So You Want to Dye Your Hair Purple...

                             

I get emails and messages all the time, or people stopping me somewhere and saying "OMG I love your hair color! I would love to have purple hair but I'm not brave enough!"

Okay, I can get that. But really it's not about bravery... it's about the commitment that purple hair actually is. Purple hair is a tedious marriage that requires time, effort, patience, and unconditional love to keep your locks that vibrant color you love.

My hair has been some semblance of purple for about 3 years now so I've lived through all of it. Almost every brand, every shade, every cleaning process, every everything. Let us also bear in mind that I went to cosmetology school so I'm pretty much fearless when it comes to hair color because I know I can always fix it.

So before you jump into having your hair superhero colors, here are some things I've learned.

If You Don't Know What You're Doing, Go To The Salon The First Time... or 8.

If you didn't go to school for hair, you have to go to a salon to have this done by a professional stylist the first time. Probably the first few times.

Why?

Because if you want your hair to be TRUE purple (not hints of violet or a purple sheen in the sun), you HAVE to bleach your hair. No ifs, ands, or buts. There's no question that your hair must be prelightened in order to get your hair vibrant.

In general the order of events are:

1. Bleach hair

2. Wash hair, don't condition it, blow dry it.

3. Apply purple.

4. Allow to process for 45-60 mins (longer if you can).

5. Rinse, shampoo, condition.

This. Takes. HOURS.  Especially the first time. As in... prepare to set aside 3-4 hours.

If you have a bunch of weird pre-existing colors, I have good news: the uglier it bleaches to without toning, the prettier your purple will be.

Don't believe me? Behold! This was me bleaching my hair (which had a blue-based purple in at one point and I hated it, so I bleached it and it lifted to this marvelous bog green color!) Again, the uglier the color it lifts to, the brighter your purple will be.

                    

If the pictures above would have you a psychological breakdown from terror if you attempted it at home, then get your butt to the salon so you don't have to see the process. Cuz baby, it's not always pretty to get there.

Prepare For Near-Instant Fading

You'll leave the salon with a bounce in your step and feel EXTREMELY confident when you rock out that purple. Until you wash it once and it fades to a magenta-red-pink and you're filled with hate.

So know this ahead of time: You will be washing your hair less and relying on dry shampoo significantly more.

Invest In Good Hair Products

I'm personally a huge Redken fan myself.

You cant skimp on taking care of your hair with good shampoos, conditioners, and styling products if you want that color to last.



                  


Welcome To Your New Shower!

You can no longer wash your hair in warm water! Yup! You need to wash your hair in water so cold, polar bears would blush. Unless you're no longer alive or super strange, that will be the worst shower experience of your life. So get used to the fact you'll be washing your hair in your kitchen sink or bent over your bathtub once you make this commitment.

                                          


Prepare For Staining...
... ALLLLLLLLLLL THE STAINING

Have you ever wondered what it would look like if you murdered Grimace from McDonalds? Well, you'll find out soon enough. Just like Ronald was trying to do here.


                                                


I'm serious. This is the part that nobody prepares for. Touchups = staining. Even as I'm sitting here letting my hair process and I'm writing this I just looked down, and guess what?


                            

Are you prepared for this? 

And by the way, it's not like I'm like the Tasmanian Devil when I'm applying hair color. I don't flail it around violently with a blindfold on. This is just what happens, EVEN WITH GLOVES ON, when you have super long hair.

What about the next few pictures?

Ready to look like you got hit in the face for a day or two? 

How do you feel about purple fingernail beds? 

Fingertips?

Back of your neck?

EARWAX? Yup.

Are you emotionally attached to wearing the color white? This is not the haircolor for you.

I hope you don't have expensive sheets, because guess what else? All your pillowcases and sheets are gonna get stained.

                  

BRAND NEW winter coat... purple staining on the collar.

                                  


So when I say, "Purple Is a Lifestyle and Commitment", I'm not kidding. You have to love it, especially if you want to keep it vibrant.

Cleaning

So, because water like this will be going down your sink (Literally just rinsed my hair)....

                                     

You're going to need some magic tricks to keep your sink, tubs, and shower clean!

1. Kaboom. This shiz works and it works well.

2. Clorox. Come on, you could have guessed this.

3. 100% Acetone. It reeks but after a few rounds, it will get just about everything up.

Touching Up Between Professional Appointments
         

I have used pretty much everything you can between colors to keep things vibrant (I touch up about once a month) and here's my reviews... and by the way, literally any color you can get in a box at Target or Walgreens is crap, so don't do it.

The VAST majority of decent colors out there DONT USE DEVELOPER. You literally squish it out of the packaging and straight onto your head. Okee dokee? Oh and by the way, yes, you can dilute these with conditioner if you'd like but remember that might make the color pop a little less.

So here is a list of stuff I've used, ranking from worst to best....


Manic Panic in Ultra Violet. Beautiful color... Messy as hell. Just...Don't do it. Mmmkay? Please just trust me?

                                         


Ion Color Brilliance in Purple (If your hair isn't platinum blonde, this will basically just make your hair look black. The Wild Orchid works pretty well but fades to pink quickly. You can actually see the pink strands in this picture from their own swatch. Ehhhhhh... Easy to control, not excessively messy.) I tried the Amethyst and I don't even want to talk about what a disappointment that was. It basically just made my hair Asian blue-black and I had to rebleach out my hair and I was a pissed off panda.)


                                                 
Argan Oil - Intense Purple (Smells like heaven, super easy application, extremely nourishing to your hair... my only problem, again, is it pulls more of an orchid color and less of a true PURPLE.)

                                      




Punky Color - Purple or Plum. This is good stuff. It smells good. It's easy to control. It pulls true purple. It stays in a long time. Victory. (FYI, 2 full containers of this to cover this mop)


                                                 



Pravana Vivids. This is the gold standard. I'm sorry, but it is. Know why? Because it's professional color. If you're able to get your hands on this, it's the best you'll find. MOST VIVID COLOR EVER, SO SHINY. This is why you SHOULD have a stylist do your hair if you can-- it's the best bright purple there is. No ifs, ands, or buts.




                                      


I hope this helps!!!!

Seriously, I love having purple hair. I don't mind any of this, but it's fair warning to anyone considering jumping to it as a color. Because it's labor... but it's a TOTAL labor of love!

Now go make yourself into a human unicorn!


Love and hair stains,
Abby