Hair coloring has become a popular way to express individuality and style. Still, there is a culprit that destroys your vibrant shade, and many of us love to experiment with bold colors. However, sun exposure and prolonged exposure to the elements can cause an oxidation problem that leads to fading and damage.
This issue can make your beloved hair color lose its vibrancy, requiring it to be restored by your hairstylist. Knowing how to prevent this can save you from future headaches and help your color last longer.
The Science of Hair Color Oxidation
Hair color oxidation is a chemical process where the hair’s natural color or applied dye changes due to exposure to oxygen in the air. This causes the hair to lighten and sometimes leads to fading or irregular color alterations.
Over time, this oxidation process can lead to fading and irregular color alterations. When exposed to air or external oxidizers like UV light or chemicals, such as chlorine and bromine found in pools, the melanin structure in the hair gets disrupted. This can lead to a loss of pigment, leaving the hair looking lighter or with unwanted reddish undertones.
Sun exposure and UV rays play a significant role in this oxidation, especially on colored hair. Sun-kissed effects are common, but prolonged exposure without proper protection can accelerate the aging process of hair.
The outer layer of the hair shaft may begin to break down, resulting in peeling and discoloration, like unwanted green color pigments due to red color deposits in the presence of chlorine. Maintaining hair wellness requires careful attention to these environmental and chemical treatments.
How External Factors Contributing to Hair Color Oxidation?
1. Environmental Factors
Sunlight (UV radiation)
Sunlight, specifically UV (ultraviolet) radiation, is essential to break down artificial hair dyes, contributing to hair color oxidation. Hair dye, both permanent and semi-permanent, alters the chemical structure of the hair’s natural melanin and coats the hair shaft with synthetic pigments. However, these artificial dyes can also be affected by sunlight. UV radiation accelerates the process of color fading or oxidation in the dye molecules.
These hair dyes become less stable as compared to natural hair melanin structure. UV rays can cause the pigments of hair color to break down, leading to color fading and oxidation.
This involves the loss of electrons from the pigment molecules due to the UV exposure. This electron loss destabilizes the pigment molecules, causing them to break down and lose their color intensity. Which eventually lead to color fading, often resulting in a washed-out, brassy, or dull appearance.
Exposure to Free radicals and pollutants
Color-treated hair exposed to pollution for a long time can suffer from free radicals, which accelerate oxidation. These generated reactive oxygen species (ROS) are highly unstable oxygen-containing molecules produced by pollutants like smoke, dust, and chemicals, which react with hair pigments, breaking down their composition. This oxidative stress damage leads to fading, dullness, and color loss, especially in chemically treated or porous hair.
Humidity And Moisture
Humidity can cause hair cuticles to swell and lift. This increases the hair’s exposure to environmental factors, as discussed above. When hair is more porous, it is more susceptible to oxidation, which causes hair color to fade or change.
The increased moisture can also weaken the hair shaft, leading to color molecules breaking down more quickly. As a result, the color-treated hair loses its vibrancy and can appear dull or brassy over time.
2. Chemical Exposure
Chlorine in swimming pools
Chlorine or Bromine is commonly used in swimming pools to disinfect the water and kill bacteria. These are two major oxidizers that can cause damage to your hair color and hair strands in various ways. Long time exposure without proper protection causes color fading, dandruff, and itchy scalp.
Hard water minerals (e.g., calcium, magnesium)
Hard water is also an enemy of your stylish and vibrant color. It contains minerals like calcium, magnesium, and copper, as well as salts. These minerals possess a positive charge and can accumulate on your hair over time, creating a plastic-like film that may dull the hair and make it look lifeless.
3. Heat Styling Tool
When hair is exposed to high heat because of hairstyling tools, the cuticle can become damaged or lifted, making the hair more porous. This increased porosity allows moisture and chemicals to penetrate the hair shaft more readily and destabilize the hair color molecules.
Hair dye molecules are designed to stay stable at normal temperatures, but excessive heat can break them down. High temperatures can cause the oxidative dyes (used in permanent hair color) to degrade, leading to a loss of vibrancy and a shift in color tone.
4. Hair Care Products
Harsh shampoos and conditioners with Sulfates and Parabens
Parabens and Sulfates (like sodium lauryl sulfate or sodium laureth sulfate) and other harsh surfactants can strip away natural oils and moisture from your hair. it becomes more porous and can oxidize the color molecules and lead to a shift in tone (e.g., warm tones turning brassy or cool tones fading to dull shades).
5. Hair Wash Frequency
It really matters as our experts always recommend washing your newly dyed hair less. Frequent hair washing will lead to faster color loss.
What are the Effects of Hair Color Oxidation on Hair?
1. Color Fading/ Patchy Appearance
One of the major aspects of hair color oxidation is the visible alternation of applied tone or, simply, color fading. Over time, you might face color fading due to any of the reasons I discussed above. Atmospheric oxygen reacts with the artificial pigment of hair, and the color appears dull and less vibrant. It will cause the blond or lighter shades to turn into brassy or warm tones like red or orange.
Sometimes, the oxidation process does not affect the entire hair tone; rather, it appears inconsistent or patchy, with color fading depending upon the type of external exposure.
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