Colour-safe shampoo: what actually fades hair colour, and how much a shampoo can do about it

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Researched. We have not used this one long enough to give you a verdict, and we would rather say so than invent one. What follows is how it works, who it suits, and what it will not do. When we have used it properly, this page carries the verdict and the date.

Bellisso Color Safe Shampoo and Conditioner Set

Hair colour starts fading the first time you wash it. Colouring opens up the outer layer of the hair to let dye in, and a strand that has been opened once lets some of that dye back out every time it gets wet. Nothing stops that completely. A good routine slows it down, and the shampoo is one part of that routine.

What fades colour fastest

Washing. Every wash takes a little colour with it. Washing less often is the single biggest thing you can do.

Hot water. It swells the hair and helps dye escape. Lukewarm is kinder, and a cool final rinse better still.

Strong cleansers. Harsh, high-foaming cleansers lift more colour along with the oil.

Sun and heat. Ultraviolet light breaks down dye molecules, especially in reds and bright shades. Hot tools do similar damage.

What a colour-safe shampoo changes

Mostly the cleanser. According to the listing, this shampoo and conditioner set is sulfate-free and paraben-free, with milder cleansing that lifts less colour per wash. That is the most meaningful part of a colour-safe label. We covered what sulfate-free cleansing gives and gives up in a shampoo for a scalp that reacts.

The listing also names coconut, argan oil and vitamin B5 for softness and shine, and says it is safe for keratin-treated and chemically processed hair.

The UV filters

The listing says the set contains UV filters and vitamin E to help defend against fading. UV filters in a product you rinse off do not stay on the hair in any great amount, so treat this as a small extra rather than sun protection. On days in strong sun, a hat does far more for your colour.

Things that fade colour even with the right shampoo

A clarifying shampoo is the step most likely to strip colour — useful occasionally, but not in the week after colouring. We explain why in clarifying before a treatment. And heat: turn tools down and use a protectant — see what the temperature on a heat protectant means.

How to use it

Shampoo the scalp, not the lengths — the lather running through is enough to clean the ends. Conditioner on the mid-lengths and ends, left for a minute or two. Wash every other day or less if your scalp allows it, and wait a couple of days after a colour appointment before the first wash.

What it will not do

It will not stop colour fading, only slow it. It will not protect hair from the sun in any meaningful way. And it will not keep bright or pastel shades for long — those fade fastest whatever you use.

The product

A sulfate-free, paraben-free shampoo and conditioner set made for coloured and chemically treated hair. A sensible everyday wash for anyone who has paid for colour and would like it to last.

The one people are searching for is the Bellisso Color Safe Shampoo and Conditioner Set.

Bellisso Color Safe Shampoo and Conditioner Set

We do not print prices here, because a price we typed last month is a price that is wrong today.

Written by CatieH, who covers nails and hair here.