Alternative Hair Dyeing Techniques

Quite a few people decide to go to hair dressers to have their hair done, but only a few of these hair dressers will actually specialize in alternative or punk hair styles. That’s why people that want crazy-colored or funky styled hair usually have to learn how to do it by themselves, as is generally the way. Here are a few of the best tips around about dyeing your own hair.

When you see someone who has bright, crayon-colored hair and wondered how they do it, it may be a bit rude to just walk up to them and start asking how they did it, so here’s a guide. Firstly, to achieve really bright hair, you will have to do preparation work. By preparation we mean bleaching your hair. Some people will almost certainly cringe at this idea, as bleaching is considered the most damaging thing that you could do to your hair, especially with a home kit. It can do some serious damage your hair, and it requires very precise timing and observation because if the hair is lightening to fast, you will have to rinse it out to minimize the damage. In saying that though, while the main objective is to have a light colored base to cover with the bright dye, any damage that does occur to the hair can potentially help that color gel to the hair, as the hair has become more porous.

Whether you like it or not, some damage will occur to the hair during the bleaching process but when you add the semi-permanent bright dye to your hair, you will actually really be helping it. The dyes that are used are vegetable based which means they will coat the hair, rather than penetrating the hair follicles and changing the color. This means that as they coat, they also protect the hair to a certain extent. Keep in mind that it will still be important to use a good hair conditioner after rinsing the semi-permanent dye from your hair.

There are a large variety of semi-permanent bright hair dyes available and they come in every color and shade you can think of. Most ranges have several shades of blue, red, green and purple, as well as yellow, orange, turquoise and pink. A few of the more popular ranges, that can be bought are:

Special Effects

Manic Panic

Punky Colours

RAW Color

As soon as your hair has been bleached, be sure to towel-dry it and then apply the dye color you have chosen. Some people will tend to mix colors to achieve the desired shades, though that practise is best left until a few years experience of dyeing one’s own hair with alternative colors. People with hair like this will often be seen in the punk, alternative, and emo scenes. The available dyes comes as a gel or paste and should be applied evenly. Just be very careful with fabrics, like towels, clothes, carpets, as well as your skin. You should put a thin layer of Vaseline or petroleum jelly on your neck, ears, and forehead before you start to apply the dye to keep it from staining your skin.

Most hair dye companies recommend that you leave the hair dye on your hair for around 15 minutes. This, in actual fact, will not do anything much as the color will not be as vivid and long-lasting as it possibly could be. We recommend that you leave this dye in your hair for at least four hours, although anything you can stand beyond this would be much better. Make sure you get a good plastic cap and chill out for a bit. This process will not do any damage to your hair as as we have mentioned, these are vegetable-based dyes.

When the time comes to rinse, be sure to use cool water and rinse out until the dye runs clear. When using a towel to dry your hair, make sure you use an old one because there will probably be a bit of staining.

While it could take a while, by following these steps will give you perfect, bright, crayon-colored hair that will last between 3-6 weeks before starting to fade.