• Celebrity
    • Daniel Kaluuya Digital Cover
    • Digital Cover Method Man
    • Digital Cover Zazie
    • Celebrity News
    • ‘Yes, Girl!’ Podcast
    • Entertainment
    • Black Celeb Couples
    • Celebrity Moms
    • Red Carpet
    • If Not For My Girls
  • Fashion
    • ESSENCE Fashion House 2022
    • Fashion News
    • Street Style
    • Accessories
    • Fashion Week
  • Beauty
    • Black Beauty Awards 2022
    • ESSENCE Hair Awards 2022
    • AVEENO Skin Health Startup Accelerator
    • Beauty News
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
  • Hair
    • Hair News
    • Natural
    • Relaxed
    • Transitioning
    • Weave
    • 4C
  • Love
    • Love & Sex News
    • The Solve Podcast
    • Weddings
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
  • Lifestyle
    • Black History Month
    • ESSENCE Gift Guide 2022
    • ESSENCE + smartwater Live Well Challenge
    • Build Your Legacy 2022
    • Dream & Plan with Confidence Prudential
    • AMEX Platinum Travel
    • Homecoming Season 2022
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Money & Career
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
    • Black Travel Guide
  • News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Sponsors Recognition Page 2022
    • Latest News
    • Raise Your Voice
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Video
  • Festival
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2022 Fest Videos
  • Events
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2022 Girls United Summit
    • 2022 ESSENCE Fashion House
    • 2022 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2022 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
    • 2022 Homecoming Season
    • Wellness House
    • She Got Now
    • Dear Black Men
    • I Am Speaking
    • Power Tools
  • Studios
  • Girls United

WHERE BLACK WOMEN COME FIRST

Every day we're serving Black women deeply. Come get a plate of goodness! Sign up for daily content and exclusive offers you'll love!

Your email is required.
Your email is in invalid format.
Confirm email is required.
Email did not match.
By clicking Sign Up, you agree to our Terms of Use and that you have read our Privacy Policy
Skip to content
SUBSCRIBE
  • MAGAZINE
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Celebrity
    • Daniel Kaluuya Digital Cover
    • Digital Cover Method Man
    • Digital Cover Zazie
    • Celebrity News
    • ‘Yes, Girl!’ Podcast
    • Entertainment
      • Paint The Polls Black
    • Black Celeb Couples
    • Celebrity Moms
    • Red Carpet
    • If Not For My Girls
  • Fashion
    • ESSENCE Fashion House 2022
    • Fashion News
    • Street Style
    • Accessories
    • Fashion Week
  • Beauty
    • Black Beauty Awards 2022
    • ESSENCE Hair Awards 2022
    • AVEENO Skin Health Startup Accelerator
    • Beauty News
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
  • Hair
    • Hair News
    • Natural
    • Relaxed
    • Transitioning
    • Weave
    • 4C
  • Love
    • Love & Sex News
    • The Solve Podcast
    • Weddings
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
  • Lifestyle
    • Black History Month
    • ESSENCE Gift Guide 2022
    • ESSENCE + smartwater Live Well Challenge
    • Build Your Legacy 2022
    • Dream & Plan with Confidence Prudential
    • AMEX Platinum Travel
    • Homecoming Season 2022
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Money & Career
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
    • Black Travel Guide
  • News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Sponsors Recognition Page 2022
    • Latest News
    • Raise Your Voice
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Video
  • Festival
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2022 Fest Videos
  • Events
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2022 Girls United Summit
    • 2022 ESSENCE Fashion House
    • 2022 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2022 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
    • 2022 Homecoming Season
    • Wellness House
    • She Got Now
    • Dear Black Men
    • I Am Speaking
    • Power Tools
  • Studios
  • Girls United
Home · Hair

This Is Exactly What a Dye Job Will Do to Your Hair's Porosity

Vida Latimer, Senior Colorist at Devachan NYC, shares her quick tips for regulating the hair's ability to retain moisture after it's been chemically-treated. 
This Is Exactly What a Dye Job Will Do to Your Hair’s Porosity
getty images
By Nikki Brown · Updated October 26, 2020

Taking the color plunge is equal parts exhilarating and nerve-wracking, especially for those who take the health of their hair seriously. Sure, there are plenty of precautions you can take to ensure that dye doesn’t completely obliterate your strands, but the cold, hard truth is that it will probably alter your hair’s porosity, or its ability to retain moisture. 

With that being said, you should begin a preventative routine days, if not weeks, before a single chemical touches your head. According to Vida Latimer, Senior Colorist at Devachan NYC, it’s imperative to remember that whatever you take away from the hair has to be put back in. 

For instance, if color or lighteners are stripping your strands of moisture, invest in a hydrating mask, like the DevaCurl Melt Into Moisture Matcha Butter Conditioning Mask ($36, sephora.com), prior to your first service. And if you’re not willing to compromise your curl pattern at all, think twice about steering too far from your natural shade. 

available at Sephora $36 Buy Here

“If you are willing to stay close to your natural color, you could opt for a demi-permanent color over using permanent color.  The benefit of demi-permanent is that it has no ammonia,” Latimer said. 

“While it will not take the hair lighter (lifting of natural color), it will blend gray hair away. Permanent will lift natural color, but it does contain ammonia,which can cause greater porosity shift.”

Determining your hair’s porosity level after a dye job can be done using any of the at-home tests endorsed by bloggers and hair experts, but other signs that it’s changed include dryness, brittle strands or a swift color change. 

Latimer also made a good point when she said, “if you feel you need to do a test after coloring, this service is probably not the service for you…Your colorist can condition and protect your hair in the salon, but you have to do the work at home as well.”

Unless you’re willing to cut off the chemically-treated strands, it’s nearly impossible to reclaim your hair’s original porosity level. However, Latimer said there are some simple tasks you can take on to maintain a healthier look.

“Treatments and masks really do help. In most cases, people just use the conditioner they use everyday, but the hair wants more. How often you should do a treatment will depend on how far you took color past its natural state.”

available at Sephora $36 Buy Here

“I recommend doing them weekly or monthly. You can opt for one that helps build and preserve strength, like our new Deep Sea Repair Mask ($36, sephora.com), which is great post-color damage and can help restore definition to the hair.”

The moral of the story here is that if you’re intent on making sure your hair’s moisture levels don’t fluctuate, think long and hard before dipping into the dye. 

TOPICS:  Shopping Tip Tuesday
COMPANY INFORMATION
  • Our Company
  • Customer Service
  • Essence Ventures
  • Change Your Address
  • Contact Us
  • Job Opportunities
  • Internships
  • Media Kit
  • tag
SUBSCRIBE
  • Newsletters
  • Give a Gift of ESSENCE
  • Magazine Tablet Edition
FOLLOW US
MORE ON ESSENCE
  • Home
  • Love
  • Celebrity
  • Beauty
  • Hair
  • Fashion
  • ESSENCE festival

ESSENCE.com is part of ESSENCE Communications, Inc.

Essence may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.

©2023 ESSENCE Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Essence.com Advertising Terms

Get The ESSENCE Newsletter and
Special Offers delivered to your inbox

By clicking Sign Up, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Get The ESSENCE Magazine
by subscribing below
subscribe now