AF Blog — Pro Tips

@azrael.does.hair in Wrath and Poison 

Before you dive into the world of color, knowing your type is an absolute MUST. Once you get it down, you’ll know how long to leave color on your hair, what hair products your hair can’t go without, and what your coloring routine should look like to get you the shade of your dreams. Let’s get to it, Fox! 

Finding Your Hair Type

If you don’t know what your hair type is, there’s a SUPER easy way to tell. Next time you wash your hair, don’t put any product in it and let it air dry naturally. If it comes out straight, you have straight hair (type 1), if there’s a little wave, you’ve got wavy hair (type 2).  If your hair dries curly, you have one of two hair types. Type 3 curly hair will have springy ringlets or corkscrew curl patterns, but it’s not as dense as coily hair. Coily hair is classified as type 4 and has dense spirals, zig zag patterns, and shrinks when it dries. Type 4 hair is more prone to breakage and can be more fragile than other hair types, so it needs just a bit of extra love and care with a special hair care routine to make sure it’s as healthy and strong as it can be! 

@iridescentsoulx in Frosé over faded Poison 

Finding Your Hair Texture

Once you’ve figured out your hair type, it’s time to learn more about the texture of your hair. Which is what impacts how your hair holds style and color. There are three main textures: 

Thick Hair

This texture has the largest circumference, which makes it slower to absorb color. This just means that you need extra processing time so that it can actually absorb the color you’re wishing to see. It can also be resistant to certain chemical treatments like straightening or perming, so be mindful if you’re looking into treating your hair!

Medium Hair

Landing right in the middle, because of its middle-range of circumference, medium hair has no special consideration for how much color to use, or adjustments to processing time. 

Fine Hair

This hair texture usually processes quickly and is very easy to lighten! It is prone to over-processing and damage from chemical treatments, so less is more if you’re working with fine hair.

@lisovskihair in Poison and Neon Moon

How to Find Your Hair Texture 

Guess what!? There’s also an insanely easy way (and kind of fun way) to tell what your hair texture is. Take a few strands from your hair brush and lay them next to a piece of sewing thread. Try to make them both a similar length so you can see the difference really well and place them side by side on a flat surface. Thick hair will be thicker than the thread, medium hair about the same size as the thread, and fine hair will be considerably thinner than the thread. The way your hair tends to hold styles is also indicative of the type of hair you may have. Fine hair doesn’t hold a curl very well or for very long, medium hair is pretty easy to style and can hold style for longer, and thick hair holds curls very well, but it can also be more difficult to style because it’s less pliable. 

@lyn_bax in Ginger Flare, Cosmic Sunshine, and Space Cowgirl

Finding Your Porosity 

The porosity of your hair impacts how your hair absorbs moisture, water, and product. You can imagine when you’re dying your hair, the porosity of your hair makes a huge difference on how the color actually shows up! Porosity is directly connected to the condition of the cuticle layer of your hair, which you can think of as the shield your hair has for the inner layers of hair. Your hair naturally has a certain level of porosity, but factors like environment, chemical processing, and heat styling make a huge impact. A healthy average is right where it’s at when it comes to hair porosity - highly porous hair is likely damaged and absorbs moisture too quickly because the cuticle layer is open causing it to release moisture really fast. If you’re doing any sort of chemical processing to hair with high porosity, you have to be really careful! Color will take super quickly and can end up being over saturated. If you’ve noticed that your hair gets super dark or vibrant when you color it at first, but then fades really fast, your hair is probably highly porous. 

Low porous hair is resistant to absorbing moisture, harder to process, and resistant to hair color because the cuticles are tight and hard to open. If you’ve noticed that color doesn’t stick to your hair very well, you may need more dye or a longer processing time to help it sink into your strands.

Next time you wash your hair, set aside a bowl of water and grab a freshly clean strand from the shower or your brush. When it dries, drop it into the bowl of water and pay attention to what happens next! If it immediately sinks to the bottom, it’s highly porous. If it floats somewhere in the middle with ease, then it has normal porosity. If it stays at the top and takes a really long time to sink, your hair has low porosity. 

The good news is you can help out your strands wherever they land on the range of porosity! For highly porous hair, use hair care infused with keratin, argan oil, and ginseng root extract. This will help repair damaged hair, and lead to stronger and healthier strands. Be sure to protect your hair from heat and the environment as well! Once you start to reverse the damage done to your hair, you’ll see color last longer and hold better. If your hair has low porosity, let the color sit for longer when it’s processing so it can work its way in. 

@tallulah.cosmo in Wrath 

Finding Your Hair Elasticity 

There’s one last thing, Fox! Your hair is also elastic - which literally indicates how much pulling or stretching your strands can handle before they break. The more heat and/or chemical damage, sun exposure, and aging hair experiences, the less elastic it will be. Hair that has a high level of elasticity is much easier to color, while hair with low elasticity is more prone to breakage and is likely to be resistant to color or other treatments.

The next time your hair is wet, choose a strand and hold it tight. Stretch it as much as you can! If the strand stretches and returns back to its original length when you let go, it has good elasticity, but if it breaks or doesn’t return to its original shape, it has low elasticity.

If you find that your strands have low elasticity, no worries! Get a shampoo and conditioner with lots of keratin, which will nourish your hair with the protein naturally found in hair and nails, making it stronger and more elastic. Over time, you’ll have softer, stronger, and healthier hair that holds color well and doesn’t fade easily.

Rocking a bold and bright shade is such a freeing form of self-expression, but you’ll see the best results when you’re working with a good base. Explore our vegan and cruelty-free hair care line, packed with nutrients and oils that are nourishing AND moisturizing. And next time you’re ready to switch up your color, you’ll know exactly how to treat your strands for the most breathtaking results! 

Split dye:

A split dye is when you use one color per side of your head, giving a two toned look. 

@Die4whitney in a Transylvania and Virgin Pink split dye

 How to create a split dye at home:

1. Pre-lighten hair if you’re planning on doing pastels or any AF colors that aren’t great for darker hair. See this blog for the best colors for unbleached hair if you don’t want to pre-lighten.
2. Part hair down the center of your head starting from the top all of the way to the base of your neck. 
3. Clip the half of your hair that you are dyeing second to one side starting from the base of your neck, using more clips as needed to make sure the hair is secure to one side. 
4. Take the other half of your hair and clip the top of your head, leaving only one small section, starting from underneath.
5. Apply dye section by section, roots to ends, until you have reached the top of your head. Make sure the last section you are careful to only apply product on the side of your hair you are dyeing. Go slowly here! I recommend using a small amount of dye applied with a brush and repeating until the last section is fully saturated.
6. Apply steps 4 and 5 to the other side of your head with your second color.
7. When you are ready to rinse, use cold water and lean your head to each side to prevent bleeding. Or if you have a detachable shower head, rinse each side at a time. 
8. Air dry or style from there and take a selfie or video of your new look and share it with us on Instagram!

Money Pieces

@pret_a_paisley in Wrath, Ritual, and Violet Dream Money Pieces

Money Pieces are dyed face framing sections for a fun color pop!

How to create money pieces at home:

1. Part from the middle of your scalp from the top of your head about 1-2 inches back depending on how chunky you want your money pieces to be.
2. Section each side from the end of that part, moving down the side of your head towards each ear. Clip or tie back the hair behind the money piece sections to make sure it is out of the way.
3. Apply dye to each side of the hair starting from the root to the ends. If you have thicker hair, do this in sections moving from underneath to the top. I recommend using a brush to do this. Be sure your hair is very saturated.
4. When it’s time to rinse, use cold water and keep the back of your hair clipped or pulled back. Lean your head forward and rinse to prevent any bleeding.
5. Enjoy your new fun look! 

Color Melts:

Color melts can be applied to any sectioned portion of hair, whether that is all over color, money pieces, peek-a-boos, etc., and can include as many colors as you want. Just make sure you are using complementary colors so when you blend them, they work together! A color melt is exactly what it is called- you are melting or blending each color into the next. 

@Ciarasikes created this rainbow color melt

How to create a color melt at home:

1. Section hair into the style you want to do the color melt on.
2. Take a smaller section of hair and clip up the rest, sectioning from the base of the section to the top of your head.
3. Apply the color you are using for the top of the melt at the root, making downward strokes with the brush. Apply as far down as you want for that color.  
4. With the second color, apply starting about a centimeter from the end of the previous color. If you are only using 2 colors, apply all of the way to the ends of each section. If you are using more than two colors, apply as far down as you want each color section to go, and apply the last color to the ends.
5. With a gloved hand or brush, blend the two colors filling in the gap. The colors will mix creating an ombre gradient so there is no banding in the melt.

AF pro tip: Make sure you are making each color block the same size for an even melt for each hair section for an even look! 

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Here is a video for multi-colored rainbow color melt!

There are so many color placements and mixes you can create using Arctic Fox, but these are some of the trendiest placements for the summer! You can even get creative with combining all of them, like a color melt on a split dye, split dyed money pieces, or a combination of all three! What color color placement are you going to try next?

@gontscharowaa in Ginger Flare

Thinking about taking the big leap this summer and dyeing your hair red? Red is a very symbolic color in many cultures representing life, health, war, danger, and even love. It is considered to be a statement hair color choice. So what exactly does dyeing your hair red entail? Let’s chat on a need to know basis!

Red Hair Maintenance 

The common problem that seems to come up with red hair is that it takes a lot of time, money, and effort to maintain. It’s not as tricky as it seems. A good hair trick is to add some of your hair dye, (Arctic Fox Hair Color Wrath is always a good choice) into your conditioner to give your hair a quick pick me up every time you wash your hair. You also will want to reduce how often you wash your hair every week. Keep water at a warm temperature, not too hot or cold, to prevent hair damage. Add these small changes to your wash routine to maintain the vibrancy of that fiery head of red hair!

@bhaddmakeuphabityt in Poison

Get Bright Red Hair 

So what steps can you take to achieve that vivacious bold red hair? You’re in luck if you’ve never dyed your hair before. Going bright red is very possible without bleaching your hair when you are dyeing virgin hair. If your natural virgin hair is extremely dark just opt for a higher developer! Now, color won’t lift color! So if you’ve recently dyed your hair any pastels or purples prepare to have to go through a process. You will most likely have to use a color remover to help get some of that pastel color off. You might be able to achieve a more bronzy color on your first go. If you’re looking for a super bright look you will need to bleach your hair to lighten it up to create a blank canvas for that hair dye. Opt for Arctic Fox Hair Color in Poison for that ultimate Rihanna red look!

@faux_face_maker in Poison

Tips and Tricks for Redheads

If you’re a newly red hair goddess and just looking for some advice on being a redhead we’ve definitely got your back! First, use sulfate free shampoo! Sulfate shampoos tend to do more stripping of color than anything else, so steer clear. Harsh UV rays are notorious for fading almost anything, so opt for thoroughly spritzing your hair with UV protectant before basking in the sun! Keep yourself on a retouch schedule. Sometimes we can forget and suddenly our red hair is truly on its last leg. Keeping yourself accountable to retouching will help keep your locks looking fresh.

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A post shared by Arctic Fox Hair Color (@arcticfoxhaircolor)

 @dos_of_jos refreshing her red hair with Wrath and Ritual

Make a statement this summer with that fiery red hair! Now that you’ve got some tips and tricks to long lasting red tresses you’re ready to take on this new persona.  Shop all Arctic Fox Hair Red Semi Permanent hair dyes here!

There’s nothing like the brilliant heat of the summer months that inspires us to reinvent ourselves, try a brighter color, or hit refresh on our favorite look. With beach days and pool parties ahead, nothing is more needed than a fool-proof summer hair care routine to make sure your color lasts as long as possible and shines as bright as the sun! Lucky for you, we’ve got all the hacks you need to keep your color vibrant and lasting.

1. Shower Safely 

The number one rule when it comes to caring for color is washing your strands with cold or lukewarm water, no matter the time of year. Hot water can dry out your hair, causing it to feel brittle and look more dull. You might also want to try a filter for your shower head to avoid the harsh minerals that some water contains which could lead to your color fading quicker. 

2. Stock Up on Color-Safe Shampoo and Conditioner

The pair that’s ALWAYS good for your hair, is a color-safe, sulfate-free shampoo and conditioner - like our Resurrected Shampoo and Conditioner! They’re packed with amino acids and antioxidants for an extra boost of much-needed hydration. Carefully massage your scalp with shampoo, rinse with lukewarm water, and coat the ends of your hair with conditioner. Sulfate-free products help your hair retain its natural moisture to prevent the loss of natural shine and softness, so finding your winning shampoo and conditioner combo is totally essential for maintaining the vibrancy of color and keeping your hair texture moisturized and soft rather than dry and brittle.

3. Give Your Hair Some Extra TLC 

While there’s lot of hair products on the market that can help repair your split ends (hey, Money Hunny), or refresh your unwashed hair in a single spritz (enter Vacay Volumizing Dry Shampoo), there’s nothing quite like a good hair mask to take your hair texture from good to ah-mazing! Swap out your regular conditioner for a hair mask in the shower, or spoil your hair to self-care with a hair mask treatment a few times a week. Our Pool Party Hair Mask does all of the above and smells divine - when you include her in your routine your hair will thank you forever. 

4. Pool Day Prep

Going underwater isn’t great for colored hair, but there’s no way our Fox Fam is skipping the beach or missing pool parties! Before you take a dip, minimize salt or chlorine absorption by wetting your hair thoroughly. For bonus points, coat your strands with a hair mask or deep conditioner to protect your hair from the damage wreaked by pool or sea water. And you guessed it, Pool Party will do the trick! After all, she is the real life of the party.

5. Don’t Forget Your SPF!

SPF for your hair is JUST as important as it is for your skin. Fight off sun damage and dryness with a thorough spritz of protection from the OG Hair Perfume and UV Protectant. Not only will your hair smell amazing, you’re adding on an essential layer of protection that your colored strands absolutely need if they’re going to be out in the sun. 

6. Hit Refresh Real Quick

For all our bleached babes who want to fight off brassy tones, add a drop of Purple AF into your conditioner to create toner that will combat any bleached brassiness. If you have a single color, add a drop of the corresponding shade to your conditioner for a quick refresh when you hit the shower! Water and sun exposure will fade your color, and while all AF dyes are created to look stunning even as they fade, you might want to keep a little extra color on hand for when you want to up the vibrancy. 

7. Rock That Natural Look!

Embrace your natural hair texture and ditch the hot tools. We all know that using heat excessively on your hair causes damage that affects the shine and texture of your hair and can even impact how the next color you try actually looks on your locks. Rock an effortless summer style with a new hairstyle, or by fully embracing your natural look for hair that’s healthier and shinier than ever!