From warm chestnut hues to deep coffee browns, brunette hair is seeing a boom right now. Though arguably simpler to transition to from a lighter shade, brunette hair, both natural and coloured, still requires different care than other colours to keep your locks full of dimension and free from unwanted brassiness.
We spoke to Scott Evans, commercial education manager at Wella who shares his expert advice on how to take care of brunette hair.
How to care for naturally brunette hair
When it comes to natural, uncoloured hair, Scott explains that 'density, thickness and natural colour is genetically predetermined and is individual for everyone'. 'Natural colour does not determine the texture of the hair' he clarifies, and therefore advises focusing on overall hair health and tailoring your routine to your specific hair type to keep your natural colour glossy and vibrant.
What are the best ingredients for natural brunette hair?
"Keeping hair hydrated, smooth and healthy is essential to maintain the outer surface of the hair, the cuticle, as this is the hairs protective barrier. If this barrier becomes damaged, the internal structure will become damaged and potentially break" explains Scott. To ensure your hair barrier stays strong and healthy, Scott says "hydration is essential". "Many people only focus on rebuilding the inner strength of hair but hydration is just as essential in maintaining smooth, healthy hair".
So which ingredients are best for maintaining moisture and hair health? Scott's key four are:
Lipids - "Lipids are oily fats naturally found in the hair and are the first to be broken down when colouring, heat styling or by UV rays. These protective fats are essential to maintain moisture levels in the hair. When lost, hair can quickly become dry, fragile, and lifeless."
To support the effects of lipids, Scott advises also using
Glycerine – "A great deep conditioning ingredient that helps moisturise hair, reduces breakage and aids in the absorption of moisture and retention in damaged hair."
Glucose – "A hydrating super ingredient, helps to moisturise and hydrate the hair leaving it silky smooth and soft to touch."
Panthenol - "Helps strengthen hair, retain moisture, and improves the texture of damaged hair."
How to avoid colour fade in naturally brunette hair
"The longer natural brunette hair gets, the more it tends to be exposed to heat styling and UV rays" points out Scott. "Because of this, hair can become lighter and the natural underlying tones can be exposed" he says, explaining that this is the cause of unwanted brassiness or reddish tones. To prevent this from happening, Scott suggests good UV and heat protection.
The best shampoos for natural brunette hair
"A fantastic hydrating shampoo for natural straight or curl brunette hair is the Wella Professionals Invigo Nutri-Enrich Shampoo. This shampoo is the best option to restore moisture to any hair texture, it has all the key ingredients associated with hydrating and protecting hair from further damage" says Scott.
The best conditioners for natural brunette hair
Scott recommends a hydrating conditioner and hair mask to keep strands moisturised. "For finer hair, I would recommend to just to use the conditioner, but for thicker or tighter curlier hair, switch to using the mask as your regular conditioner as the formula is richer and better suited to thicker and curlier hair as they will need more vs finer hair" he advises.
The best hair masks and treatments for natural brunette hair
"The Wella Professionals Oil Reflections Luminous Smoothing Oil offers fantastic nourishment to brunette hair. Enriched with macadamia seed and avocado oils, the lightweight texture of this oil will not weigh hair down but will support nourishment and hydration helping protect the hair from drying out" explains Scott. "An expert tip for thicker or textured hair types is to add 5-10 pumps of the Wella Professionals Oil Reflections Luminous Smoothing Oil to your hair mask to increase the conditioning and smoothing effect on hair. A great indulgent treat for you and your hair" he adds.
Use the Wella Professionals INVIGO Balance Senso Calm Mask to help add nourishment and hydration to the scalp and promote healthy hair growth. Perfect for anyone experiencing sensitivity, the balancing mask restores comfort and infuses hair with strengthening allatoin.
How to care for coloured brunette hair
How to prevent hair damage from colouring
"Excessive colouring of the hair will cause damage and increase fade of brunette hair" states Scott. He explains that coloured hair needs specific care designed to both protect colour and maintain condition and hydration. "Key ingredients to look out for in colour care is EDTA OR EDDS and Histidine. These key ingredients are metal detoxing ingredients and help reduce metal deposits on hair whilst protecting colour from fade" he says.
"The Wella Professionals Colormotion+ Colour Protection range is designed to protect colour, fight fade and hydrate whilst restoring the hairs strength and condition" says Scott. "The range reduces metal deposits know to fade and dull colour, protect against fade from UV rays, hydrate and smooth hair plus with the added plex boding ingredients in the mask, will help restore strength to brunette colour treated hair" he explains.
How does the care of coloured blonde hair differ to that of coloured brunette hair?
"Blonde hair care is very different from brunette care" points out Scott. "Blondes need a higher concentration of repairing ingredients to restore strength in chemically lightened hair and needs cool violet tone to neutralise warmth and stop hair from looking brassy" he explains. "Brunettes need to focus more on hydration with their colour protection combining strengthening technology on a biweekly basis. This is why the Wella Professionals Colormotion+ range is the perfect at home regime for brunette colour treated hair" he suggests.
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