Can I pull off Red Hair

Less than 2% of the world's population is a natural redhead! That's why it is so attention grabbing. So, if you want some of that spotlight and are thinking of going red, let us give you some tips.

Before we talk about some red hair care tips, let's learn a little about color pigments. In the final run, the mixture of only two pigment groups determines the color of our hair, namely eumelanin and pheomelanin. Only a minimal amount of the small pheomelanin molecule will cause the red tinge. Quite a bit of this small pigment is however necessary for a gorgeous flaming red head.

In case you or your hair stylist has created the red coloring of your hair, you'll know that keeping red hair vibrant is a struggle. The red color will readily disappear and even slowly leach out when you merely rinse your hair with water. Born redheads certainly know how light will quickly bleach their hair color. This is due to the fact that pheomelanin is degraded faster in the presence of UV light. Mere hair care and protection will not preserve the copper red color. It takes active care and knowledge of how to maintain red hair to keep the red hair color brilliant.

Red pigments are light-sensitive, especially those that come in a bottle. Both natural and other redheads should stay out of the midday sun, use hair care products that are made for red hair and that protect against UV rays.

If your hair is dyed red, you should not go in a swimming pool for at least two weeks after dyeing your hair because chlorinated water is much harder on those red pigments.

As your hair starts to fade, you should use a red color rinse. It will help maintain the brilliance. Products like Celeb Luxury Colorwash or Tressa Watercolors are perfect for this.

Use an intensive mask/treatment on your hair weekly. Using a conditioner on red hair is not enough. Intensive treatments contain ingredients that penetrate the hair and can fill out gaps in the hair cuticle. This keeps the red pigments in the hair for a longer time. Matrix Total Results Color Obsessed is great for this.

Now, what shade of red to choose?

• Fair, cool skin tones look best with a ginger or cinnamon shade of red. Make sure to balance the copper and gold and avoid any orange tones. They are too abrasive.

• Fair to medium neutral skin tones will love the classic auburn with touches of warm toffee. Brunettes will find this a great way to transition to this warm color.

• Medium neutral skin tones will look best with pink-red shades. You can warm up your blonde with a metallic red. Apricot shades really flatter the pink undertones in your skin.

• Medium to deeper skin tones really rock the fire engine and scarlet reds. The cooler red shades are flattering to skin with yellow undertones.