There is a serious issue affecting thousands, no MILLIONS, of Colourer's who at this moment are walking around blissfully unaware of the enormity of the problem in their Hairs ecosystem. (In fact, I passed 3 people completely unaware during my lunch break!)
It’s called Colour Build Up and has the ability to wreak havoc if left unattended.
Ok, we may have dramatised the opening paragraph to get your attention but Colour Build Up is serious in our world where we make Hair contact before eye contact and it could be ruining your Hair Colour as you read this.
What is Colour Build Up?
Colour Build Up comes from over indulging our Hair. Take your typical root touch up for an example. Instead of just painting your Regrowth, you also paint the ends of your Hair because you want to get some vibrancy back in your Hair and even out your Colour. Doing this repeatably causes Colour to stack up on top of each other in the Hair shaft. That is Colour Build Up.
Why does it matter?
Permanent Hair Colour stays in the Hair until it is removed or cut out. The Colour and vibrancy may fade over time with washing, but the pigment still remains. If you keep applying Colour on top of the Hair shaft it will get fuller. This means eventually the Colour Build Up will stop the Colour process from working, while also making your Hair look incredibly unhealthy and brittle.
There are 4 main signs of Colour Build Up in the Hair.
Appearance
Dull, lacklustre Hair is a dead giveaway. Colour Build Up makes your Hair look darker and flatter, stripping away the shine and gloss of your previously healthy Hair you used to get complimented on all the time.
Texture
Next, we look at the Hairs texture. Colour Build Up pushes the Hair to the limits creating dry, coarse Hair that even the most expensive treatment can't fix.
Weight
Colour Build Up adds weight to the Hair shaft making the Hair look and feel heavy and weighed down in Colour.
Uneven Colour
Bright, fresh Regrowth and dull ends are an easy tell tale sign of Colour Build Up.
Sound like your Hair? It’s ok. Just like a tea detox, we can have you shedding your Colour weight in no time with real results. Even better news, there is a solution other than scissors or bleach.
Did I just hear a sigh of relief?
Use Colour Remover. It will chip away at your Build Up and can be used multiple times without damaging your Hair.
Remember that the more Colour Build Up you have in your Hair the longer it will take to remove, with Darker Colours taking longer to remove. But I can assure you, it’s worth the effort for how refreshed your Hair will feel once it's removed. So if there has been little to no change to your Hair after your first Colour Remover process, you need to Colour Remove again to break through the Colour Build Up.
Tip: You only need to apply the Colour Remover to your Coloured Hair, leave any Natural Regrowth Product free.
Post Colour Removing you might find the top of your head is lighter or brighter while your ends are still dark without a lot of change. This means your ends are still chock-a-block with Colour Build Up. Your next Colour Remover application should focus on the areas that have seen little change, as the ends are more likely to have seen more Colour than your roots.
How do I prevent Colour Build Up in the future?
Just be aware of the application while you are maintaining your Hair Colour. Keep Regrowth touch-ups to your Regrowth, and if you have a rich or vibrant Colour that needs a boost through the ends use the Colour Top Up Technique to avoid getting too much Colour Build Up.
Ultimately for us Colouring folk, Colour Build Up is a part of life and an occasional Colour Remover will do wonders for your Hair health and keep your Hair Colour crisp and bright. Not to mention the stability of your Hairs ecosystem.
