Wednesday, May 13, 2009

How White Vinegar Rinse Can Lock In Color Longer


We've had a number of women ask us to consult the beauty gods, and find a solution for hair color that fades too quickly. For gray hairs that pop up too fast following a bath in permanent dye. For bold red color that lightens much too soon after a visit to the salon. Etc.

We would certainly agree, that a professional hair salon is always your best bet when coloring your hair or lightening or darkening your locks several shades. But even then, many women complain that permanent hair color is not perfect, and doesn't maintain its shade and shine for too long.



Sorry, but we don't have a perfect answer, either. We have written a number of articles about dyeing hair, and coloring hair at home. A lot of women say they follow the steps strictly, and still, the color fades too fast.

We thought about this last night, and then we thought about a new pair of indigo jeans we had bought. We read somewhere, that tossing a little white vinegar into the wash with the new dark jeans would stop fading. So we tried it, and by golly, it worked. The dark jeans did not leave any colored water in the wash.

Hmmm. Could this work for newly colored hair, we wondered?!

So, we started digging around the internet. And apparently, a white vinegar rinse after coloring hair, is said to lock in the the new shade and keep the dye in for a longer time.

We have not tried this yet, but the next time we color our grays with a box of Excellence, we will let you know.

What's in white vinegar, you ask???

We were curious, and found this little item from some punk haircoloring dye-hards at http://www.mookychick.co.uk/style/hairdye_tips.php
"You can also keep the colour in there a little longer by rinsing your hair with white vinegar straight after colouring your hair. This raises the pH level of the hair color and gives it more permanence. Mix equal amounts of white vinegar and water in a cup (about half a cup of each) and rinse out your newly-coloured hair with lukewarm water until the water runs clear. Then pour on the mix, comb it through and rinse it out. Huzzah!"

The white vinegar supposedly helps to close the cuticle and retain your color. Yes, the odor is strong, but disappears after rinsing well. Close your eyes, too, a shot of vinegar stings like mad.

We are not saying this vinegar rinse method is fool-proof, but it's worth a shot. Plus, you will add great shine to your hair, and tangled hair will be gone.

12 comments:

Organic Make Up said...

This sounds like a real cool tip on keeping your hair color for a longer period of time. This is quite an informative posting I must say. :D

J.Tania said...

Thank you. I hope it works, I will really give this a try next week, and then monitor how much longer the color stays in.

Coloring hair is a major pain, whether it's at the salon, and even worse, if you touch up at home or do your own color every time.

perfect locks said...

Yes I hope it works too. I'm considering trying this out myself, then recommending the procedure to clients if the result is good. Thanks so much for the tip!

J.Tania said...

Thanks for visiting our site. It's worth a shot. And vinegar will not harm your hair. If you use it everyday in the shower for your hair, it might dry it out a bit.

But to try vinegar after coloring your hair, sounds healthy and natural, and if it can boost shine and keep the new color in longer, then, I think we have a winner here.

Susie Q said...

You can use the vinegar weekly to help with shine, just make sure you have a really moisturizing conditioner

Tracy said...

Vinegar is an acid, so I don't understand how it would raise the pH of the color treatment. It should lower it. Acids have pH <7, bases have pH >7.

Anonymous said...

I have a spray bottle filled with white distilled vinegar in the shower I spray it in everytime I shower and rinse when im done with my shower. my hair has improved. ive had my hair a bright blue for now about a month and still a very good color.

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Vanessa Orjeda said...

Did it work or no? I read also to use vinegar to remove dye ... it seems so confusing.

Pepper said...

I used a vinegar rinse with my "cherry bomb red" and had amazing results. I'm going with "blue mayhem" today, but if it hadn't been for my roots showing so bad it'd still be a darker hot pink. I had it in for over 2 months and it started fading maybe a week or so ago

Pepper said...

I used a vinegar rinse with my "cherry bomb red" and had amazing results. I'm going with "blue mayhem" today, but if it hadn't been for my roots showing so bad it'd still be a darker hot pink. I had it in for over 2 months and it started fading maybe a week or so ago