Nowadays, there are many at-home natural hair products like apple cider vinegar we resort to using instead of purchasing traditional products containing chemicals and ingredients we can’t pronounce.
Using natural products is good on many levels, except when it comes to blindly using a product you do not know much about.
If you’re like the majority of the world, you’re only familiar with apple cider vinegar when it comes to its use in salads, dressings, and other foods we commonly eat. You might also have seen online ads for it encouraging people to use it for weight loss.
While much of the world is already aware that apple cider vinegar has numerous health benefits (weight loss, a lower level of cholesterol, and a healthy digestive tract are just a few reasons people use it regularly), many of us are still unaware of its benefits for hair.
But in the hair world, ladies who color their locks often are actually using apple cider vinegar fairly regularly for at-home hair care.
Before you jump on the bandwagon, and pour a cup of apple cider vinegar into your hair blindly, you need to know the answer of this question: “Does Apple Cider Vinegar Affect Hair Color?”
What Is Apple Cider Vinegar?
Apple cider vinegar is a type of vinegar made from fermented apple juice, meaning the apples are crushed and the juice is squeezed out.
After the juice or apple cider is left out and covered, it takes about two to four weeks for it to do its chemical breakdown and turn into apple cider vinegar.
Interesting, right?
Apple cider vinegar is quickly becoming known as a great natural product to use to rinse your hair.
Read about its benefits, and you’ll see they include everything from ridding the hair of bacteria and nixing itching caused by dandruff to helping the hair retain moisture, which in turn improves the hair’s volume and overall health.
Apple cider vinegar is also known to impact hair with vitamins such as C and B.
What Does Apple Cider Vinegar Do to Your Hair Color?
Like many things in life, there are caveats to using a natural product like apple cider vinegar in the hair. To avoid any unwanted results, keep these things in mind before making changes to your hair routine.
It May Fade The Hair Color
Yes, unfortunately, apple cider vinegar strips hair color and not always in a good way. If your hair is colored, apple cider vinegar may fade it since it is acidic. In fact, many people actually resort to using apple cider vinegar for at-home dye jobs since it is known to lighten dark hair color.
However, in order for the vinegar to lighten the hair dramatically, it would have to sit in your hair for at least 30 minutes. If you’re only using it once a week, you won’t lose too much color.
It will Not Take Out Permanent Hair Color
Just left the salon and not happy with your hair’s color? Go back! In terms of ridding your hair of a permanent color job, apple cider vinegar will not work.
If you do decide to try it for removing color, the results will not be as effective as if you were to visit your hair stylist.
Apple cider isn’t a miracle worker, so call your hair lady up and ask her to fix any unhappiness you have with your dye job.
A big color job, especially a recent one, is always better handled by a professional than by using a home remedy.
It Takes The Moisture Out of Hair
Because colored hair looks best when it’s moisturized, you should be aware that apple cider vinegar draws moisture from the hair.
To make your hair’s color look its healthiest and most colorful, avoid using apple cider vinegar more than once per week. Any more than that and you risk severely drying out the hair. Think of your hair like a plant: it needs moisture to grow and to retain its beautiful color.
Overall, our verdict is that apple cider vinegar isn’t worth it unless you’re completely determined to use only natural products. There are plenty of other hair rinses you can use to achieve the same results without losing hair color or moisture.
We recommend a cleansing conditioner from Sally Beauty or to ask your stylist for their recommendations. They may even offer one in-house that you can get every couple of weeks.
When it comes to hair, no risk of damage is worth a natural product!
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