This year I've been growing out my hair so that it's almost as long as when I was in high school. Some months ago I thought I would try coloring my hair a funky color. I have always wanted to but never really had the chance. When I lived at home, my mom would not have allowed it. When I was a student, I never wanted to spend the money. When I was working as a lawyer, it would have been unprofessional. But seeing as how many of the other instructors at school wear jeans to work, I figure I could have colored hair. And if I didn't like how it turned out, I could just get a hair cut since I would just dye the ends.
While I was researching how to DIY, I asked Penguin Girl if she would like funky colored hair. YES! She answered immediately which is unusual for her. Usually she always has to think about her answer. What color? BLUE! Again, she did not have to stop and think. She said when she draws herself, she always gives herself a streak of blue in her hair. Well then, blue it is.
After all my research, I decided I would go to the cosmetology program's salon where I work. Since I get a staff discount, the cost would be about the same as my buying all the chemicals. Plus, I would need quite a bit of dye and I was afraid that it would stain our white shower tiles and grout when I washed it out. Since my hair is all natural and not chemically treated, it absorbed much more dye than anticipated. Instead of bright purple, it turned out very dark, hardly different than my natural hair. If you look very closely at the bottom half, you can see some streaks.
Even after washing, the effect is still very subtle. The instructor at the salon told me that it would become brighter when it oxidized and faded a bit. I suspect the fading will just look like I have brown mixed in with my hair. I'll have to wait until it fades completely and try a different dye.
I told Penguin Girl that the entire process for me took 4 hours so I would bleach her hair one day and dye it the next. She thought that was a great idea. She wanted streaks along the sides of her hair so I went with a star-shaped pattern to section her hair. Since I have no experience doing this, I knew I would be slow. I decided I'd work from the front of her head to the back so that the front sections that would show where she wanted would have the longer processing time and turn out the lightest. The mixture started to dry out a bit and did not work as well on the back, even applying heat from a hair dryer. In retrospect, I should have used a 20 volume developer in the front and then mixed up 30 volume developer for the back halfway through.
The front turned out just right but the back was too dark.
I asked Penguin Girl if she wanted me to go back and lighten up the back. She did not want to have to sit around for that so we just went ahead with the dye. She is very pleased with the results.
I warned Penguin Girl that I don't know how long the color will last since she is still going to swim practice. As it fades, it might turn to green but I've got more dye if she needs a touch up.
