how to maintain your hair color and highlights

"Hi. My name is Marisa, and there are three things you should know about me: I’m addicted to coloring my hair, I can’t currently visit the hair salon while practicing social distancing, and my hair is presently a high-maintenance shade of grey-blue that requires bi-weekly upkeep!

Prior to these unprecedented times, I had occasionally used color-depositing masks to re-tone my hair between salon color sessions. I would usually only resort to doing this when I wasn’t able to get an appointment in time at the salon, as the color only lasts about four to five washes before it completely fades. I am no hairstylist and this color process usually takes one to two hours to complete, so even just the idea of having to color my own hair every two weeks is exhausting. Enter amika’s fadeblock pre-shampoo color seal.

The latest addition to the color protection lineup, fadeblock is meant to be used as a pre-shampoo treatment to to prolong hair color. It works by sealing the cuticle with a hydrophobic barrier around the hair shaft to prevent wash-related stripping and fading of color in the shower. The instructions are surprisingly simple: apply to dry hair and leave on for 3-5 minutes. Hop in the shower, rinse it out, then shampoo and condition as you would normally (my amika favorites are from the color and blonde collections). I’ve also been really into using the amika flash instant shine mask to boost shine so I’ve been adding that on every time I shower at the end of my hair routine as it only takes a minute to work.

I decided to put fadeblock pre-shampoo color seal to the test to see how long my much-loved yet elusive blue hair color would last if I used it every time I washed my hair. I began by coloring my hair twice as I usually would. Huge tip I learned from my colorist for anyone who wants to have blue hair without it turning green: tone your hair grey first, then a second time with a blue color mask! The blue will fade, as all fashion colors do, but the grey will remain underneath, minimizing the yellow tones that create a green cast to the hair.

After testing for 3 weeks, here are my results (and check out my video for visual proof!):

Wash 1: The color was virtually the same as when I had freshly colored my hair

Wash 2 and 3: Color appeared brighter as blue tones began to fade

Washes 4-6: Blue color faded evenly to reveal grey tones underneath

Washes 7-8: Slight blue tint left, grey color still going strong!

My blue color lasted almost twice as long as it usually does. Not only does this quell my fears of having to commit to two hours of coloring every other week, it also gives me hope for how fadeblock pre-shampoo color seal can prolong my color when we’re eventually able to return to the salon (and business!) as usual. It can even be used during salon sessions to protect the scalp area from irritation due to bleach and even out hair porosity pre-color.

Because of its ability to form a protective barrier and seal the hair cuticle, it can be used to shield from environmental factors such as salt water, UV exposure (for some reason I love taking my daily solo walks at high noon when the sun is at its strongest), and even chlorine for sunny days by the pool. To all my ladies trying to maintain their hair color while stuck at home, I highly recommend giving fadeblock pre-shampoo color seal a try. It’ll give you even more free time to watch Netflix, do more baking, or even learn that one skill you’ve been meaning to get around to but haven’t yet because of Netflix and baking ;)