How I Manage My Cool Tone Red Hair

Hello everyone!

Today, I will be sharing with you the products I use to manage my cool tone red/burgundy hair.

Colour Treated Shampoo

Here are the shampoos I've been using. They are listed in no particular order. I love the scent of all these shampoos, except the Matrix Biolage shampoo took a few washes for me to get used to.

Matrix Biolage Color Care Shampoo/Conditioner
(1L, on sale for $15 each)

Description                                                                                                                               

• Low pH shampoo for color-treated hair helps prolong color vibrancy
• Gently cleanses to prevent unnecessary stripping of color
• Paraben-free formula is suitable for color-treated hair

Pros

• Helps maintain vibrancy of colour
• Slowed fading process (4/5)
• Easy to lather therefore don't require a lot of product
• Cleans well (4/5) 
• Paraben free

Cons

• Not very moisturizing
• Orchid scent which may be unpleasing to some
• Expensive

John Frieda Radiant Red Color Protecting Shampoo
(250ml, $8 on sale)

Description                                                                                                                               

"This advanced formula addresses the way red colour fades on three colour dimensions. 

With daily use it helps maintain rich, vibrant red tones.

Enhanced anti-fading technology and a gentle formula preserves vivid red colour and magnifies shine. Attracts light and amplifies rich tones to transform red hair.

For all shades of natural or colour-treated red hair."

Pros

• Slowed fading process (3.5/5)
• Cleans well (4/5)

Cons

• Difficult to lather therefore requiring more product
• Expensive for amount of product you get and have to use to wash your hair

Gosh Professional Colour Rescue Shampoo/Conditioner
(500ml, on sale for $8 each)

Description                                                                                                                               

".....protects the colour in dyed hair from fading and from daily UV-exposure.

HELIOGENOL, a herbal extract, locks in the colour with its amazing protection system, leaving colour-treated hair looking fresh and vibrant. Hair is wrapped in softness with increased manageability, movement and radiant shine."

Pros

• Affordable
• Helps maintain vibrancy of colour
• Slowed fading process (3.5/5)

Cons

• Scent may not be appealing to everyone
• Difficult to lather therefore requiring more product

Vidal Sassoon Pro Series Color Protect Shampoo

(750ml, around $6)

Description                                                                                                                               

• For perfectly vibrant, fashionable colored hair
• Damage protection for vibrant, colored hair
• Perfected by experts

Pros

• Cleans OK (2/5)
• Slowed fading process (3/5)
• Moisturizing 
• Affordable
• Easy lather

Cons

• Scent may not appeal to everyone

 Colour Depositing Shampoo

Left: Tressa Watercolors Shampoo "Crimson Splash"
(250mL, $30 from Shop.ca)
Right:  John Frieda Colour Refreshing Gloss "For Cool Reds"
(177mL, regular price$10)

Tressa Watercolors Shampoo "Crimson Splash"

Description                                                                                                                               

• Use on Deep Brunette to Medium Red hair
• Infuses deep browns with crimson reds, creating sultry, black-cherry tones

Pros

• Easy to lather, but need a lot of product to maximize vibrancy
• Helps revive cool tone reds (4.5/5)

Cons

• Expensive
• Can leave stains on your bathroom/towels (but this is expected from colour depositing shampoos)

My hair with "Crimson Splash"

 

John Frieda Colour Refreshing Gloss - "For Cool Reds"

Description                                                                                                                               

• Refresh the tones of colour-treated hair between salon or at-home colouring, regardless of which brand you use to colour your hair (the following EXAMPLES):
• John Frieda Precision Foam Colour: 6R, 5RV, and 3VR
• Clairol Nice 'N Easy Gel and Foam - Natural Reddish Blonde/Brown colours
• L'oreal Excellence Creme Pro-Keratine - Burgundy Brown colours
• Garnier Nutrisse Cream Nourishing Colour Cream - Red and Burgundy Colours
• Revlon Colorsilk - Burgundy/Mahagony Brown colours

Pros

• Helps revive cool tone reds (4.5/5)
• Has violet undertones (3.5/5)
• Affordable

Cons

• Can leave stains on your bathroom/towels (but this is expected from colour depositing shampoos)

Review: Vidal Sassoon Color Protect Shampoo & Conditioner

Maintaining your "freshly" dyed hair colour is certainly not easy, especially when it's red. However, after discovering VS's Color Protect Shampoo and Conditioner, I've noticed my hair colour fading slower.

My hair background

My hair is pretty damaged from the years of dyeing I've done to it. I have only used drugstore dyes. The last two brands of dyes I used were by Revlon Colorsilk (Burgundy, Auburn) and L'oreal Feria's Ombré kit. As Revlon Colorsilk's dyes contain no ammonia, less damage is done to the hair, but this also means more difficulty in lifting the colour.

When washing your red-dyed hair, it's common, yet unfortunate, to see your sink water becoming reddish because it means your dye is being washed out. This was very apparent to me when I would wash my hair with warm or hot water, or with select shampoos I used such as Tsubaki Shining shampoo with Natural Tsubaki Oil (the red bottle). It made me so sad because I felt like I just killed my hair even more for nothing!

Verdict, Comparisons

Vidal Sassoon's products not only kept shine and moisture to my hair, but it in fact helped with colour preservation. A downside to these products is they do contain sulfate. Sulfate helps with easier lathering to hair, but is also known to be harsh for hair. The next downside, the function of a shampoo itself--- to clean. Compared to my favourite shampoo brand Organix, the VS shampoo does not clean as well as Organix, as my hair gets oily faster. I've previously tried L'oreal's EverPure Sulfate-Free Color Care System (moisture shampoo & conditioner) and I've used it twice only... Because it made my hair extremely dry! Never again :/ Overall, I do enjoy this product because it gets its job done at a reasonable cost for such a big bottle.