Swimming is a fun-filled activity, and it's also one of the best ways to keep oneself fit and healthy. However, if you are someone who has recently colored your hair and loves to swim frequently, a question might arise in your mind: 'Is swimming with colored hair a good idea?'
The chlorine water of the pool can damage your hair, especially your colored hair. Chlorine in the pool water deposits on the hair color, stripping the color pigments and making your freshly colored hair look faded and lackluster. What if we say we can read your mind: you must be thinking about whether to avoid hair coloring or swimming. You can carry out both of your favorite activities without restraint. We will tell you how. In this blog, we will discuss the impact of exposure to various pool chemicals on colored hair and come up with an answer to all your queries related to swimming with colored hair.
When Can You Swim After Coloring Hair?
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Hair coloring has become popular in recent years, with individuals experimenting with various hair coloring styles. Whether you have highlights, lowlight, light brown, or chestnut brown, or burgundy hair color, it's important to understand how swimming can affect your hair and when you can swim after coloring it.
The pool water is often sanitized with chlorine and bromine. Exposure to these chemicals can have adverse effects on your hair health. If you are a frequent swimmer, you must have noticed that your hair becomes rough, dry, and brittle like a straw after swimming. This is because the chlorine of the pool water strips the sebum responsible for keeping the hair hydrated and alters the hair color, thus making your colored hair dry, dull, and frizzy.
Our experts recommend waiting 5-7 days before jumping into the pool after coloring your hair. It's still okay to go swimming after coloring your hair but hold on, that doesn't mean that you jump into the swimming pool on your way back from the parlor. The longer you wait, the better, as it allows the hair coloring pigments to settle down and the cuticles to close so that they can lock the hair color into the hair shaft. Moreover, it also depends on the type of hair coloring product (semi-permanent or permanent) you use.
For Semi-Permanent Hair Colors: You can go swimming 3-5 days after applying a semi-permanent hair color as they are curated with not-so-harsh ingredients, so the risk of reacting with the chemicals of the pool water is less. You can use Colorisma Semi-Permanent Hair Colors with hair bond tech Hyaplex, India's first no damage hair colors.
Also Read : Hyaplex : A Hair Bonding Technology To Color Hair Without Damage
Buy Semi Permanent Hair Colors
For Permanent Hair Colors: If you are using permanent hair color, it is advisable to wait for 5-7 days before you go swimming as permanent hair color is formulated using harsh chemicals that may react with the salt and chlorine on the pool water, resulting in adverse effects.
You are sorted if you know how to create a protective shield between hair and pool water.
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Wearing a swimming cap, hair oil treatment or applying a moisturizing conditioner before swimming helps to protect your hair from direct exposure to pool water. After swimming, use a color-protectant shampoo that gently eliminates all the impurities, debris and buildup from the scalp and hair.
What Happens If You Swim Right After Coloring?
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Swimming right after hair coloring can have a damaging effect on your strands, ruining your hair color. Your freshly created balayage or ombre with a blue or purple hair color will all go in the drain if you go swimming right after hair coloring. Moreover, outdoor swimming can expose your strands to harsh UV rays, further adding to fading your hair color.
Also Read : Why Is Your Semi Permanent Hair Color Fading?
You may experience a color transformation, depending on the hair color you used and how patient you were before diving into the pool. Green hair is the most common side effect most swimmers experience after coloring or lightening their locks. For the unversed, green hair is often associated with chlorine in the pool water, which reacts with the hair coloring pigments leaving you with green strands. Only chlorine is not to blame for the green hair effect, as it reacts with other minerals present in pool water, such as sodium, potassium, and copper, that stick to your hair. The metals oxidize, creating a green film on the strands. The 'green hair 'effect is quite evident in all light and blonde hair, but it is not much noticeable in brunettes.
Swimming with colored hair requires extra precautions to prevent fading of hair color. Applying a conditioner, hair mask, or a hair oil treatment before swimming and washing your hair with color-protectant shampoo or a clarifying shampoo helps with long-lasting hair color. Enjoy the dip in the pool without having to worry about your hair color.
Also Read : 13 Most Asked Questions About Semi-Permanent Hair Colors
Frequently Answered Questions
1. Does Chlorine Ruin Color Treated Hair?
Chlorinated water from the swimming pools pulls moisture and hair coloring pigments out of the strands, thus quickly fading your freshly applied hair color, making it appear like a straw.
2. Does Chlorine Darken Hair?
Chlorine bleaches your hair; regular exposure to pool water can strip the melanin pigment from the strands, lightening your natural hair color. All the brunettes can go blonde in pool water.
3. Will Chlorine Turn Bleached Hair Green?
Chlorine reacts with copper and oxidizes it. These particles stick to the protein of the strands giving it a greenish hue. This color change is more evident in lighter hair.
4. How To Protect Your Dyed Hair From Chlorine?
Apply a conditioner, hair mask or hair oil and wear a swim mask before swimming. This creates a protective barrier between hair and chlorinated water, thus protecting your dyed hair.
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