Color Aftercare | Brandy C Sims

Below are my regimen recommendations and favorite products. Please note that these are general aftercare recommendations, and your regimen/products may vary based upon individual hair types, lifestyle, and hair needs.

I will first outline the regimen steps needed and provide product recommendations after. Understanding a healthy regimen is KEY to having a healthy color journey. The products needed just fill in for the steps needed.

Cleansing the hair is the foundation to everything. Your hair can't absorb the treatments and deep conditioners it needs if the cuticle is clogged from products, oils, gels, etc. Doing a clarifying shampoo at least once a month and after any protective styling is important to hair health. These can often be called purifying, clarifying, or deep cleansing. Use approximately 2 times until you get a good lather. You can use a hydrating/moisturizing shampoo in between. Blondes can also incorporate violet based shampoos to tone as desired.

When most people think of color health, they think of moisture only, but color needs a balance between moisture and strength. Remember that while your color was done in a healthy manner, your cuticle has been gently opened. Strengthening/repairing/fortifying (common words used) involves elements in products that fill in these small openings in the cuticle to ensure the hair stays strong and moisture doesn't escape. When strengthening, make sure the hair does not feel dry/brittle as a result of strengthening as that means that treatment is not a good fit for your hair or may need to be cocktailed with a deep conditioner to balance it out. Make sure the products used for deep conditioning/moisture ensure that the hair does feel softer after usage. A rule of thumb is to deep condition most of the time and strengthen at least every 4-6 weeks (4 weeks with blonde color or finer hair).
Any leave in moisturizers/treatments can be used every time you cleanse your hair.

This category can get really specific as there are so many style options and hair types, so I will make this more general. For natural styles, always make sure you're layering a moisturizing leave in conditioner underneath all styling products. Opt for products such as butters and foams over drying gels. For wash and go styles, if you use gels, opt for natural based gels vs synthetic gels. For heat styles make sure you're also layering a light leave in or leave in spray before adding a heat protectant.

While there is no general rule of thumb for best styles and styling practices, there are 2 major paths that always provide the most impact for health and length retention: Stretched is best and avoid excessive heat.

Stretched: Stretched styles are any styles that elongate the texture from how it naturally shrinks to the head. (This is not as important for those with looser curls/waves or coarse hair). Tighter textures tend to have more cracks/holes due to the curvature of the strand, which can result in dryness, breakage, and a harder to manage/detangle texture. Stretched styles allow the hair to maintain more moisture and ease of manageability. When you have a texture that shrinks 50% or more when wet, it is best to make your go to style a stretched style such as twist outs, braid outs, and tension blow outs. Frequent rods, bantu knots, and wash and go styles on tighter textures can increase dryness and/or tangles which increases split ends and breakage.

Limit heat styling, especially blondes, to avoid damaging the hair. Hydration is key when using heat. If you predominantly wear heat styles, make sure the hair is cleansed, hydrated, and treated properly before applying heat and avoid flat ironing in between shampoos.

Protective styling is any style that you can enter and exit for at least a week or two at a time without breaking and popping the hair when you exit the style. Styles with added hair such as braids, wigs, etc. can typically be kept in longer, but try not to go beyond 4 to 5 weeks if you aren't familiar with how your hair responds to the style or if you don't have a quality take down routine that avoids breakage.

Simply put, each individual strand is FRAGILE, so giving it a break is always needed for optimal length retention. Now we are NOT vouching for the habitual protective style wearer... you know, the one that wears protective styles such as weaves and braids year round and neglects their hair, but a break is always needed with a good regimen and trimming in between. Make sure to enter the protective style with hair that is stretched enough so can run your fingers through (unless it's a natural updo), enter with fully deep conditioned hair, and upon taking down the style finger detangle each section and then make sure to remove all shed hairs with a wide tooth comb and then detangling brush on damp hair full of slippery conditioner before shampooing. The hair sheds daily, and these shed hairs can't fall out when in a protective style, so SOME hair loss is normal when exiting a style. Never comb the hair DRY and always start from the ends.

For beginner protective style wearers, opt for updos, etc on your own hair or only go for larger braid styles such as braids under a wig, cornrows, or larger individual braids/twists.

Color is still a chemical, so split ends travel faster with color treated hair than with non-colored hair, so catching those split ends before they travel is key to health. Those with finer (thinner) strands are more likely to need trimming sooner than those with coarser (thicker) hair, which is why everyone's trim routine isn't always the same. Those who have lighter hair color, finer strands, naturally drier strands, or a tighter curl pattern tend to need trims more often. When you trim more frequently, less needs to be taken off, so don't feel you have to trim an inch or 2 every 2-3 months (If that is the case, your regimen is not helping your hair AVOID split ends and needs adjusting).

A general rule of thumb with color is to trim every 2 months. Your hair doesn't have to be flat ironed, but those with tight textures that shrink 50% or more have more length retention when you can have a precise, visual trim which often happens best on stretched hair because tight/wet hair tends to be deceiving and always looks healthy. Tighter/dry strands should opt for trims on blow dried hair more often than wet trims. If zero heat is preferred and trimming will be on wet hair only, smooth/stretch the curl out FULLY to see the ends and visually pay attention to what is blunt and what gets thinner or frizzier to determine what is split. Take off anything that is frizzy, thin, and or uneven. Despite youtube university, blunt hair retains length BEST! If there is too much that needs to be trimmed at one time for your comfort zone, trim a little every month until it's gone and decrease styles that require daily manipulation while doing so.

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