How To Dye Your Hair Properly with Neon Dyes, and How to Make it Last (Special effects/Manic panic)

Almost every time I go out, I get asked how I get my purple hair to stay so bright. Sometimes I even get asked if it’s my hair. yup, it totally is. And I totally rock at keeping it that color.

I figured I’d finally post my super-secret tips and techniques, because not only do I hate being asked when I’m trying to get my drunk on, but one of my biggest pet peeves is grungy, faded neon hair colors.

So here are my top tips on how to dye your hair NEON COLORS with brands such as Manic Panic Hair Dye, Special Effects Hair Dye, Directions, Punky Color, Splat, etc. and to make it Fade-Proof.

If you follow these tips properly, you’re more than likely going to have to bleach your roots and dye them before you’ll need to dye your hair again.

Getting Ready

• When picking your color, keep in mind that some colors don’t last as long as others. Mainly Red, and blue shades. From my experience, colors that have a strong staying power are Purple, Pink, Orange, Yellow, etc.
• Also, Some colors don’t fade as nicely as others. If you aren’t anticipating on maintaining your color when it starts to fade, pick a color that fades to something nice… or that looks ‘intentional’.  Colors that don’t fade so nice; Blue, Green, anything on really yellow-toned hair.
• Even if you have really fair hair, you are going to want to bleach it. These dyes work best on processed hair, and won’t grab to your hair if it isn’t.. well, ruined.  You don’t necessarily have to bleach your hair, if you want just a bright wash, you can use this dye over practically any processed [read: fake] hair-color to brighten it. or example, I often dye my hair a natural [box] red and then go over with a special effects bright red to give it have a little more oomph.

Dyeing

• Once you have your color chosen and your hair bleached, you’re going to want to get all of the accessories needed to dye. You’re going to need a pair of latex gloves, a shower cap, a towel to drape over your shoulders, a tupperware or bowl you don’t mind ruining, conditioner, a spray bottle full of water, and you may want to have a tint brush on hand if you are using more than one color or don’t have a handy person to help you.
• Before dying your hair, hop in the shower, wet it, and throw it up in a towel. When you put the dye in towel dry hair, it not only spreads easier, but keeps the dye in a ‘liquid state’, which allows it to stain longer.
• In your bowl, mix three parts dye to one part conditioner. Why conditioner? Well, for one thing, you probably just bleached your hair and fried it, and leaving in conditioner for a couple hours isn’t a bad idea, and two- for some reason when you mix conditioner with the dye, less of it washes out when you do your first rinse. I’m not kidding. Take a look at the shower floor when you rinse your hair out at the end, it practically runs clear the first wash.
• How much dye you use really depends on how long your hair is, how wet it is when you put the dye in, how thick your hair is, and how processed it is. If you hair is really processed, you’ll need less dye, and if this is your first bleaching, you’ll need more.
• Always use less than you think you’ll need. You can always go back and make more mixture.
• Now, take your dye, and thoroughly saturate your hair. If you’ve bleached or dyed your hair a few times before, start at the roots and go down. The farther down you go, the more processed your hair will be, and the quicker it will grab. Your roots will need to be saturated the longest. If this was your first bleaching, just coat the hair evenly, whichever way you want.
• Keep your spray bottle on hand to keep your hair damp while loading it with dye.
• When you’ve got all of the dye in your hair and are satisfied with your coverage job, take a couple minutes and just really massage your hair.
• Then, throw it all in a shower cap.
• The good thing about these dyes is that they don’t contain any peroxide like  most box dyes. They also don’t have a time window of how long they will actually dye your hair while it’s sitting on your head. The shower-cap will help your hair stay moist, and so if you can spend 8 hours sitting with a damp-shower-cap-head, your hair will only be more vibrant and more conditioned. I have even slept with the shower cap on [and a towel wrapped around my head] to get my hair dye to last.  The longer you have it in the better.
• I’d recommend keeping it in at least two hours. If you don’t have any more time then that, or you really want to be assured that it’s going to last, one hour before you intend to wash it out take a hairdryer and pass over the shower cap and heat it up. You can also blow some of the hot air into the shower cap.  I don’t always do the hairdryer part. I usually only do it if I am using a color that doesn’t like to last, like red or blue.
• When you are ready to wash it out, wash it out! The first rinsing, don’t use any products. Just rinse your hair until there is no more product in it. Don’t worry if the water is still running in that color, it may be doing that for weeks. That doesn’t mean there is still product in your hair.
• Unless you really rub at your scalp,  it may stay pigmented for a couple days. If it looks really bad, take some eye-makeup remover on a cotton swab and rub your part line. It will pick up most of the dye on your skin. If dyed skin is really going to ruin your day, you can always apply petroleum jelly on your ears and forehead, or even use tape before dying.

Making It Last

• One thing I always tell people. Don’t shampoo unless you have to. I can honestly say I haven’t used shampoo in like 6 months. I just use conditioner.  Only use shampoo if you went super product-happy and need to get serious amounts of gel and hairspray out of your hair. And even then, use it sparingly, and don’t let it sit on your hair.
• Take a couple teaspoons of your dye and put it into your conditioner bottle. Every time you condition, leave it on for 5 minutes while you shave your legs or sing GaGa.
• Don’t take long showers. The longer your hair spends wet, the more pigment that comes out of it. Don’t take long baths with your hair underwater or the color will be gone in no time.
• To give your hair a quick pick-me-up, mix two parts conditioner with 1 part dye and thoroughly saturate damp hair. Throw in a shower cap and wear for an hour before rinsing out.
• And a quick tip to faking vibrancy is to get a ‘shine spray’ that you can mist over hair. I use GotToBe’s, and it’s great for making your hair look healthy, shiny, and bright.