Pink hair is red-hot right now, with people of all ages – and with all different kinds of hairstyles – deciding to add a little pink into their lives.
Some folks dye their hair pink with “box color” all on their own. Others decide to go to the salon and have them handle the heavy lifting of transforming their hair to a beautiful shade of pink.
At the end of the day, though, no matter how you dye your hair pink it is inevitably going to fade – and sometimes it’s going to fade a whole lot faster and a whole lot more than you ever would have thought possible.
The second your hair has been dyed pink an invisible clock starts ticking, counting down every second of every day until it fades into an orangey kind of color (or something closer to peach).
Why is that?
Does pink hair have to fade?
Is there anything you can do to protect your hair and prolong the pink color?
Find out more below!
What Does Pink Hair Fade To?
Pink hair will inevitably fade – it’s just going to happen, it’s really a matter of how quickly – but it’s not going to fade into unpleasant or ridiculous colors.
Depending on the shade and the specific vibrancy of pink that you’ve selected, you’re probably going to end up with hair that is somewhere between bright orange and a more gentle peach kind of color.
On top of that, the “under shade” of your hair will have a huge impact on the color that pink eventually settles into.
For example, people with lighter base colors are going to have a lot more yellow in their undertones than anything else. This is going to get you closer to peach than bright orange.
Those that have darker base colors, though, are going to get that orangey kind of color – but most of the time it isn’t unpleasant, it isn’t unattractive, and it isn’t something that you aren’t going to be able to deal with if you want to change things back again.
Another factor you have to consider is the kind of pigmentation that has been used in the pink hair dye you are working with.
Some pigmentation ingredients are going to trend more towards the orange side of things when the haircolor starts to fade. Others are going to lean more towards yellow or pale kind of pastel colors.
Bubblegum pink or electric pink hair will generally fade into more of a pastel kind of look. Rose pink hair generally drops into a pale pink, and “red pink” hair often go towards orange shades.
The first time you dye your hair pink it’s going to be a revelation to see how it sort of settles in over the next few weeks. You’ll have a good idea of what to expect every time you dye your hair pink moving forward, though.
How Long Does It Take for Pink Hair to Fade?
Regardless of whether or not you decide to dye your hair pink all on your own or have it professionally done you’re looking at about a six week “shelf life” for your hair to look like it did when it was first colored.
After that the color is going to start to fade, faster and faster with each day, until you’re about eight weeks past the day you colored your hair pink and it is faded as much as it’s going to.
There are some things you can do to kind of solidify and prolong your pink hair (we share those tips and tricks in just a moment). But you’re not going to be able to squeeze any more than maybe 12 weeks of pink from your dye job no matter what!
Why Does Pink Hair Fade So Fast?
There are a couple of different reasons your pink hair is going to fade quickly, but the biggest one has to do with the actual cuticles that surround each and every one of your hair strands.
Cuticles work to protect your hair, but that’s where you need your hair dye to penetrate deeply if you’re going to get a consistent coloring job from top to bottom.
The pigments and volume developers needed to get your hair to different shades of pink, though, will inevitably open up and damage your cuticles – regardless of the brand of hair dye you use.
Those cuticles are going to fail, they’re going to fall off, and they’re going to need to be replaced with fresh cuticles (cuticles that haven’t had any exposure to the pink hair dye that damaged the “last generation”).
That’s why you’re dealing with such a significant drop off!
How Can I Protect My Pink Hair from Fading?
For starters, make sure that you only ever dye your hair pink when it is at its absolute healthiest.
Make sure that you haven’t bleached it recently. Make sure that you haven’t colored it recently, either. Spend a good solid month really babying your hair, feeding it quality hair care products, being careful when you wash it, and definitely being careful when you dry it.
Healthy hair will hold pink color all lot longer.
On top of that, deep conditioning solutions work wonders to help lock in pink haircolor that would have otherwise faded fast.
Hair masks on a regular basis and even hair oil can help to lock in the color, preventing those cuticles from dying off too quickly and maintaining the pink hue you’ve wanted all along.
Some people even spring for touchups to their pink hair every couple of weeks, sort of refreshing their hair color. The risk you run there, though, is further damaging your hair and making it even harder to bounce back once the pink finally fades.
Closing Thoughts
Pink hair is going to fade, there’s just no getting around that.
Lucky for you, though, it’s going to fade into and orange or peach kind of color most of the time – a color that is pretty pleasant (and one that can be re-colored without a lot of headache or hassle).
Recognize that you have about 8 to 12 weeks maximum with your pink hair and you’ll be able to better prepare when it inevitably starts to fade out.
Related articles
Here at FullPersonalCare.com our main goal is to help you in your personal care and solve all the question you could have about any of the accessories you will normally use to take care of yourself.