I'm Thinking Of Colouring My Hair Purple

[Superfly Sister]

Hi, I've been thinking of colouring my hair purple and I'm looking for some tips.


My hair is completely natural and in good condition. I deep condition once a week. I haven't had a relaxer through it since November 2005. I spend 50% of the time wearing it natural and the other times wearing it straight. It’s about BSL now but I feel like cutting a few inches off. The only time I've coloured my hair is with henna. Other than that I've got no experience with hair dyes at all!


I'm not looking to colour all my hair, just some highlights but I want the colour to POP! I just fancy a change an doing something a bit adventurous (by my standards!)


So some questions.

• How easy is it to look after colour hair?
  
• How often do you touch up?
  
• Did you colour your own hair or go to a professional?
  
• What condition was your hair once you coloured it?
• What should do in anticipation if colouring my hair?

If there’s anything else you can tell me I’d greatly appreciate it.


Thanks in advance.

 

[Prudent1]

Me too... thinking about doing it later this summer .
Before I answer your questions, I am natural, mixture of 3b, 3c, and 4a types. I get the urge to color about once a year. My hair takes to coloring very easily.

• How easy is it to look after colour hair? I think this like everything else will boil down to you knowing your hair. For me weekly DC, re-constructors bi-monthly and heavy protein - every 90 days or so is a must to keep my moisture balance intact.
  
• How often do you touch up? The last several colors jobs were placed in ways to allow an ombre or color melt effect so that re-touching was not absolutely necessary. I will likely have the same thing done again. I don't really like to deal with frequent touch-ups.
  
• Did you colour your own hair or go to a professional? I usually have it done by a pro b/c of my placement choices.
  
• What condition was your hair once you coloured it? It was in optimal condition. No adverse effects. I am always paying attention to it and maintain a stash of products to meet any needs that may arise.
  
• What should do in anticipation if colouring my hair? Make sure you know your hair and allow for any tweaks in your routine the color may make necessary. For example, my hair is currently bleached in certain areas. The bleach loosened my curl pattern and cannot handle too much hard protein. The previous color job I had involved lightening my hair by only 2-3 shades above my natural color. So, that time around I needed heavy protein weekly and no noticeable curl pattern change took place. My untreated hair doesn't require much protein at all. HTH

 

[tru4reele]

I would never bleach my hair again but they do have something on the market called Olapex that keeps your hair very healthy during bleaching and coloring services.

 

[B_Phlyy]

I did dye a portion of my hair purple a few years. I'll be back after work when I'm on my laptop with pics as well as what went wrong and right. I plan on dying my hair purple in the fall.

 

[Prettymetty]

I am natural 4b with fine strands and lowish density. I dye my hair about once a year to a medium brown. Then throughout the year I apply semi permanent colors (blue, red, etc). My hair still feels pretty healthy and I am retaining length with the color.

 

[B_Phlyy]

I don't remember exactly when I fell in love with purple hair, but when I did, I was hell bent on getting it. I knew I didn't want a super light pastel type color, just subtle enough that one would do a double take in indoor lighting and you could see the full color in sunlight. The first pic is the inspiration I use.

I'm a natural, fine haired 4b with hi-po hair. With level 1 (maybe 2) hair color. I knew I was going to have to double process to really get the color to pop. I used straight bleach with 40 volume developer for 45-60 minutes. This got me to a very brassy level 6/7. I didn't tone because I didn't know I needed to or what to use. At the time, only a few brands made semi-permanent colors so I used Ion from Sally's. I think I did 2-3 retoutches before I let it grow out and cut it off.

I did it at the nape because it was most discreet for the hairstyles I wore at the time. My hair was quite dry afterwards, even with deep conditioning twice a week and using leave-in and oil daily. I had tons of fading too because I dry, hi-po hair basically lets everything leave.

I definitely agree with @Prudent1. Know YOUR hair, as well as your lifestyle, and what you are willing to do to maintain the look if you choose.
I knew my hair would process fast because it being hi-po and I knew I would need a high lift developer because of the dark color. What I didn't know was that I didn't have to try to go blond in one fell swoop. I also didn't know that bleach could make fine hair basically explode if left on long enough. You have to know that when you lift hair to color, you have to take into account underlying pigment and be able and willing to tone done as needed before adding the purple color. At the time I dyed my hair, I was a full time student. Walking around with a sliver of purple hair was no big deal. Now that I'm employed in a kind of conservative profession, that same story won't necessarily fly.

There is serious upkeep if you want a fashion color like purple, and even more upkeep if you end up having to double process. Like I said, I deep conditioned twice a week and moisturized and sealed daily. Also, I refreshed the color every 3-4 weeks with a color depositing conditioner. I mostly wore twistouts, braids, and rollersets with the color because I found heat contributed to fading a whole lot.

When I do decide to do a fun color again, I will probably do what @Prettymetty does and dye my hair a little lighter and then go over with the color I really want. Some brands do make demi-permanent fashion colors now, so that's an option as well.

HTH some.

 

[Honey Bee]

Hi, I've been thinking of colouring my hair purple and I'm looking for some tips.

.

What about clip-ins?

 

[Autumn~Tint~Of~Gold]

What about clip-ins?

yeah, if it's just for highlights I think clip ins are the best bet.
if you change your mind, easy, just take them out

 

[Prudent1]

@ShredsofDignity , the clip-ins are a great idea. I could kind of give it a test run before committing.
Agreeing with @B_Phlyy , I did not mention that I use a homemade leave in daily (spray mixture:distilled H2O+aloe vera gel+ some type of ceramide or a creamy one that's a KT variation during colder months) followed by sealing with oil blend (grapeseed, JBCO, hemp), religiously, with careful attention paid to my ends and the areas that were bleached.

 

[Subscribe]

I am natural 4b with fine strands and lowish density. I dye my hair about once a year to a medium brown. Then throughout the year I apply semi permanent colors (blue, red, etc). My hair still feels pretty healthy and I am retaining length with the color.

@Prettymetty what length have you been able to retain with color?

 

[Prettymetty]

@Prettymetty what length have you been able to retain with color?

I've maintained my hair around bsl for about a year, because I'm growing out layers. I keep cutting the longest layer, but my crown is finally caught up so I can stop trimming so much.