What’s the best shampoo for maintaining colored hair? Also, my stylist recommended rinsing with cool water to close the cuticle. I had never heard of this. Does it make sense?
According to Consumer Reports®, shampoo is just smelly soap. That said, I’ve used a couple shampoos that have a dab of color in them (red, for redheads, brown for brunettes, golden for blondes) They did seem to help hold my color better.
The cuticle of the hair changes very little. Hair is dead, the temperature of the water can’t really effect it much. I think stylists just like to torture us. 
I agree with the previous poster. Very harsh shampoo can seem to make your color fade faster…anything with extra detergent in it, say, for oily hair. But otherwise, any shampoo with conditioners in it, only varies in the amount of conditioners. The conditioners CAN cause build-up, which may be a problem for some people…say, if you have very fine or thin hair or want more body. Using a shampoo without conditioners built in a time or two will solve this problem.
If you want to do some great research on the subject, check out www.cosmeticscop.com.
Paying for shampoo that says it’s specifically for “color treated hair” is a rip off. A mild version of suave is exactly the same thing. Additionally, when they try to tell you that their ingredients are superior, it’s also bull crap…there are only two or three makers of the ingredients used in shampoos.
When you buy the stuff, you pay for packaging, advertisement, fragrance (which is BAD for your hair and skin, by the way) and for that ever-elusive “feel-good-mood” element.
Oh! One other thing! Rinsing with cold water actually does “flatten” the cuticle (I believe that’s the correct term). This may make it temporarily appear shinier. However, if you blow it dry (heat) or use any other heating implement on it…or heck, when it simply returns to normal room temperature, this affect is gone.
HOWEVER…using cooler air to blow dry your hair does cut down on styling damage caused by heat. Heat dries up your hair and can cause frizziness, split ends, etc. Using cooler implements helps prevent this!
I bought cheap shampoo and conditioner all my life. The once when I was flush, I bought some good stuff from my hairdresser (Redken). I really noticed a difference. It only takes a dab to work up a nice lather, and another dab for conditioning. Hair is softer, and not blindingly shiny, but nice. Using dabs makes it affordable.
But I didn’t get long-lasting shine until I started coloring with Feria.
ETA: I let my hair dry naturally. Since I don’t have to be at work early in the a.m., I can do that. I think that helps too.
I happen to use the Herbal Essence stuff for colored hair, because 1) it does seem to work, 2) it doesn’t make my scalp itch as some other brands I’ve tried have, and 3) I like the smell 
However, I think the big secret is don’t wash your hair more often than you need to. Some people need to wash their hair every day. Others would do better every other day, or every third day, and a few with very dry hair, even less often. It seems to be a naughty little secret among us dry-haired curlytops, but it also helps hair colors/dyes look brighter longer.
Thanks for all of the info. I work from home and usually only wash my hair every other day and I NEVER blow-dry it. In fact, I got my hair colored Tuesday afternoon and waited until Friday afternoon to wash it! I don’t know if that helped the color “set” or not, but I figured it couldn’t hurt!
I recommend Aussie.
Looking for opinions is in IMHO. Moved.
samclem GQ moderator