Becoming a Dye Hard

Dying ones hair has turned into a means of self expression, gone are the days where people solely use dye to create an illusion of youthfulness by covering up pesky greys. In the world we live in now, going grey is a fashion statement rather than a indication of old age.

So with colourful hair trending at the moment from pastel colours to ombres and now sand art hair that makes you look like Rainbow Dash from My Little Pony, there is so much more that we can experiment with than the traditional blondes, brunettes and jet blacks.

After looking at funky coloured hair for months on Pinterest, I was determined to have pink hair!

With most things I find myself obsessed with I did a lot of research before making the move to have my hair done in a vibrant colour.

As the saying goes "Blondes have more fun," which is true in this case - my poor dark brown indian hair is not the perfect candidate for pastel pink or any pink for that matter. Girls with lighter hair colours have it easier they don't have to go through the trouble of bleaching their hair and even if they do, the undertones of their hair falls somewhere between yellow and pale yellow. The perfect base colour for any dye to catch not like my brunette locks, after bleaching, it turns a horrible copper/orange.

Being the the cautious person I am, especially when it comes to my hair, I went on the search of a hair dresser that would be able to do a purple to pink ombre look. I was not going to take the risk and do it myself after reading so many hair horror stories online I thought I needed a professional.

I finally got my hair done at the salon, it was a 5 hour ordeal from bleaching my hair to colouring, washing and having my freshly dyed hair curled into glamour locks to show off the look! Although it looked amazing, the purple didn't take to my hair and I ended up having to go back another day just to have the hair that didn't catch any colour, dyed pink.

Now there was nothing wrong with my hair dresser, the problem was with my hair. The colour lasted for a month and slowly started fading to a red-orangey colour and I started getting the itch to touch it up. The only problem was I had paid almost a R1000.00 the first time around which was worth the amount of work and dye that went into my experience but I wasn't going to pay R1000.00 every month to have my hair done again and again just to keep it pink, so I decided to take a leap and do it myself!

Dyeing for colour

The first thing I did was look for a hair dye that was legitimate. I was not going to dye my hair with those R70.00 neon dyes you find on gumtree, I can't say anything is wrong with those dyes as i haven't tried them but what I needed was a legitimate brand that I could trust.

So I used my good friend Google to find out what people were dying their hair with, I came across many brands and types of dyes. For each one I did a Google search in South Africa. I finally found a brand called Manic Panic, which was stocked by a company called AnonaMiss based in Cape Town. I could make online purchases on the site but they had suppliers in different parts of the country and to my convenience and luck a supplier that was close to home.

Before I ran out to buy tubs of dye I first did my research on the brand. I went to the AnonaMiss website and read up the following: Manic Panic was started by two punk rock sisters Trish and Snooky in New York in 1977, a vegan friendly, herbal-based, semi permanent hair dye used by celebs like Katy Perry. 

I was sold on the fact that it was herbal-based and there were no harmful chemicals in the dye that would harm my hair. So I was super excited to go out and purchase the dye as soon as possible.

Getting my hands on the dye

I went down to Little Shop of Strange at Brightwater Commons, Randburg which was listed as a stockist of Manic Panic hair dye on the AnonaMiss website.

I went there a couple times thinking I was going to go straight to turquoise from my now faded pink, but they were still waiting for stock. I was told that the dye sold like hot cakes, which made me want it even more! It was a good thing it took a while for them to stock up on Atomic Turquiouse because I had changed my mind to stick to pink for the winter and change it up later on in the year.

While watching endless YouTube videos on how to dye hair with Manic Panic and looking at the Look Book and product catalogue on the AnonaMiss site I discovered Manic Panic's Virgin Snow.

Virgin Snow was not a dye but a toner that would mute out the horrid oranges in the hair that is left  after bleaching. So when I got to Little Shop of Strange I was happy to find that they had a pink dye in stock as well as the toner and bleach, of course I bought the lot, with a dying kit as well!

I purchased Manic Panic Hot Hot Pink, Virgin Snow, MissTresse bleaching kit and the dying kit that included gloves, a cap and a brush.  This all came to just over R500.00 and I was pleased with my purchase.

Bleaching

Bleaching was the most stressful of the entire process, a number of things can go wrong that could badly damage the hair. I would recommend seeing a professional to have your hair bleached the first time. As mine had already been bleached, I knew how my hair was going to react to it.

I also made sure that I waited over 6 weeks before I had bleached my hair again. It isn't advised to bleach your hair often as it causes major breakage.

I used the MissTresse 30 vol blue lightening duo to bleach my hair. It came in two parts a crème and a powder in a convenient tub to mix them in and apply.

It is important to note that you should do a strand test when using a new bleach; what this means is after mixing the bleach you take a few strands of your hair, preferably hair that can be easily hidden if something were to go wrong. Apply the bleach as directed and after it has processed make sure it hasn't damaged 

I didn't want my hair to be completely coloured so I only applied the bleach to the parts of my hair that were previously bleached and dyed.

I had to keep the bleach on for no longer than 45 minutes after applying it to my hair. I then washed my hair with shampoo and dried it with a hair dryer.

The last of the my previous dye job was gone and my hair was now a golden copper mix of colours. I could have went straight to dying my hair pink but to get the best results I moved on to the Virgin Snow toner.

Time for Toner

Manic Panic's Virgin Snow can easily be mistaken for a dye but it is a toner. What a toner does is, neutralizes the colour in your hair after bleaching. Often after bleaching hair is stripped down to tones such as orange, copper, brass, yellow and gold. Here is where a toner comes handy, it cancels out undesired colours in your hair.

I followed the directions on the tub, applied the toner to my dry hair, tied it up and put the cap on, so it wouldn't get everywhere. With Manic Panic the longer you keep it on the better the results so I decided to go to bed with the toner in my hair.

It is advised to use heat to assist in the process but I didn't do this part with the toner. It was a little uncomfortable having to sleep with my hair in a bun and a cap over it but I was surprised I didn't wake up in the middle of the night, pulling off the cap in a fit of rage from not being comfortable.

In the morning I washed my hair out with warm water and proceeded to dry my hair, excited to get on to the next step. For those with lighter hair, after using a toner hair will most likely be pale yellow to white. With my dark hair the toner softened the gold and copper colours, it wasn't as light as I had hoped but it did make a big difference.

Colour me Pink!

Manic Panic Hot Hot Pink! The name alone makes me excited. I could not wait to start the dying process so I went straight to it.

I put on my gloves and opened the creamy pink dye. Similar to the process when one straightens their hair, I parted my hair roughly into 2cm wide pieces, and clipped the pieces up as I needed. I started with the hair closest to my neck and worked my way to the top of my head. Applying the dye with the dying brush wasn't working well for me so I decided to use my hands which made the process faster. 

After applying the dye to all of my hair, I tied my hair up in a bun and popped the cap over my hair. As it was during the day I gave it a good blow dry every hour in order to enhance the activation process.

I kept the dye on for 5 hours though, I could have left it on for longer. I then washed my hair with warm water only until the water ran with a light pink pigment. I immediately dried and styled my hair.


Results and Maintenance

I was extremely pleased with the results of Manic Panic hair dye and toner as well as MissTresse bleach. The colour came out vibrant and super pink! These products surpassed my expectations completely  and for the first time I was completely happy with the end result.

I received many complements on my hair and I love that I found a hair colour that expresses my personality. I would recommend Manic Panic hair dye to anyone who is looking for vivid and funky colours.

As this is a semi-permanent dye there is a bit of maintenance that comes with keeping your hair in a good condition and making the colour last as long as possible

• Wash hair as little as possible! I try to wash my hair twice a week.
• Using a colour protecting shampoo is the second step in maintaining your colour. Dove Colour Repair with a lower sulphate formula will gently cleanse and condition hair, keeping colour for longer. 
• If you have hair like mine washing it twice a week really wasn't a option, until I started using a dry shampoo. I use TRESemme, Instantrefresh, waterless foam shampoo between washes. It removes oil from the roots making this a staple for anyone who doesn't want to wash their hair everyday. This retails around R22.00 at stores like Dischem and Clicks.
  
• Bleaching and dying can distress your hair especially the ends. They become dry and frizzy, to combat this I use Jungle Fever, Shine Serum. It add shines and controls frizz.
• I also use Jungle, Fever Wild Straight, Anti Freezy, Straighten Fluid. This is a heat protector which I spray on my hair before I dry, straighten or curl my hair. I bought both Jungle Fever products at a hair salon at arooud R450.00 for both products. The best place to buy hair serums and heat protectors is from a salon.
  

You can find Manic Panic hair dye and MissTresse bleach at Little Shop of Strange at the Randburg Flea Market, situated in Brightwater Commons Shopping Centre in Randburg. 

Alternatively you can purchase these items and other Manic Panic products at Anonamiss Beauty Emporium. They also have tons of information on how to dye your hair and what colours to use. 

I hope this post was informative to those who would love to dye hair but are a little scared to take a chance, I took a chance and now I have fabulous pink hair I am proud to say I dyed all by myself!

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