Fun While It Lasted...

I love my purple hair. LOVE it. Yes, there are some downsides, but not many. Anyway, school starts next week so it's finally time to make it a normal color again. Sads. Maybe someday I'll have my bakery and/or Etsy shop and I'll be allowed to have purple hair all the time...

Anyway, I thought I'd review the ups and downs of the two dyes I used. Yeah, two. Not that I think any of you will dye your hair purple, but you never know...

So this Splat kit is what I used the first time. Got it cheap at Walgreens. I've also seen it at Wal-Mart. Let's just run down the pros and cons of this one.

PROS: If you're a dark-haired girl like myself, you aren't going to get a true bright color without bleach. This kit came with bleach. The kit was super easy to use. And the color when I first finished it was beautiful.

CONS: There was enough bleach for me since all I did was streaks of blonde before the dye. But if you wanted to bleach more hair, there's not enough bleach. The same is kind of true of the dye itself. One bottle didn't leave my hair purple enough. So I headed out the next day for a second bottle. Another gripe: it didn't last nearly long enough. I did my hair June 9. By Father's Day (June 19) it was more pink than purple.

So if you want something really temporary, go for it. They have a few colors to choose from, but not a huge number.

Special Effects Deep Purple is what I used the second time around. I read a lot of reviews of different dyes this time. Something that anyone who wants unnatural color should note: THERE ARE NO PERMANENT UNNATURAL COLORS. But this one came highly recommended. I searched four stores in town and no one had this brand (not even Hot Topic) so I ordered it on Amazon.

PROS: Best. Color. Ever. Seriously. I loved how this turned out SO MUCH MORE than the Splat. This color is intense. Since I had already bleached the sections I wanted I just went ahead and dyed. Even with my long hair, I didn't use the whole bottle. I had enough to touch it up before pictures last week (yes, I did a photoshoot with my purple hair).

CONS: This stuff WILL stain. More on that at the end. Other than that, I really haven't had issues with this color. Yes, it fades. But I went six weeks from my first application to touch-up application and it was still purple. Not pink, purple. It was definitely a lighter purple, but not to the point that I was unhappy like with Splat.

So... some final notes about crazy-colored hair dye.

• It washes out. I covered that. Expect the water to be pinky-purple when you wash it. REALLY colorful the first few times after you dye. Less so each time. Tip: don't use Head and Shoulders with any temporary dye. It's not kind. And use an old towel to be on the safe side.
• There's a good chance your hair will bleed onto things if you aren't careful. Don't use a white pillowcase. Period. Dry your hair completely if you are going to be wearing a light color. I didn't ruin anything (besides the shirts I wore during the dying process), but there was a slight lavender tinge on a couple collars. It washed out with Oxi-Clean.
• I mentioned this stuff stains. I'm not kidding. Wear junk clothes when you dye. Use junk towels when you dye. And for the love of all that is holy, wear good gloves. NOT the gloves that come with the kit, get good ones. Medical-grade ones if possible. Use vaseline at your hairline and such. Because both dyes love your skin. And buy a cleaner with bleach. Because when you rinse in the tub (and please use your tub, not your shower) there will be purple left. But Clorox with bleach took it right out of my bathroom. Spray, let it sit, rinse.
• Still on the staining/bleeding subject: if you play with your hair and you have light-colored polish on... your nails could end up with some nice tint to them. Just saying. 

It sounds like a lot of work, but it really wasn't. Obviously the bleeding factor goes down as it begins to fade and wash out.

I'll be fixing my hair later this week. I'll let you know how that goes. I'm a little curious if any purple with remain and be a tint under my normal hair color... hmmmm.