4 Things I Do to My Color Treated Hair

 (Originally posted 7/28/10)

Hey ya'll. So we just got back from Virginia Beach and my poor hair took a beating in that 110 degree weather, lol. I rocked the classy bun pretty much the whole time (as you can see from the pic) and moisturized every day with Vo5 conditioner and castor oil. I'm really digging castor oil right now. I know I'm usually a coconut oil fanatic, but I decided to try some out a week ago and it's like heaven for my hair right now. My color treated hair especially. :-) So....being as though I've had colored hair for a month now, I've come up with some things that I must do to my hair to prevent breakage and maintain healthy growth. :-)

1. Make sure to keep the colored hair moisturized. I moisturize at least 1-2 times a day. I really haven't experienced that much dryness. I tweeted about my hair being dry with me driving with my top down on my car and coloring my hair. I didn't know which one was the culprit. Thank God it's back to normal now. :-)

2. Make sure you're doing plenty of moisturizing AND protein deep conditions. Coloring can dry the hair out so moisturizing dc's add that much need moisture back into the hair. Protein conditioners build the weakened colored hair back up. I already deep condition my hair regularly, but if you plan on coloring this is something you have to really commit to. As of now, I've completely run out of protein conditioner. I plan on buying some more this weekend though. I can't find my beloved Deity conditioner anywhere! :-( I miss using it. (haven't used it in a few months)

3. Stretching relaxers (If you're natural w/ no chemicals ignore this step). So...I'm 9 weeks posts now and I usually relax around 10-12 weeks. I'm thinking about stretching 12-14 weeks because of my colored hair. Because of me coloring my hair, I'm now double processed. It's usually good to pick your poison and focus on one chemical at a time. I was obsessed with having lighter for the summer so I colored my hair fully knowing that I have relaxed hair. And let me just add, I don't regret coloring my hair at all. :-) Now I have to baby my hair because it's double processed and that means extending chemical treatments.

4. Roux Porosity Control Corrector & Conditioner. This is meant to be used before/after a chemical process, but I use this anytime I'm experience dryness, breakage, etc. I usually put this in my hair after the last wash before my relaxer. I leave it in for a few minutes and then wash it out. It's great for porosity issues in your hair. I also use this in my hair after I relax when I wash out the conditioner. Lately, I've been using the RPC a lot more because of my color treated hair and it makes my hair SO manageable and soft. It brings the ph level of your hair back to normal after a chemical process. I've been loving this stuff since '07. :-) I highly recommend you ladies to try this stuff. You will love it!

I think that's it for right now. Oh and another thing I keep hearing about is using sulfate-free shampoos. I read that the sulfate in shampoos strips the color faster. I've been using my Elasta QPC Creme Conditioning Shampoo & it's very gentle. It doesn't have sulfate in it either. I've had this since before coloring & really didn't want to buy anymore shampoo until all of my old shampoo had been used. You can have relaxed & color treated hair. You just have to treat your hair right! Let me know if you have any tips for color treated hair! I'm all ears. :-)

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