some more blasphemous secrets i’ve remembered since posting/gleaned from the notes (keep in mind the reason they are blasphemous is bc i’m not a professional, i’ve never set foot in a beauty school, i’m just a random dirtbag who’s been diying my blue hair and pronouns for seven years)
keep in mind this only applies to semipermanent dye ONLY. permanent and demipermanent dye contain developers aka components that DO chemically react with your hair and will fuck it up if left on for too long. if you’re using a loreal box kit follow the instructions.
Technically speaking semiperm isn’t JUST pigment, it’s pigment in a conditioning base. my bad.
Someone in the notes said some companies have been branding products as semipermanent when they actually do have a developing agent in them??? So ig double check the ingredients. generally if the instructions involve mixing things together that means it has a developing agent and you should not leave it in for hours and hours.
Because it doesn’t have any developing agents, semiperm can only take you darker. Meaning if you’re not a natural blonde you will still need to bleach your hair first. Don’t use a box bleaching kit, those things are like nukes and use a way stronger developer than you need unless your natural color is like, jet black. Use a developer mixed with toning powder. It comes in level from 10 to I think 50. Use higher levels will lighten your hair more, but will also cause more damage. If you’re shopping in person the people at the store might be able to recommend a developer level for your hair darkness. Bleaching your hair is going to bring out warm hues, even if your natural color isn’t that warm. Use blue toner to cancel out orange and purple for yellow. Follow the instructions on the toning powder. Do NOT leave bleach on your hair for longer than 45 minutes. If it’s not light enough after that, repeat the process after letting your hair rest for a few days.
OK after all that about bleach safety time to blaspheme again, you actually don’t want your hair to be too healthy, since semiperm contains no developing agents, it can’t directly deposit pigment into your strand unless it’s particularly porous, aka bleach damaged. So even if you’re going darker than your natural color you might wanna bleach anyway, just use the lowest level developer you can get. It’s kinda like sanding your furniture before you paint it. Gotta give the color something to stick to. Otherwise it’s just staining the outside of your strands and it’s not gonna be as vibrant as you want.
That said Manic Panic does have a line of ultra-pigmented semiperm specifically meant to be used on virgin hair (aka hair that’s never been chemically treated or colored). look for their Amplified line. tbh i use it on my totally fried hair anyway because I will never be satisfied my hair will never be blue enough and i’ll never have enough pronouns.
if you have leftover dye mix it with your shampoo and conditioner. that way you’ll get a little color boost every time you wash.
look for repairing or protective shampoo and conditioner. in addition to, yanno, protecting and repairing your hair they have the added benefit of sealing in the pigments.
i’d recommend looking for products from brands that primarily make semiperm dye like Punky Color, Manic Panic, Strawberry Leopard, Ion, GDY, etc. because they’ll be specifically formulated to be used with colored hair. i use Punky Color’s Intrabond shampoo and Ion’s Repair Solutions conditioner and either HiBar Volumizing conditioner bar or Strawberry Leopard’s conditioner. Olaplex also has some really good repairing treatments.
speaking of which, double condition. you can thank me later.
also, anybody with any kind of chemically damaged hair (be it from color, perming, or relaxing) will benefit from a good leave-in conditioner. i use Strawberry Leopard’s Color Sealing Spray. it’s nice and hydrating, it’s formulated to protect colored hair, and it smells like strawberries.
Someone in the notes suggested silicon based products which makes a lot of since! Silicon has been getting a bad rep lately, but (as i understand, again not a pro) it’s good for damaged hair because it leaves a protective layer of residue behind on your strands. Which I imagine would be good for sealing pigments in.
I said three hours minimum, but a lot of people in the notes are saying they’ll leave it on overnight. I’m personally far too active of a sleeper to do that, I’d get dye every the fuck where, but it could be worth trying. Again, don’t do this with any dye that contains developing agents and absolutely Do The Fuck Not do it with bleach.
People have suggested using clingwrap or a plastic shower cap instead of grocery bags. Sure. Grocery bags work just fine for me but if you have problems with them try that.
That said if your using any kind of developer, make sure the logo/pattern on the bag is facing out, or else it might stain your hair with the fuckin walmart logo or whatever. Nobody wants that fuck corporations.
Put a warm hat or scarf on over the plastic covering to trap heat in which is genius and I am going to start doing that. Heat keeps your hair cuticles open which helps the color penetrate into the strand. I usually just blast it with a hair dryer on high heat for 15 ish minutes at the beginning but I’m gonna try the hat thing it sounds easier and more effective. And added mess prevention.
i need all the help i can get RE mess prevention tbh.
The ghosts will clean up after you as repayment for bringing them back into the physical world. In case you were wondering what they had to do with hair dye.
If you’re going a cool color (blue purple or green) go for a cooler shade than you think you need. The warm hues are fucking relentless and it will always come out warmer than you want. So for purple that means bluer more indigo-y shades. For green that means more teal-y shades. And for blue that again means more indigo-y shades.
also, if you’re torn between two shades, go for the lighter one. it’s easier to go darker than lighter.
Blue hair is hell. One thing I tried recently was straight up dying it purple first to really cut through the warm hues and then dying it blue over the purple and tbh? It worked pretty damn well. I’m gonna be doing that every time now.
If you want to change your color and need to get the old color out, don’t go straight for bleach. They make color strippers that are way gentler on your hair. Bleach can actually end up pushing the pigments even deeper into your hair strands.
also, what i said about blue to cancel out orange and purple to cancel out yellow? the reverse is also true. plus green and red cancel each other out. color wheels are your friends you can also use them for picking cooler vs warmer shades.
some have asked if i’m actually Duncan Total Drama irl and no i am not. i’m Gwen.
if you accidentally stain your bathroom what i like to do is just dump a bunch of cleaner over the stain. like leave behind a puddle of cleaner. and leave it there for several hours and then wipe it up. work smarter not harder.
Use vaseline on your forehead neck and ears to protect them from staining.
Do a patch test on your wrist whenever you try a new brand to make sure you’re not allergic to it.
Washing it out with vinegar to set the dye. I have not tried this.
Prep your hair before dying by thoroughly shampooing it, then DON’T use conditioner and then blow-dry on high heat to get it as dry and thirsty as possible so it will soak up more dye.
plus shout out to @xysidhequeen for weighing in
Also i can’t find the tag again but someone said to wear your comfiest shoes ALSO covered in plastic wrap. and that’s not even blasphemous that’s straight-up heresy.
lastly if you want a vote of confidence this is my hair a day or so after i last dyed it
and here it is today, about six weeks later
and no I refuse to wash it in cold water fuck that
gummygunk
titsay
baratheonpilled
origamiaround
tangentwithtanner
snowghoul
romaincrisis
