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Thursday, August 8, 2013

Going Purple

My friend Sarah wanted my assistance in dyeing her hair purple. I was of course very excited because I love colorful hair. And so we made her hair purple!

Some advance back story about Sarah's hair type: her hair is super fine, very soft, doesn't keep curl to save it's life, and her scalp is exceptionally oily. Her hair is also thick, she has a lot of it. She tells me she has to wash her hair every day, otherwise it is dripping with grease. 

Here is her before, normal brown hair. Note that her hair was previously dyed black but her roots are grown out and so just the tips of the hair have remaining dark brown/black dye on them.



To get her hair blonde, Sarah used Blond Brillance. I didn't assist with this part of the process, she had a handle on it herself.

In the process of blonding:


A re-usable shower cap! Excellent idea!


After shots of the blonde. First, indoor lighting:


Natural lighting:



Sarah did all the bleaching herself, but I did come over to apply the Manic Panic to her hair though. We went with Ultra Violet on the top layer and Purple Haze on the underside. When you want to section off different areas for different colors, I recommend  butterfly clamps. Something non-metal is best, especially when dealing with permanent colors. We didn't use clamps with Sarah, I had to make her hold the top section of her hair while I applied the color to the bottom part. She also used vaseline around her hair line, her ears and neck to make sure the color didn't get her skin. I skip this step personally because I hate the feeling of vaseline on me and I always end up with it in other parts of my hair, but it is a good way to keep from being some colorful skinned person for the next few days.

An important step is making sure the hair is fully saturated. I start around the hair line and coat that thoroughly before I start globbing on the dye by the fingertip-full. Be sure to always separate the hair and apply to the scalp in multiple areas. You have to give your scalp a nice massage and squeegee from root to tip a lot to assure good coverage. A comb is nice for very long hair. I always recommend to get a bottle or two more than you THINK you need. No one wants to be halfway through their hair and have to send someone to the store. You can always return what you don't open. Speaking of opening: prep your space accordingly. Get out towels to cover anything you don't want hair dye to get on. Get at least 1 washcloth and hand towel you don't mind destroying to wipe up messes on you and your bathroom. Open your jars (at least the ones you know you'll use, not the reserve ones) now because without gloves is certainly easier than with hairdye-covered gloves. I keep rubbing alcohol out to get spots off my skin and ceramic sink.

Here's her dye applied and hair covered with a plastic shopping bag to process:



Sarah was only willing to leave her hair dye in for a couple of hours, but I feel like the longer you can stand it, the better. You can also heat process to get a bolder color. I personally sleep on my Manic Panic dye. Its usually in my hair for about 10 hours. I put two grocery bags on, a towel on my pillow and go to bed. When you rinse, I suggest the coldest water you can bear. I can't bear much myself, so I usually kneel hands and knees in the shower and rinse my hair off using the tub filling spigot. Put your chin as close to your chest as you can and use freezing cold water. I use a wide tooth comb, but Sarah's fine hair doesn't get tangly like mine. Once you've got the majority of it out there, you can stand up and turn on the shower. Again, use the coldest you can stand. You'll have to leave your head way back with your body facing away from the shower head. Scrub like you are shampooing your hair. Once the majority of it is out (not when it "rinses clear" that's total BS), condition your hair. If you have a nice color protecting conditioner, now's the time to use it.

Once your hair is all rinsed out, you can clip it up in the shower. Turn your water to warm/hot and wash all the color off your body. Pay special attention to your face, ears, neck, back and butt crack. Those will assuredly be colorful. If you can't get anything off in the shower with your regular facewash, you can use cotton balls and rubbing alcohol once you get out of the shower. Towel drying your hair is recommended but you can blow dry it too.

Here's Sarah the day after dyeing it. Blam! It's purple!



In order to try to keep this color, Sarah used a combination of Ion Sulfate Free Shampoo, Conditioner, and hair color lock in conditioner. But all these measures, as well as waiting days to wash it for real the first time, didn't help her keep her color long. She reported to me her hair faded almost instantaneously. Here it is just 4 days later in inside lighting:



Then she went to the zoo and spent all day in the sun. She said these were taken a week after and she had washed her hair four times with the sulfate free shampoo & conditioner.


The underside was less faded:



So I think we learned some things by dyeing Sarah's hair. Wear a hat or bandanna to avoid UV fading. This goes for any hair colors but there are certain dyes Manic Panic makes that are UV reactive (glow under black light) which may be even more susceptible to fading than their other shades. Other tips to avoid fading are: washing your hair less, washing it in cold water, using sulfate free/color safe shampoos and conditioners, avoiding swimming (or getting your hair wet really, especially just after dyeing), waiting longer & washing more between bleaching and dyeing your hair (I actually recommend 1-2 weeks of being blonde before dyeing it), using a ph neutral shampoo/conditioner after bleaching, leaving your hair color in for a long time, heat processing your hair once the dye is on.

I also have a theory that perhaps Manic Panic might not work well on fine hair. When I say fine, I mean the hairs themselves are skinny and shiny. My hair is coarse, meaning the hairs themselves tend to be thick and rough. This isn't to be confused with thick or thin hair. Thick meaning there is an abundance (high number of hairs per square inch) of hair on your scalp. Thin meaning there are few hairs on your scalp. Sarah's hair, although fine, is also thick. She has plenty of hair, its just the hairs themselves aren't very fat. 

Sarah did purchase Raw in Deep Purple and is going to try to re-apply herself to see if this formula is any better. You may also find out for yourself as you experiment with temporary colors that certain brands just don't work as well as others. I've personally never used Raw. I've had luck with Manic Panic's Classic Line as well as their Amplified formulas (which do indeed seem to last longer). I've tried N'Rage with just OK results (smelled good, washed out quickly). Color Jamz washed out way too fast and wasn't as bright as I wanted it. Jazzing had a crappy applicator, doesn't come in a lot of colors, and I don't recall it being good or bad at staying in the hair. I have not yet tried Ion's colorful colors. I've had Pravana Vivid Red in my closet for at least a year and haven't used it yet. I bought it because my friend Lexie said "It's like sharpie for your hair!" I will report back once I use those last two to review.

2 comments:

  1. That's crazy that it faded so fast. Hope round two lasts longer!

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    Replies
    1. I know! I was very sad and disappointed as was Sarah. Hopefully the Raw works out. Lessons Learned here at Sally's Grooming Blog.

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