What is the lasting effect of temporary hair color compared to other types?

Temporary hair color is designed to provide a short-term change to hair color, typically lasting anywhere from a few washes to approximately six weeks, depending on several factors including hair type and how often the hair is washed. The key characteristic of temporary color is that it does not penetrate the hair shaft as deeper or permanent colors do; instead, it coats the outer layer of the hair. This coating effect means that with each wash, the temporary color is gradually eliminated, leading to fading. Therefore, the answer indicating that it fades after several washes accurately reflects the behavior of temporary hair color compared to other types like permanent or semi-permanent, which involve more lasting changes by either altering the hair structure or infusing color deeper into the hair shaft.