I just finished putting some pink and purple streaks in my hair and thought making a post of tips for dying your hair funky colours would be fun!
Before you start make sure you have plenty of gloves and wrap the bottle in saran wrap if you plan on only using part of it (so when storing it and reaching for it you don’t get dye everyplace.) Put petroleum jelly around the hairline and you may want to pick up dye-removing cloths for the skin at a beauty supply to wipe off mistakes on your ears, neck or shoulders! (acne wipes work too)
1) If you are using a dye such as Manic Panic or Special Effects the dye will transfer to surfaces like towels and pillowcases, without exception! This means if you care about the ones you have buy a spare specifically for this purpose. Especially if you are a teen doing this without parent’s permission and you’re worried about their reaction. Buying a dark colored towel and a pillowcase to ruin will lessen the tirade. Also protecting any and every surface within reach while you are applying the color is important. Laying newspapers out on the floor, using paper towels to cover the sink and surface areas….you get the idea, right? I know it takes time and is annoying to clean but it’s better than ruining the floor or having to re-paint before you move because of dying your hair.
2) Possibly an extension of above but don’t apply the color in big gobs or it will drop or end up on the walls. Apply a small amount at a time and using a tint brush available from a beauty supply store will help! Use the brush and then massage the color in with your fingers. It has to be really wet but just short of dripping.
3) If you are using more than one color, consider picking up the following things to make it easier- A highlighting cap,highlighting foils, rattail comb and a comb with a small hook on the end for picking up strands of hair out of the cap. You can find kits with all these together at Sally’s.
4) If you are doing streaks and want them to look evenly placed you can use this method- Divide your hair into three sections, one for each side and one for the back. Take a rattail comb and hold it parallel to your part at the scalp. Starting at the end of one of the sections, weave the metal tail up and down through the top of your hair, only going a fraction of an inch down or up. When you reach the other end of the section pick up the top layer of hair from the comb- Those sections are the ones you color. You can take them and brush the color on them all at once, with a foil under the section and fold the foil up to your scalp so it stays in place. You can do this all over your head, from the scalp to nape of each section or just with a few spots,also you can alter the amount of streaks by weaving through more or less times. I don’t know if I described that clearly enough but if you have any questions, ask away!
5) Use a very small brush around the hairline like a toothbrush or one of those lash or eyebrow combs for cosmetics.
6)Get a color-protecting shampoo & conditioner. Also using a leave-in conditioner will help keep your hair from feeling brittle and breaking.
7) Rinse your hair in cold water, as cold as you can stand- this will help keep the color in longer.
8 ) With these dyes you can leave them on longer than the 30 minutes stated on the bottle. They do not contain peroxide and leaving them on for 2 hours isn’t much worse than 20 minutes when it comes to damage. Put a plastic bag over your head and clip the ends together so it stays put. Then blow dry your head with it on a low setting. You don’t want to dry it because when it’s dry it stops working. You just want to heat up the inside of the bag so the humidity and warmth open the hair follicle, allowing the color to deposit more effectively.
9) Random Fact- Red pigments fall out of the hair follicle more quickly than any other color. If you are going red be prepared to take care of it and re-dye more often.
10) If you can afford it, go to a salon. Especially if you need to bleach all of your hair before you dye. I bleached my own for the streaks and I had to do it two times just to get it light enough. I would never do my whole head (again) It’s such a pain, however, since you are just dying over it then little mistakes don’t matter as much as if you were staying blonde. For the cost of getting all the supplies to bleach a whole head and dye it a fun color(s) you could probably just get it bleached at a cheap salon and dye over it yourself at home.
That’s about it I think. All I can think of for now! I hope there’s at least one tip in there that may be something new for somebody. Also for upcoming posts I’m planning on some Fyrinnae swatches including wearing the lip lustres .
Beauty From Another Planet 