I’m looking for some. See, I got this great expensive dye job with a whole lot of bleached highlights on the top of my head that I had him do bubblegum pink, and burgundy underneath. And the pink has faded much quicker than I expected, and I’m states away from my hairdresser and am going to be for a while. Now, I spend a hell of a lot of money on my hair and I don’t want to dump dye on it that’s going to hurt it. Is the crap they sell at Hot Topic safe for my hair? Is there such a thing as nice, conditioning, healthy pink hair dye? I’d be perfectly happy to order it from elsewhere, I just need to know where! And surely, surely somebody here knows if there is such a thing and, if so, how one obtains it.
I had pink hair for a year, so I suppose that makes me somewhat of an authority.
Although I admit that I havn’t been to a hairdresser in literally years and don’t know why you would pay a lot of money for someone to essentially screw up your hair- and act that can be acheived at home for under ten bucks.
First off, bubblegum pink is never going to last. Red will, and magenta will. In fact, red dyes are the longest lasting of the non-traditional dyes, because the most research has been put in to them. But soft colors are going to fade, because they are…well…soft. I have heard that adding a few drops of dye in to a bottle of conditioner and using that on a daily basis will help. I’ve never tried it and it seems like that would just add to the "color shedding’ problem. I would try to find a richer shade that still suits you. Short of that, resign yourself to the fact that you are either going to not wash your hair much (I have had dye jobs look brilliant for five months at a time when I stick to once-every-three day shampooing) or redying your hair a lot.
Forget the search for “healthy” hair dye. There is no such thing. But, that is okay because hair is just dead stuff, not some sort of baby that you have to nourish. “Conditioning” hair dye in all forms is a hoax and will leave your hair just as funky as anything else. The worst thing you can do to your hair is bleach it. It is the bleaching that makes overdyed hair rough and unpleasent. But, I see you have already bleached your hair. There isn’t much you can do that will screw it up more than bleaching (except for bleaching it again), so you are free to dye.
I have always used Punky Colors dye. My experinces with other brands havn’t been so good. Punky Colors is a semipermanent dye (One dye lasts about three months on me before it gets faded…for others it lasts only a couple weeks or it never really fades out…it all depends) and it is readily availible at Hot-Topic-esque stores. I am sure you can get it online somewhere. I get mine at the local drug store, who for some reason carries the best Punky Colors selection I have ever seen.
You’ve already bleached your hair, which is good. Bleached hair increases dyes brilliance and staying power. Basically, screwing up your hair makes it rougher, and makes it easier for the dye to take hold. The next part is to actually dye. Put vasaline around your ears and hairline (so that the dye doesn’t get on your skin and stain it), put on plastic gloves, and slather the dye all over your hair (the dye has the consistancy of thick paint). If you get any dye on you, don’t worry- it will scrub out with soap- but it takes a lot of scrubbing. While the dye sets, you want to heat it up. I usually wrap plastic wrap around my head, bundle that all under a thick knit cap, and go to class. Some people blow dry their hair to keep it hot. I keep my dye in for about an hour. Some people only keep it in for half an hour, some people sleep with it in all night. It doesn’t really seem to matter. Then, you rinse your hair out until the water runs clear (do this in a sink, not the shower, or your whole body will turn pink from the runoff). Some people claim that vinigar helps set the dye, but I’ve never tried it. Towel dry your hair and enjoy your new color. Sleep on towels for a while or it will turn your pillowcases pink.
That is really the only way to do it, despite what they say in the fancy salons. Upscale products in unusual colors just arn’t researched and developed in the same way that they are in traditional colors. This whole dot-com-I’m-gonna-dye-my-hair-green trend hasn’t been around that long. The salons end up useing the same stuff that the punk rocker at home uses, and the sylists often have a lot less experience with it and know a lot less about the dyes and how to make them stay.
Good luck. Pink hair is lots of fun, but it is also a bit of sacrifice.