1. Preparation
Our colours are always going to come out best and brightest on treated hair; that means bleaching! You don't need your hair to be a perfect white (doing so would risk causing your hair tremendous damage anyway); the yellow-orange stage is usually fine. We sell bleach kits and have a complete guide on bleaching too.
It is possible to use the semi permanent colours on untreated hair; if you have very light blonde hair anyway you will see very good results. If you have dark hair the colours will add a really lovely tint to your hair - epsecially when it's sunny!
Before starting to dye your hair it's best to wash it with a PH Neutral shampoo; this will make your hair most accepting to the hair dye. On Rowdydow we sell Direction's Pre-colour Shampoo; this works fantastically in my experience.
You want to set aside some gloves (unless you enjoy colourful hands), vaseline or other petroleum jelly product, and a tint brush is usually handy! Apply the vaseline all over your hair line, on your ears, on the back of your neck and anywhere else you find hair dye tends to end up. It's also a VERY good idea to give your hair a good brush too.
Get your gloves on too. Most pots of colour do not come with gloves, but Rowdydow sells them for a very low price. I always get two pairs; one for applying the dye, and one for when you wash it out.
Head covered in vaseline? Check. Gloves on? Check. Hair-dying-tshirt put on? Check (we all have one!). You are ready to start applying!
2. Apply Hair Dye
In this tutorial I am using Manic Panic's Enchanted Forest Classic Cream. Using the tint brush you can carefully apply the dye to your hair and get complete coverage (or; if you are going for interesting effects - only dye the areas you want to). I have, as you can clearly see, quite a lot of hair; do not be afraid of just dipping your (GLOVED) hands into the pot and slapping it on and applying it with your fingers. The dye is very gentle so whilst you may want to avoid getting it on your scalp due to it staining your skin; it's not going to hurt you.
Remember to cover everything; it's very handy to use hair clips to hold sections of hair out the way whilst you concentrate on other parts. Remember to do the little bits behind your ears, and the back of your head (a friend or two mirrors is handy here). I like to put some dye on my sideburns too, else I look a bit silly with random ginger bits everywhere.
All covered? Now it is time to find something else to do whilst you let the dye do it's job. It's a good idea to clip all your hair up; it stops it falling onto your face or things in your house and making them interesting colours. Warmth is a cataylst for hair dye development; you can wear a bag on your head (or in this case; the cap that comes with Manic Panic's Flash Lightning bleach kit) to help. Another positive aspect of clipping your hair all together is that it's all closer to the warmth from your head. This is one of the reasons your roots always bleach quicker!
The time you wait is entirely up to you. The dye pots will always have their recommended times displayed on them (usually about 45 minutes) but the thing to remember is that our Manic Panic, Directions and Stargazer dyes condition your hair as they work; they do not damage it. You should find your hair will feel fantastic!
Some people leave the dye on their hair overnight, some go shopping, I tend to leave dye in for about two hours. It seems to make my hair happiest and well recovered if I've just bleached it, but you will find your own perfect time with experimenting.
Heat opens up your cuticles; this is great for getting your dye absorbed better (forgive the very very basic terminology; it's a lot more complicated than this). You don't need to frazzle your head; just hold a hair dryer on your head for a few minutes - I usually do this just before I wash the dye out.
This leads on to one of Rowdydow's main tips for maintaining hair colour; heat is bad! Just as how the heat when dying your hair allows the dye to flow in - washing your hair later on with hot water willl cause the dye to flow out making it fade quicker; use lukewarm water. Again; we recommend towel drying your hair once it is dyed, as a hair dryer will most likely cause it to fade.
Now you just need to wash the dye out. As I mentioned above; don't use hot water! Find a lukewarm temperature that isn't so cold that it's uncomfortable, but certainly not hot enough to start prematurely fading your hair.
It can be quite frustrating trying to get the water to run clear as you're rinsing your hair, but it's important to wash out as much of the residue dye as possible. Also, if you leave too much in you'll find a little bit of rain or sweat and suddenly you have a colourful face! I continue washing until the water is as good to clear as I can get it; which is usually very close.
Towel-dry or drip-dry you hair and marvel at the new and exciting colour! Remember to use coloured-hair-friendly hair products when washing your hair; we sell and recommend Directions Shampoo and Conditioner which are both especially formulated for coloured hair.
Any questions? Email hello@rowdydow.co.uk and ask; we're not qualified hair stylists, nor are we expert scientists, but we know a lot about dying hair and are always happy to help!
Tutorial written and photographed by Steve Guntrip. ©2010. Do not use these images or text without prior permission.