all about pH

When you expose your client’s hair to water in the shampoo bowl, it swells their cuticle (the outside layer of hair) and causes dye molecules to dissolve, degrade, and wash away. Coupled with the typically higher pH of tap water (6.5–9.5 vs. hair’s optimal pH of 4.5–5.5), their cuticle swells even more leading to faster color fading and possible hair damage…uh oh. 

Traditional shampoos can have a similar impact since most aren’t formulated with hair’s optimal pH in mind. A shampoo with higher pH swells your client’s hair cuticle further during washing, leading to more extreme color fading, tangles, and ultimately more breakage. To counteract this, formulators use excessive conditioning agents to make their hair look and feel nice, while leaving buildup behind. Not exactly squeaky clean if you ask us.  

color-safe clean

The secret behind our color-safe shampoos is that they were formulated with these pH ranges in mind to offset your client's exposure to higher pH. These optimized ranges minimize cuticle swelling to help keep their color intact + looking vibrant. Plus, these no-filler formulas won’t leave buildup behind that can mess with your client’s color. It looks something like this.

Now let’s breakdown how to use pH-optimized shampoos on your client’s color-treated hair. 

Your client’s color is impacted by buildup—it may start to look hazy, dull, or even lighter than usual. This is because mineral chalkiness and product buildup can create a white cast or haziness. So don’t panic, if they have darker hair color and remove buildup with the detox shampoo, your client’s hair may appear darker after removal of all that stuff. It’s not stripping their color, just removing that color-changing buildup.  

Our non-stripping detox shampoo removes buildup from products, oils, sebum, minerals, and metals common in water like 76% copper (and 99% product buildup + 95% sebum* because we’re overachievers). While traditional clarifying shampoos tend to have a higher pH + fade their color faster, our detox shampoo has a lower pH of 3.8–4.2 to reset your client’s hair without messing with their color. You only need a little of this concentrated formula to do a lot—just warm it up between your hands with water, and thoroughly rinse post-wash to deliver revived color vibrancy, texture + bounce in-between chemical services. Bonus: Everything performs better on your client’s clean, clarified hair including color + chemical services, treatments, and styling products. Nice. 

For multi-wash services or clients with less buildup, our color-safe DAMAGE SHIELD pH protective shampoo removes dirt + oil without messing with their color. This optimized pH of 4.5–5.5 (right in that pH sweet spot) helps prevent excess cuticle swelling, reduce frizz, preserve their color, and maintain hair health and shine. Plus, this certified microbiome-friendly formula can be used multiple times in a service without disrupting your client’s hair + scalp environment.