If your hair color seems to fade fast, your haircare routine may not be the only reason. Colorado’s high altitude, low humidity, strong UV exposure, and hard water can all affect color-treated hair.
The good news is that a few smart changes at home, along with your Lanza Healing Color hair coloring services, can help your color stay fresh and your hair stay healthy. Our specialty is haircare in Colorado – here’s a few key tips we share with all of our clients.
Why Colorado’s Climate Can Fade and Dry Out Your Color
Colorado’s climate can affect color-treated hair in several ways, and some of the biggest culprits come from everyday exposure.
- Dry air: Colorado’s low humidity can pull moisture from your hair, leaving color-treated strands feeling dry and rough. When hair loses moisture, it can also become more fragile and prone to breakage.
- Intense UV exposure: Whether you ski, hike, or simply spend a lot of time outside, repeated sun exposure can affect your color. UV rays can break down some of the pigments in dyed hair and leave your color looking less vibrant. Colorado’s especially high elevation increases UV exposure far more than other states.
- Hard water: Colorado’s mineral-rich water can leave deposits on the hair over time. That buildup can make strands feel dull or coated and may affect the way your color looks.
A colorist’s take: “We live in a high arid mountain dessert. The sun is intense here, which is why we see so much fading and dryness in our clients hair.”
Build a Routine That Protects Your Color
If your hair has been colored, lightened, highlighted, or bleached, it is already more porous and more vulnerable to moisture loss and breakage. Your routine should account for that.
Wash With Care
You do not necessarily need to wash color-treated hair every day. Frequent shampooing means repeated exposure to water, cleansing agents, and friction, which can contribute to dryness and gradual color loss.
When you do wash, we recommend L’ANZA Healing ColorCare Color-Preserving Shampoo & Conditioner. This sulfate-free system is specifically designed for color-treated hair and helps maintain color vibrancy for up to 30 washes. L’ANZA’s Hibiscus Vibrancy Complex helps protect and preserve your color, while built-in UV protection helps defend against sun exposure and environmental stressors that can cause fading.
Focus your shampoo on the scalp rather than scrubbing the lengths, then apply L’ANZA Color-Preserving Conditioner through the mid-lengths and ends to help restore moisture, softness and shine. If your hair feels rough, tangles easily, or has lost its softness, add a more intensive conditioning treatment about once a week.
Water temperature matters, too. Very hot showers can leave already-dry hair even more stripped of moisture, so keep the water comfortably warm rather than hot.
The right at-home care can make a big difference in how long your salon color stays vibrant, shiny and beautiful.
Pay Attention to Colorado’s Hard Water
Hard water is easy to overlook because your hair may feel clean after washing while still carrying mineral deposits. Calcium and magnesium can build up on the hair, particularly on more porous, chemically treated strands. If you’ve recently moved to Colorado, this may just be the biggest culprit affecting your hair.
If your color suddenly looks less vibrant or your hair feels different even though you have not changed your products, talk with your colorist about a chelating or mineral-removing treatment. These treatments are designed to remove buildup more thoroughly than a regular shampoo, but they should be used based on your hair’s condition rather than as an everyday step. (Ask for our Detox Treatment)
Sun Protection
Colorado’s strong UV exposure can affect both the condition and appearance of color-treated hair, causing color to fade and lose vibrancy over time. This can be especially noticeable with blondes, vivid shades, and heavily lightened hair.
This is another reason we love L’ANZA Healing ColorCare. The ColorCare system is designed to help protect hair from UV exposure and environmental stressors that contribute to fading. Its Hibiscus Vibrancy Complex is inspired by the natural color-preserving properties of flowers, helping your color stay vibrant, shiny, and beautiful longer.
Using L’ANZA Healing ColorCare Shampoo & Conditioner regularly gives your color an extra layer of protection, but for long days outdoors, we still recommend adding a leave-in product with UV protection and wearing a hat when practical.
And don’t forget about our Colorado adventures! Skiing and hiking deserve extra attention because you can spend hours in intense sun without realizing just how much exposure your hair—and your color—is getting.
Avoid High Heat
Your blow dryer, flat iron, and curling iron can add another layer of stress to already-processed hair. You do not have to stop heat styling, but you should use it thoughtfully.
Apply a heat protectant before styling, use the lowest temperature that gives you the result you want (we recommend between 340-375 degrees), and avoid repeatedly passing a hot tool over the same section. If your ends are becoming increasingly dry or your hair feels weaker after styling, that may be a sign that your current color and heat routine need adjusting.
When Your Color Needs Professional Maintenance
At-home care is your first line of defense, but even the best routine works better when it’s paired with professional maintenance. Using L’ANZA Healing Haircare at home helps support stronger, healthier-feeling hair between appointments, while your Wordy Bird colorist can keep your tone, moisture, and overall condition on track.
A gloss can bring back shine and richness when color starts looking dull, while a toner can refresh a blonde, brunette, or red that has shifted between appointments. And because Colorado’s dry climate can be especially tough on color-treated and lightened hair, adding a professional L’ANZA healing treatment can give stressed, porous hair the extra conditioning and care it needs.
Your maintenance schedule should be just as customized as your color. Gray coverage and root colors may need more frequent appointments, while balayage and dimensional color are often designed to grow out beautifully for longer. Extensions require their own specialized care, and previously lightened or more porous hair may need additional time and treatment before another chemical service.
Colorado’s changing seasons matter, too. Your hair may need more protection and hydration during our sunny summers and additional moisture during the dry winter months. Instead of waiting until your color has noticeably faded or your hair feels dry, ask your Wordy Bird colorist to create a maintenance and L’ANZA home-care routine based on your color, hair condition, growth pattern, and lifestyle.
Keep Your Color Colorado-Ready
Colorado’s climate can challenge even well-maintained color, but the right routine can make a real difference. At The Wordy Bird Salon, our colorists can assess your hair, color, and lifestyle to create a maintenance plan that works for you. Book a hair maintenance appointment and keep your hair looking healthy, vibrant, and true to your intended shade year-round.