Although many people suggest that those with natural hair should stray away from adding color, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to change your look up a bit. Whether you want to go light or super dark, we all deserve to wear our hair in whatever way or color that makes us happy. If you’re thinking about doing this, however, knowing how to care for your hair should be your first priority.

Here are five things to keep in mind if you’re considering dying your hair soon.

If you didn’t have a routine before, be sure to implement one now.
If your natural hair journey just consisted of you going with the flow, once you’ve added color in your hair, that needs to change. In order to keep your hair as healthy as possible, you’ll want to make sure that you’ve developed a daily maintenance routine. That includes not washing your hair too much, remembering to moisturize daily, and maybe adding in a light oil like the Frizz Rebel Coconut & Sweet Almond oil from root to tip.

Use a hydrating shampoo.

Perhaps one of the most important things to remember when you’re donning a color treated mane is that your shampoo desperately needs to be hydrating and sulfate-free. This is simply because adding color can dry out your hair and you don’t want a shampoo that’s not replenishing the moisture it needs. Likewise, you want to use a shampoo that won’t strip your color or the natural oils from your hair. Try using the Oh So Clean Moisturizing & Softening Shampoo for your color treated hair.

Don’t skip your deep conditions.

Even when your hair isn’t color treated, deep conditions are an important factor in keeping your hair healthy. For those with added color though, deep conditioning will keep your hair filled with the moisture that is being stripped from it due to the color added. To keep your hair from experiencing a straw-like and weak texture, use the Coco Repair Deep Conditioner.

Wear low manipulation styles as frequently as possible.

Of course showing off your color after a treatment is natural to want to do, but to care for your hair best, try to do that with low manipulation styles as often as you can. By doing this small, yet important thing, you’ll be able to retain moisture and avoid placing a lot of stress on your hair. And as a result, you’ll keep breakage at bay.

Handle your hair with care.

Overall, you’ll want to keep in mind that your hair is at its most porous state (meaning moisture escapes strands faster) and as a result, that can make your hair fragile. When washing, combing, detangling, and even styling, you’ll want to make sure that you handle your hair with as much care as possible so as not to cause damage.