Typing this up is making me want to dye my hair again.
Why can’t teachers have vivid hair colors. 😦
Like many people who color their hair obviously dyed colors, I’ve often been asked over the years what dye I was using and how I got it the way I did. The answer to the second part is short and easy: bleach. That answer will never change, unless they come up with some new method that doesn’t use it and is cheaper.
The first part is also easy, but has many different answers. I have used a bunch of different brands over the years, but, for content’s sake, I’m only going to list some of the ones I like. If you want a post about the ones I didn’t like, then we can do that at another time. (Just because a brand isn’t mentioned here, though, doesn’t mean I necessarily didn’t like it–it probably means I either haven’t tried it or just haven’t liked it as much, or I don’t have photos to go along with the recommendation.)
To keep this from being ridiculously long, I’m going to break it from here into two sections: short-term color and long-term color. Fair? Good. Let’s go.
Short-Term Color
While they may not intentionally mean to be a short-lived bottle of fun hair color, some brands end up washing out pretty quickly–or may not even apply well without white-blonde hair, which I’ll also mention if that’s the case. First up is Ion Brilliance Brights, a brand you have probably seen me use a lot if you’ve been here a while.
(Warning, some of these pictures are OLD.)
First from this brand would be their Lavender color [link], which I found to be kind of blotchy and meh, but! It toned the yellow of my hair really nicely once the purple had started to wash out. This color doesn’t last very long, maybe two washes max (for me), but if you like the silvery-purple look and having to redye constantly, then this might be for you. Personally, I did enjoy the color while it lasted, it’s the fact it wouldn’t stay put that bothered me.
Another one that didn’t last a whole long time, but was very vibrant while it was around. Their Aqua [link] color covers over yellow really well if you can’t or won’t bleach your hair to a light yellow or white color. Like the Lavender, it still proves to be an uneven mix of color, but that didn’t bother me when it was this blue and green. Gave it more dimension, imo.
Now, I’m going to put this in the short-term colors because it’s still an Ion Brilliance color, but their Shark Blue [link] holds out for much, much longer than the other two colors I had tried from their line. It’s still not as long as the long-term ones I’ll be listing, but it did last a good, long while, and the color was really nice!
Long-Term Color
Now, these you don’t want to delve into unless you want to have one hell of a time removing them. Seriously. The first one lasted me almost two years with one small tub of the stuff, and the second one never actually left–I ended up cutting it out in the end. These are hardcore.
I actually did a post about this one quite a while ago, while my blog was still a wee bab of a thing. (The original blog, not my self-hosted platform.) This is La Riche Direction in Alpine Green [link] and this is a hair dye I fully intend to go about buying again once my hair is in better condition and I have a way to hide the color when I work, which, you know, means going back to daily wigs. Bleh.
Anyway, this one looked beautiful, was so nice on my hair, and would not leave. I loved it.
Beautiful, vibrant, and impossible to get rid of, Splat hair dyes do not mess around. Thankfully, the color is really very beautiful, and while I’ve only ever used their Lusty Lavender [link], I know for a fact many of their others are just as vibrant and pretty. The biggest problem with Splat is it really is hard as hell to get rid of. The color takes forever to fade, but once it reaches a certain point, there’s no getting rid of it.
This one faded to a hot pink, and then I was saddled with it in my hair (dyed over, I think this is when I went black) until it grew long enough to cut off. Don’t go into this one if you’re not ready to have it a long time!
And those are the hair dyes I’d most likely recommend to those who asked! I’ve tried many another hair dye, such as Manic Panic, and I do feel those are really good for people who want a quick wash-out dye that won’t last too long, but I’ve never been as solidly sold on it as I have Ion, which does the relative same.
Maybe I’ll go back to it and give it another go one of these days. If I do, I’ll be sure to write up a report.
If you have any other brands you love, let me know! I might not dye my hair at this very moment, but, trust me, the moment to dive back in is not far off.
Confessions of a Literary Addict 