Hair Dye Process pt.2

Hello again! So this is part 2 of my hair dye posting :)

Let's jump straight to it :)

1) Once the bleach has sufficiently worked (for my red dye, I only need a yellowy colour), it's time to wash it out. I recommend using cold/warmish water, as this protects your hair the best.

2) Dry your hair, so it is only a little damp. Now you need the magic formula... something called 'Toner'. The toner's you can buy from shops are blueish purple in colour (see pic below) - don't panic! This is because they counter-act the yellowness of your bleached hair, allowing for a less ''brassy'' look. It also evens out and softens the colour of the bleached hair. Apply the toner to the bleached parts, you can use your bare hands for this, and leave for an hour or so :) Maybe go grab some lunch :)

3) After an hour, rinse the toner out. You should see an improvement to the bleached parts of your hair! Dry your hair again, so it is only a LITTLE damp.

4) The messy part - Gloves on first! Using a hair dye brush (you can buy for maybe £1 in stores here), apply dye to either side of your parting. Now, part your hair a little further along, and then apply to this new parting. Do this until you have lots of new partings to your hair, all good and pasted in dye.

5) Once all your roots are covered, now you can make sure the rest of your hair is covered. I find that doing it in layers, from the bottom to the top works best for me. If you can't reach the under-layers of your hair, don't worry. Just do what you can on the top, then being very careful, tilt your head over the bath/sink and do the underneath that way.

6) Now you can abandon that brush, and get your gloves messy! Give all the dye a really good rub in, juuuuuust to be sure you've got total coverage. Now you can clip it all up, and go do something for 3 hours or so :)

6.5) 2 cups of tea later, some time on Stardoll, lots of time playing GW and listening to music, hair dye is done!

7) Tip your head back over the bath and be prepared to rinse that dye out for some time! Mine took 15 minutes to run clear, and I only have shoulder length hair. To dry your hair, make sure you use a low heat setting on your hairdryer... and finally, TA-DAAA! Beautiful new hair :)

Again, sorry for the awful photo (not the most photogenic of people), but you get a good idea of the difference between the 'normal' hair with dye, and the bleached hair with dye :) Tomorrow, I will probably add more depth to it by adding small bits of black dye.

Candy x

Hair Dye Process pt.1

Hello!

Sorry it's been a while - I totally underestimated how long my hair would take to fade. Anyhow, I am sat here now with my hair bleach, so I will take you through the first part of the process.

Please note, you do not necessarily need to bleach your hair in order to get great results. This is MY PERSONAL PREFERENCE :)

So, here we go!

1) Allergy test - done, for both bleach and dye, and I haven't grown a third arm, so this is good.

2) Preparing the bathroom and myself. It is important to strip your hair of natural oils as much as possible. This means NO CONDITIONER! I find that (oddly) using baby shampoo for a week beforehand leaves my hair feeling totally ungreasy and almost dry. This means the bleach and the dye will work better. Just before you start make sure you've got everything you will need close to hand! It becomes kinda stressful if you need to run downstairs half way through, to fetch more foil.

3) The hair bleach - Gloves on first! Then mix the bleach up EXACTLY as the instructions say. We don't want to chemically burn our hair off! Also, your hair doesn't even need to go white (which is harmful) in order to achieve the best result.

4) Application of bleach - because I like to have small sections ''highlighted'', it is necessary to raid your parent's supply of kitchen foil. The idea is you put the foil behind the hair, then paste the bleach on, and fold it up - this way, the bleach won't drip anywhere or dry up. Try to work as quickly as possible to avoid potential ''blotchiness''. (Please forgive this horrendous photo! And my grumpy tired owlish eyes, devoid of makeup!).

5) Time to wait! For me, I know how long I need to leave my bleach. It can take around 90 minutes for me. However, it is important to keep checking maybe every 15 minutes just in case.... remember, we don't want to burn our hair off!

So now I am waiting... time for a cup of tea :)

Next post shall be later my dears :)

Candy x

Hair Dye

Sooo... being a hair-dye aficionado, and my hair dye is faded out so bad, I thought maybe my next post shall be a ''How-to'' on dying hair! I am aiming to do it at some point in the coming days.

While I am waiting for my hair to fade some more, I shall say a little about hair dye and the process :)

1) You don't need to peroxide your hair in order to get colours! I only bleach small parts of my hair, in order to get Ka-POW colour, then the rest of my hair gets a subtle colour. I find this works well for me, as I hate all over same colour :) I like it to look shaded/tones in it.

2) Ask your parents! For perhaps the younger readers. I don't want you to get in trouble, okay? 'Cause then I'll feel majorly bad! But maybe also it's a good idea to ask Mum/Dad if it's okay to do it in your bathroom - and be sure to ask for spare dust-sheets or something to protect carpets and so on.

3) Do your research! There are quite a lot of alternative hair dyes these days. All the different companies use many different ingredients. If you have worries about the ethical nature of some companies, researching is an important step for you. I shall list my favourite few brands here (but of course, you can find your own and form your own ideas on them).

- Directions Hair Dye (www.lariche.co.uk): This works great for my hair and stays for ages! The dye is good value for money too. To my research, this brand does not use animal testing either, which is really nice to know.

- Manic Panic (www.manicpanic.com): Another awesome brand which does not fade very quickly and works a treat on un-peroxided hair. Famous fans of this brand include Emilie Autumn! I've found it hard to get hold of, so I have to order from the internet, so price can be a little expensive.

- Stargazer Hair Dye: A good brand, easy to find in shops for me!

4) ALWAYS do a skin patch test: Even if you aren't using peroxide, please, please, please, you must always test hair dyes before going ahead. The reason being is that you can develop allergies at any point in your life, and allergies to hair dye can lead to all sorts of horrid results! Is it not better to do a small patch on your skin, find out you're allergic and throw the tub away than to put it all in your hair and your face swells up? I for sure think so!

5) Be patient!: Always exercise patience when playing with hair dye :) You want to get the best results right? You wouldn't take a cake out of the oven before it's cooked, would you? You can't rush the process! If I do my hair, I start in the morning and finish in the evening!

6) Be prepared!: So your parent's are cool with you taking over the bathroom, you've got your hair dye, done your skin test... Let's rock'n'roll? Not quite! You should probably head to the chemists and buy some good rubber/latex gloves (purple paws aren't cool unless you're Violet Beauregarde!). Maybe also some moisturiser/Vaseline too. This is invaluable when dying! Rub into your ears and hairline/forehead and then the hair dye won't stain your skin! Also, old towels. A clock is useful. And something to make sure you don't get bored whilst waiting for the dye. NOW, you can go!

Now we have a few basics sorted, I'll post a "How-to" next, when I do my hair. Hopefully I can take photos so it's easy to follow :)

Candy x