pink hair: diy guide & adore dye review

Important things I did over the weekend: 1) watched Mad Max: Fury Road and 2) re-dyed my hair.

Yes, my hair is finally actually pink again. After it faded to nearly blonde I thought it might be time to re-dye it, and that I might as well take some pics and post a little tutorial.

what you'll need

 

1. dye

You really only need one dye color. I have three bottles here because I had a little bit of the lighter pink dye left that I wanted to use up, and I like to mix a little purple with my pink.

I've been using Adore by Creative Image for a while, just because one bottle is pretty cheap (around $6), and the dye's pretty saturated, so a little goes a long way. But I've also used Jerome Russell Punky Colour before and had good results.

The colors I used this time were Pink Petal (192), Purple Rage (116), and Pink Rose (82).

2. conditioner

You mix dye with conditioner if you want to make the color lighter or if the dye you're using is a concentrated liquid like Adore dyes are. Don't waste your money on any of those pastelizers or diluters dye companies try to sell you. Any white conditioner will do the same thing.

3. mixing/application supplies

If you buy a dying kit, it'll probably come with a little brush for mixing and applying dye to your hair. If you don't have one of these brushes, no problem. I usually use my hands to apply dye to my hair, and you can just use a plastic spoon to mix the dye.

Make sure you have a plastic container to put your dye in. I use an empty Punky Colour plastic dye jar, but you can use something like a Tupperware container or a plastic bowl.

If you want to avoid staining your skin, wear plastic gloves when you're applying your dye and put Vaseline on the skin at your hairline. Any dye staining will fade after washing your skin a couple times, though, so don't stress about it too much.

4. light hair

Sorry, but if you want to dye your hair a bright color, it's gotta be blonde first. Otherwise, you're just going to end up with a muddy brown color or no noticeable color change at all. For most of us, that means bleaching it. I bleach my hair myself, but if you're nervous about it, just get it done by professional. Bleaching can be really bad for your hair if you don't know what you're doing.

If you're interested in me doing a bleaching tutorial, let me know!

the process

1. Mix your dye. Put a generous amount of conditioner into your container and slowly mix dye in until the mixture has reached a shade slightly darker than the color you want your hair to be. 

2. Apply the dye to your hair. Once you have your lovely conditioner-dye mixture, start scooping it out and onto your hair. Like I said earlier, you can use a dye brush to do this, but I've found it easier and faster to just use my hands. Make sure all your hair is completely covered! 

3. Wait. Most dyes will tell you to leave it in for just an hour, but I've found that that's generally not long enough for the color to apply evenly and last more than one wash. I usually let dye sit in my hair for 2-3 hours, but since I was dumb and applied my dye late at night, I just slept with it in this time. The damage people talk about from dyeing their hair comes from the bleaching process, not the dye itself. Most unnatural color dyes, like Adore, Manic Panic, Punky Colour, are vegetable-based and won't hurt your hair, no matter how long you leave the dye in. And since you're mixing your dye with conditioner, the longer you leave it in, the softer your hair will get!

I'd recommend wearing a shower cap while you have dye in your hair. It helps keeps the dye from drying out and creates some heat, which helps the dye soak into your hair better. Plus, it lessens the chance that you'll get dye on everything in your house.

4. Rinse. When you're done letting the dye sit in your hair, rinse it out with cold water - don't wash it out with shampoo. Shampoo and hot water are the enemies of dyed hair.

results

So, the finished product. The dye applied pretty evenly, with some spots being slightly darker or more orange than others. That's probably just because I had an uneven color as my base though. Not the dye's fault. Plus, I kinda like when dye comes out a little unevenly - it gives it some dimension.

What do you guys think? Let me know if you have any other dye color/brand recommendations!