The Best Oils for Colored Treated Hair

You've finally found the perfect color for your hair, but a few months after your visit to the salon, you notice that your locks are dull, frizzy and no longer soft. These symptoms mean one thing -- dehydrated hair. Coloring changes the chemical makeup of your hair, damaging the layers that naturally protect your strands from dryness and breakage. If your hair is dull and straw-like, a deep conditioning treatment is just what the hair doctor ordered. If you don't feel like running to the drugstore to buy a new hair mask that's loaded with chemicals, natural oils help moisturize and repair color-treated hair.

Safflower Oil

If your hair is damaged by harsh dyes or bleaching, you need to choose an oil that helps your hair retain moisture. Safflower oil, like the kind you cook with, is rich in essential fatty acids. These essential fatty acids, which help your hair retain moisture, are naturally present on your scalp but can't reach the damaged ends. To restore essential fatty acids to the ends of your hair, rub two drops of safflower oil between your hands and scrunch into the ends of your hair.

Almond Oil

Kattia Solano, a New York City salon owner, recommended almond oil to help restore moisture to hair that has been damaged by coloring. While there's no real way to completely fix damaged hair, aside from cutting it off and letting it regrow, applying a small amount of almond oil to the ends of your hair and leaving it overnight — covered by a shower cap — will help repair some of the damage. This kind of treatment can be done once a week.

Olive Oil

Not only does olive oil condition your hair, but it actually makes it stronger. Chemically damaged hair is weaker than hair that hasn't been treated, and breakage leads to frizz, so you want to strengthen your hair as soon as possible. Olive oil will make your damaged and dry hair easier to manage, and fewer tangles mean fewer split ends. Just massage half a cup of olive oil into your hair, leave it on your head for a half an hour and shampoo it out to get a noticeable difference.

Moroccan Oil

Moroccan oil, also known as argan oil, can't be found in your local grocery store, but it is sold in the hair care section of most drugstores. This type of oil has been heralded as a cure-all for dry hair because it enriches your hair with vitamins E and F. It strengthens locks, helps your hair absorb moisture, reduces frizz and makes your hair shinier. Argan oil also offers some UV protection, which is a great option for women with color-treated hair who are worried about exposure to the sun.