Unlock the Secret Weapons Hairstylists Swear By to Keep Your Color-Treated Hair Vibrant and Damage-Free!

Ever wonder why your fresh hair color seems to fade just as fast as your willpower at 5 p.m.? I’ve been there—with my own chocolate brown roots and warm caramel highlights, the kind of look that screams “effortless” but demands nothing short of a small time investment and a decent chunk of cash to maintain. The real kicker? That vibrant shade you left the salon with can start looking a little, well, tired after just a couple of weeks. After battling fading roots and wallet woes, I dove deep into the labyrinth of at-home hair care—testing countless shampoos and consulting top hairstylists and dermatologists—to find what really keeps color-treated hair looking fresh, healthy, and salon-worthy. Curious about what shampoos made the cut and what ingredients your hair actually needs? Stick around and let’s unpack the essentials that will rescue your color and your routine.
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4 min read

Maybe I’m born with it. Maybe it’s balayage. After a year and a half of coloring my naturally black hair, I’ve stuck with chocolate brown at the roots and warm caramel highlights. The color looks effortless, but maintaining the vibrancy requires long appointments and regular upkeep.

When my color starts fading after two weeks? A total bummer and not exactly easy on my wallet. Maintaining my fresh-from-the-salon ombré requires the right at-home routine, starting with shampoo for colored hair. To find the right formulas that help keep my color-treated tresses vibrant and healthy, I tested dozens of shampoos and asked hairstylists and a dermatologist what to look for.

Best Shampoos for Colored Hair

What to Consider

What does coloring do to your hair?

Hair coloring, especially permanent dyes and bleaching, involves chemical processes that alter the hair shaft by depositing or removing pigment, says dermatologist Shereen Teymour, MD. These color treatments can disrupt the hair’s protective cuticle and weaken its internal structure, making it more porous and susceptible to dryness, breakage, and color fading, she says. Your scalp can also get irritated from hair dye, particularly if you have sensitive skin or allergies. “Color-treated hair therefore requires gentler cleansing and conditioning to help preserve moisture, minimize further damage, and maintain color vibrancy,” says Dr. Teymour.

What should you look for in a color-treated shampoo?

Your goal is to use a shampoo that gently cleanses without stripping away your hair’s natural oils, says Dr. Teymour. Look out for conditioning ingredients—such as glycerin and panthenol—to help maintain hydration and improve manageability. Amino acids and hydrolyzed proteins can help minimize breakage and temporarily reinforce damaged areas of the hair shaft, she says.

Are sulfate-free shampoos always better for color-treated hair?

Not necessarily. You don’t need to avoid sulfates in your shampoo entirely, according to three experts I consulted. “Haircare isn’t that black and white,” says hairstylist and trichologist Courtney Foster. “I care more about how the entire formula performs on your scalp and hair.” That means you should pay close attention to how your strands feel after washing and avoid using a strong clarifying shampoo too frequently.

Pros

Cleanses without overstripping hair
Jojoba oil conditions strands
Helps strengthen hair

Cons

Skip if you don’t enjoy a lingering fragrance

Key Specs

Hair Type	Straight, Wavy, Curly, and Coily
Best Ingredients	Jojoba oil, watermelon seed oil, and hydrolyzed vegetable protein

Oribe addresses several things Foster looks for in color-treated hair: gentle cleansing, moisture, conditioning, and protection. She especially likes that it contains jojoba oil, watermelon seed oil, and hydrolyzed vegetable protein. “It also has ingredients intended to help protect the hair from UV exposure, which is important because sun exposure can affect the appearance of color,” she says.

It’s also earned snaps from Dr. Teymour and me. It helps fortify my strands, preserve color, enhance vibrancy, and hydrate my hair. Plus, the brand’s signature aroma of Calabrian bergamot, white butterfly jasmine, and sandalwood is incredibly enticing and brings the salon feeling to my shower.

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Pros

Keratin helps strengthen weak hair
Deeply conditioning for parched tresses

Cons

Skip if you prefer sulfate-free shampoo

Key Specs

Hair Type	All hair types and textures that are damaged
Best Ingredients	Keratin, argan oil, and African manketti oil

When your color service leaves your hair feeling compromised, Foster suggests using Joico. “It addresses hair condition while protecting color,” she says.

Just keep in mind this shampoo does contain sulfates. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, though. “It’s a good example of why I don’t automatically eliminate a shampoo just because I see the word ‘sulfate.’ I look at the entire formula.” This one is packed with proteins and vitamin-rich ingredients, like keratin, argan oil, and African manketti oil for stronger, nourished hair that’s protected against fading.

Pros

Lightweight and silicone-free formula
Helps create a volumizing effect on fine and thin strands

Cons

Skip if you have thick, coarse, or extremely dry hair

Key Specs

Hair Type	Fine, dry, damaged hair of all textures
Best Ingredients	Jojoba oil, lavender, green tea

Pureology hydrates fine hair without weighing it down by delivering jojoba-rich hydration paired with soothing green tea. There’s also a trifecta of moisturizing glycerin, conditioning polymers, and hydrolyzed wheat protein.

Tester Lily Wohlner used this shampoo for three months and found it helps remedy her self-described super-dry, fine hair. It adds a natural sheen to her strands, creating the illusion of lush, thicker-looking hair, she says in our guide to the best shampoos for thinning hair. Notably, her hair gets greasy in the fall, and she found this one removed excess oil without overstripping her scalp or dyed brunette locks. Since her hair isn’t weighed down, she finds it helps her hair look fuller.

Just keep in mind that this shampoo works best for fine hair. If you have very thick, coarse, or extremely dry hair, then you may want something richer, says Foster.

Pros

Ideal for blonde, gray, and silver tresses
Alpha Keratin 60ku protein keeps hair healthy and strong

Cons

You don’t need it every wash day, so you’ll need to purchase a separate shampoo

Key Specs

Hair Types	All hair textures, but only if they’re blonde, gray, or silver
Best Ingredinets	Alpha Keratin 60ku protein

When you have cool-toned blonde, silver, gray, or highlighted hair, then you likely know the struggle of brassy hair all too well. Swimming in chlorinated water can make your color look warmer or yellow. Virtue’s synthetic, color-free, and dye-free purple tint helps brighten, tone, and neutralize brassiness. So you shouldn’t find any stains on your white pillowcase in the morning.

“I have seen great results with this, and there’s no purple buildup,” says celebrity hairstylist Kenna Kennor of Kennaland Salon in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. He particularly likes this one for clients who are double-processed blondes.

Although I’m not a blonde, I am a fan of Virtue products because they include Alpha Keratin 60ku protein. This is a proprietary protein that mimics the hair-strengthening, damage-repairing benefits of keratin.

Just remember to treat Virtue as a targeted product in your routine, rather than your go-to shampoo, says Foster. Overusing purple shampoo can leave some hair feeling dry or rough. You’ll also want to invest in a nourishing conditioner and hair mask if you’ve got lighter locks to help keep your tresses healthy.

Pros

The pH-optimized formula helps preserve color and enhances shine
Also suitable for chemically processed hair

Cons

Skip if you want a toning shampoo

Key Specs

Hair Types	All hair types, ranging from coily to straight
Best Ingredients	K18Peptide, plant-derived surfactants

K18 mimics the hair’s natural pH to help preserve the scalp’s microbiome, which earned it a spot in celebrity hairstylist Nicolas Flores’s arsenal of haircare products. “Its pH-optimized formula helps maintain the hair’s strength and minimize color fading, making it a great everyday option for clients who color their hair regularly,” he says.

While some K18 products like the Peptide Prep Detox Shampoo can be drying, this one is a tad milder than others. It relies on plant-derived surfactants to remove oil and dirt without compromising your color or scalp health.

Pros

Protects color while enhancing shine and softness
Leaves my hair soft and shiny without looking stringy

Cons

The premium price tag

Key Specs

Hair Types	All hair textures and densities
Best Ingredients	Hibiscus extract, shea oil, panthenol, alpha-bisabolol, cotton proteins, ceramide, vitamin E, and passion fruit oil

Yes, this is a $100 shampoo, but it’s for someone who wants their haircare routine to feel luxurious and doesn’t mind paying for that experience. After testing my bottle for a few weeks, I can confirm that it’s actually worth the price.

Hear me out: The color-safe shampoo left my hair noticeably softer and shinier, which is no small feat. My textured tresses are very dry, and the combination of nourishing shea oil and panthenol has left my hair feeling noticeably softer. Meanwhile, the inclusion of soothing alpha-bisabolol offers some sweet relief to my easily irritated, dry scalp. But what I love the most is the anti-breakage restructuring complex—cotton proteins and ceramide—paired with antioxidant-rich vitamin E to help prevent scalp oxidation and passion fruit oil to leave a glossy luster on my mane.

But what truly sets it apart from more affordable alternatives is the mix of anti-breakage restructuring complex—cotton proteins and ceramide—paired with color-preserving ingredients, such as hibiscus flower extract. It also combines antioxidant-rich vitamin E to help prevent scalp oxidation and passion fruit oil to leave a glossy luster on my mane.

Meet the Experts

FAQ

How often should you shampoo color-treated hair?

For most people with color-treated hair, shampooing two to three times a week is a reasonable starting point, says Dr. Teymour. But your ideal frequency depends on your scalp’s oil production, lifestyle, and hair needs. “There isn’t one shampoo schedule that works for everyone,” says Foster. If you exercise frequently or have an oily scalp, you’ll likely need to shampoo more often than someone with a dry scalp and textured hair. Ultimately, using the right shampoo, lukewarm water, and properly conditioning the hair is more important to Foster than trying to go as long as possible without washing.

Can you use clarifying shampoo on color-treated hair?

You can include a clarifying shampoo in your color-safe wash day routine, but only as needed. It shouldn’t be overly aggressive, and frequent use can cause dryness and accelerate color fading, says Dr. Teymour. If your hair is extremely dry, rough, or squeaky after shampooing, the formula may be too aggressive for your hair, adds Foster.

Should you use purple shampoo every time you wash your hair?

You should only use purple shampoo once or twice a week, not every wash, to help keep the tone in check, says Kennor. Purple shampoo is best for blonde or toned hair prone to brassiness. If you don’t have light, cool-toned locks, you can probably skip using purple shampoo.

Does washing your hair make color fade faster?

When you wash your color-treated hair, it takes a little bit of your tone away, so it fades faster and gets brassier, says Kennor. That doesn’t mean you should skip washing your hair. “You shouldn’t keep a dirty scalp to preserve it,” says Foster.

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Nicole Saunders is the beauty editor at Women’s Health and has nine years of experience researching, writing, and editing lifestyle content. She specializes in breaking down complicated topics, like red light therapy for hair growth and LED face masks, into easy-to-understand guides. Saunders takes great pride in heavily researching and testing featured beauty products, such as strengthening shampoos and body washes for dry skin on our site.
Previously, she was the beauty editor at Best Products where she tested quite literally thousands of launches for her quarterly column and the Best New Beauty Awards package. She also launched the beauty and wellness coverage at NBC News and contributed to CNN, Cosmopolitan, Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, and Harper’s BAZAAR.
You can follow her on Instagram to stay in the loop on her product testing adventures.