shampoo.