How often should you colour your hair?
How often should you colour your hair? is one of the questions we’re asked most often in the salon — and the answer isn’t quite as simple as every six or eight weeks.
How often you should colour your hair depends on the colour you have, how quickly your hair grows, the condition of your hair and, perhaps most importantly, how much maintenance you actually want.
At Hair @ Hesslewood, we’d rather create a colour plan that works around you than give every client the same schedule.
There’s no one-size-fits-all colour appointment
Two clients can have a very similar finished colour but need completely different maintenance plans.
Your natural hair colour, percentage of grey, chosen shade, hair condition and even how you wear your hair can all affect how quickly you feel ready for your next appointment.
Lifestyle matters too. Some clients love visiting the salon regularly and having their colour looking freshly done at all times. Others would much rather have something that grows out softly and can comfortably be left for longer.
That’s why your consultation is such an important part of any colour service.
Root colour and grey coverage
If you have a permanent colour to cover grey or maintain a noticeable difference between your natural hair and your chosen shade, regrowth is usually what determines when you’ll want to return.
For many clients, this can be around four to six weeks, although some are comfortable leaving it longer.
The greater the contrast between your natural colour and your coloured hair, the more noticeable that regrowth is likely to be.
For clients who don’t want the commitment of regular full grey coverage, there are also softer approaches available. Grey blending, for example, is becoming increasingly popular — but that deserves a blog all of its own!
How often should you have highlights?
Highlights generally give you a little more flexibility than an all-over colour.
Depending on the placement, your natural colour and the result you’re trying to maintain, you might choose to refresh highlights around every eight to twelve weeks.
That doesn’t necessarily mean having exactly the same service every time.
Sometimes a smaller refresh around the hairline and parting is all that’s needed before having a more comprehensive colour at a later appointment. Planning your colour this way can help maintain the look without unnecessarily colouring hair that doesn’t need it.
What about balayage?
One of the reasons balayage remains so popular is its softer grow-out.
Rather than creating an obvious line as the hair grows, balayage can be designed to blend more naturally into your base colour. For some clients, that means they can leave significantly longer between larger colour appointments.
However, low maintenance doesn’t mean no maintenance.
Your lighter pieces may still benefit from a toner or gloss between appointments, and your haircut and home haircare can make a huge difference to how fresh the overall colour continues to look.
Toners and glosses can bridge the gap
Sometimes your colour doesn’t need redoing — it simply needs refreshing.
Blonde and lightened hair can gradually change in tone between appointments. Environmental factors, heat styling, washing and even the water we use can all affect how colour looks over time.
A professional toner or gloss can help refresh the tone, enhance shine and bring your colour back to life without automatically repeating the entire lightening service.
This is why we don’t believe your next appointment should simply be a repeat of your last one. We look at what your hair actually needs at that point.
Fashion colours usually need a little more love
Vivid shades and fashion colours are a different story.
Pinks, coppers, reds and other vibrant tones can fade more noticeably than natural-looking shades, so maintaining them may require more frequent refreshing.
How you care for the colour at home becomes particularly important here. Your shampoo, water temperature, frequency of washing and use of heated tools can all influence how quickly a colour fades.
If you love changing your colour regularly, maintaining the condition of the hair becomes even more important.
Your hair condition comes first
Perhaps the most important answer to “how often should you colour your hair?” is this:
Only when your hair is ready for it.
Just because a certain number of weeks have passed doesn’t automatically mean your hair should undergo another lightening service.
We assess the condition of the hair, what has previously been done to it and what you’d like to achieve next. Sometimes the best route towards your long-term colour goal is to concentrate on condition first.
Professional haircare can play an important role here too. As a Kérastase Care Coach salon, we can recommend personalised homecare and in-salon treatments based on what your individual hair actually needs.
Healthy-looking colour will always be more beautiful than simply chasing a shade at the expense of your hair.
Making your colour work around you
A good colour plan shouldn’t dictate your life.
If you tell us during your consultation that you only want to visit the salon three or four times a year, that’s useful information. We can take it into consideration when discussing techniques and realistic colour choices.
Equally, if you love a very polished blonde or immaculate root coverage and are happy to visit more regularly, we can build your appointments around that.
The goal isn’t to get you back into the salon as frequently as possible. It’s to find the right balance between the result you love, the health of your hair and a maintenance routine that genuinely suits you.
Ready to plan your next colour?
If you’re unsure what your hair needs or how often you should colour your hair, start with a conversation.
At Hair @ Hesslewood in Hessle, our team can look at your current colour, hair condition, lifestyle and long-term goals before recommending a personalised way forward.
Because great colour isn’t just about how it looks on the day — it’s about creating hair you can enjoy living with between appointments too.
You can also view our current hair colour prices on our Price List.