The ultimate guide to keeping your brunette hair colour around for longer

The ultimate guide to keeping your brunette hair colour around for longer

Credit: Courtesy of brands

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The ultimate guide to keeping your brunette hair colour around for longer

By Charlotte Bitmead

Updated 3 months ago

All products on this page have been selected by the editorial team, however Stylist may make commission on some products purchased through affiliate links in this article

7 min read

Are you tired of your expensive colour fading quickly? We asked the experts for their top tips on keeping your brunette hair colour around for longer. 


We know the drill: you spend hours (and plenty of pocket money) getting your ultimate brunette colour at the hairdresser, only to find that it disappears after a few washes and you’re left with lengths looking as dull as dishwater (harsh but probably true). While blondes and their grown-out roots or redheads losing their vibrancy may be more commonly talked about, brunette hair shades also require a bit of upkeep after you’ve left your colourist’s chair to keep it in tip-top shape.

Winter in particular seems to do our hair colour few favours, with brittle temperatures and frosty winds proving unhelpful when it comes to keeping our hair vibrant and shiny. As the chilly winter weather looms, we went to the experts for their top tips on how to get your brunette hair to stay rich and chocolatey for longer.     

Why does my brunette hair colour fade?

The bad news? No hair dye lasts forever. Your colourist may work their hair wizardry to get those caramel highlights to effortlessly blend or find the perfect chestnut hue to match your skin tone, but their hard work will inevitably fade. However, there may be specific reasons why your brunette colour isn’t sticking around as long as it should.

“Brunette hair tends to be the most resilient colour for a number of reasons, however, any coloured hair will fade quickly if not looked after correctly,” explains Stéphane Ferreira, senior colourist at Live True London. “It also depends on your base colour – if your natural tone is much lighter than your colour, colour fade will be more noticeable. If you are dying very light bleached hair a dark brown, your hair will be more porous and the colour will cling to it for longer,” Ferreira adds. 

What can you do to prevent your colour from fading?

The good news? There are a number of easy tweaks to your lifestyle that you can implement to help keep that colour locked in for longer.

“Use colour-safe hair products, especially shampoo and conditioner. These will be designed to help keep your colour vibrant and will maintain softness from any damage,” says Ferreira. These formulas are typically sulphate-free to prevent colour from stripping and might avoid essential oils, such as mint and rosemary, as these can cause your shade to darken. Alcohol may also be missing from the ingredients list as it can not only lift colour but also cause dryness.

Ferreira’s top tip when picking a shampoo? Avoid those that claim to ‘clarify’ or ‘purify’ as this could cause the dye to fade faster.

It may sound daunting, but washing your hair less frequently is key to colour longevity. “It’s a well-known fact that washing your hair will cause the colour to fade, so if you can get by with less washes, your colour will stay for longer,” says Ferreira. We may be tempted to crank the temperature up in the winter and opt for a steamy shower, but Ferreira recommends avoiding this. “Rinse with cool water. Hot water can make your hair colour fade faster, as well as causing heat damage and frizz.”

Avoiding the heated hair tools as much as possible is also a no-brainer. “Heat damage can cause dullness and your hair colour to lose its vibrancy, so limit heat styling where possible and use a good heat protectant,” says Ferreira. We don’t want you sizzling off your perfect brunette colour.

Other kinds of heat, like sun exposure, can cause colour to fade and unwanted brassiness, so if you’re going on holiday make sure to pack a baseball hat or read your book under a beach umbrella. 

What products should you use on coloured hair?

As well as the tips mentioned above, the products on your shower shelf play an integral role in the fight to prevent colour fading.

Using products designed for colour-treated hair is key, but there are a few DIY options when it comes to giving your hair a colour refresh too. “Tinted hair masks can be a great option to keep your colour vibrant at home,” says Ferreira. However, these won’t work for everyone. “If you like to balayage your hair we recommend visiting your stylist for toner or colour refreshes. These masks usually contain dyes that might be difficult to lift out when you want to refresh your balayage, which means a longer stay in the salon chair and a more difficult job for your stylist,” Ferreira adds.

Tinted shampoos are all the rage when it comes to maintaining blonde hair, but they can also work for brunettes too. “You can also use blue-toned shampoos, conditioners and treatments – these work in the same way as purple products for blondes, but are specifically made to cancel out brassy tones in brunettes,” says Ferreira.

A hair mask doesn’t have to be tinted to have an impact on your brunette colour though. “Treatments to restore the damage that might have occurred from the dye will help improve shine and softness and leave your hair looking healthy and therefore make your hair look more vibrant,” says Ferreira. It will keep your bathroom free from any colour splatters too. 

Best shampoo for brunette hair

Kérastase Chroma Absolu Bain Respect Shampoo

Kérastase Chroma Absolu Bain Respect Shampoo

This aims to specifically target those with fine hair who have accumulated some damage from their colourist’s chair. The colour-nurturing cocktail of hydrating hyaluronic acid, glycerin and amino acids works to strengthen and reduce hair porosity. 

Shop Kérastase Chroma Absolu Bain Respect Shampoo at Sephora UK, £28.25

Buy now

L’Oréal Paris Elvive Glycolic Gloss Sulphate Free Shampoo for Dull Hair

L’Oréal Paris Elvive Glycolic Gloss Sulphate Free Shampoo for Dull Hair

Glycolic acid isn’t just for your skin; it can offer the same glow-giving powers to your hair too. This sulphate-free shampoo has 2% of the star ingredient that leaves hair shinier, stronger and softer after the first wash. 

Shop L’Oréal Paris Elvive Glycolic Gloss Sulphate Free Shampoo for Dull Hair at Boots, £12.99

buy now

Redken Acidic Color Gloss Shampoo and Conditioner

Redken Acidic Color Gloss Shampoo and Conditioner

This dynamic duo claims to deliver glass-like shine to your colour for up to a staggering 16 washes, thanks to the citric acid and ‘acidic shine complex’ formula. Expect to see your brunette hair looking brighter, while your ends feel drenched in hydration. 

Shop Redken Acidic Color Gloss Shampoo and Conditioner at LookFantastic, £51.40

buy now

Imbue Curl Liberating Shampoo

Imbue Curl Liberating Shampoo

If you’ve been blessed with natural curls, they often come with the downside of being on the dryer side, as oils from the scalp have to work twice as hard to reach the root. This formula is sulphate-free, so it won’t disturb your colour and features coconut and cupuaçu to nourish. 

Shop Imbue Curl Liberating Shampoo at Superdrug, £8.99

buy now

Best treatments for brunette hair 

amika Bust Your BrassCool Blonde Intense Repair Hair Mask

Amika Bust Your Brass Cool Blonde Intense Repair Hair Mask

Trust us; this paste may look a bit messy (I mean, it is blue, after all), but the way it banishes brassiness makes a little mess worthwhile. The bonding technology helps deliver some TLC to stressed strands, while rich butters and a violet tint help restore hair’s health and your colour to its former glory. 

Shop Amika Bust Your Brass Cool Blonde Intense Repair Hair Mask at Cult Beauty, £35

buy now

Living Proof Perfect Hair Day High-Shine Gloss Treatment

Living Proof Perfect Hair Day High-Shine Gloss Treatment

Hair glosses are really having a moment, and it’s not hard to see why. Living Proof entered the hair gloss chat and we’re pleased to report that it lives up to the hype. The silicone-free treatment helps to detangle and boost vibrancy for up to three washes while keeping hair lightweight and swishy. It’s that mirror hair we’ve been seeing all over TikTok but in bottle form. 

Shop Living Proof Perfect Hair Day High-Shine Gloss Treatment at Space NK, £30

buy now

Cécred Reconstructing Treatment Mask

Cécred Reconstructing Treatment Mask

Promising to be ‘hair repair in a jar’ this impressive formula is packed with bioactive keratin to leave hair feeling and looking stronger. While more watery in texture than we may have imagined (be careful when unscrewing the lid to prevent the golden liquid from spilling out), this gets to work in only a few minutes to leave ends quenched and with mirror-like shine. If you have thick hair that’s been fried by one too many hair straighteners or colour jobs, you need this in your life. 

Shop Cécred Reconstructing Treatment Mask at Cecred, £40

buy now

Olaplex Nº.5 Leave-In™ Moisturize & Mend Leave-In Conditioner

Olaplex Nº.5 Leave-In Moisturize & Mend Leave-In Conditioner

Olaplex is a well-known hairdresser’s secret by now and its latest leave-in conditioner is worth having on your radar. If you love the reparative results of the OG Olaplex Nº.3 Hair Perfector, this is a more low-maintenance leave-in option. So you can slick back your hair, while it gets to work at hydrating split ends and smoothing flyaways. 

Shop Olaplex Nº.5 Leave-In Moisturize & Mend Leave-In Conditioner at Olaplex, £30

buy now

Glaze Super Gloss Color Conditioning Hair Gloss

Glaze Super Gloss Color Conditioning Hair Gloss

If your colour is looking a bit worse for wear and you can’t get booked in with your colourist in time, Gloss has a great DIY option that’s easy to use and gently (and temporarily) tints the hair for up to 10 washes. Not only does it resuscitate your colour, but it also adds smoothness and shine to the hair. Talk about a two-for-one. 

Shop Glaze Super Gloss Color Conditioning Hair Gloss at Amazon, £15.99

buy now

Images: courtesy of brands

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