Does Spring Runoff Really Affect Your Hair Color?
Hello Lovelies,
Nikay here, and this one's a little different because I want to talk about something that changes every single year around this time: spring runoff.
Every spring, snowmelt off the mountains pours into the reservoirs and rivers that eventually become our tap water. That's a genuinely different water source, in different volume, than what's running through the pipes in the dead of winter. Water treatment plants are managing that shift behind the scenes all season, which means what's coming out of your shower head in April isn't necessarily identical to what was there in January.
I'm not going to hand you an exact number here, because I don't have one specific to this exact month for this exact neighborhood, and I'd rather tell you the truth than make one up. What I can tell you, from years of standing behind a color bowl in this climate, is that spring is reliably the season clients come in saying their color looks "off" even though nothing about their routine changed. That's not a coincidence.
So here's what I actually recommend every spring, regardless of what the water's doing on any given week:
- Book a "spring reset." Think of it as a check-in, not a whole new color — we look at tone, gloss it if it needs it, and catch anything before it becomes a bigger fix.
- If you're someone who colors at home in between visits (no judgment, we love a low-key year), spring is the season to actually come in instead of skipping it.
- A clarifying treatment before your color appointment gives your colorist a truer canvas to work with.
Basically: if your hair feels a little unpredictable this time of year, you're not imagining it, and it's not something you did wrong. Let's just get ahead of it together.
Bisous,
Nikay