Tuesday, September 9th, 2014
This summer, after much deliberation, I bleached my hair for the purpose of dying it fun pastel colors.
The most common question I get from strangers about my hair is, “how long does it last?” Not considering that most people want their hair color to last for as long as possible, I always answer happily, “not long at all!” to their dismay. That’s because I like to change my hair color as often as possible.
But my love for a new color of the rainbow every 2 weeks was squelched by Manic Panic Atomic Turquoise. When I dyed my hair Cotton Candy Pink, the color faded back to blonde in about a week. Atomic Turquoise was much more stubborn.
The day I dyed my hair Atomic Turquoise. Oooooo, aaaaaahhh.
18 days after I dyed my hair it was a dull, grayish, bluish greenish yellow shade. Not a good look.
I searched the interwebz for tips on how to remove Manic Panic. It seemed every frustrated dye-hard had the most trouble getting rid of this specific color. Many recommended a soap cap, a.k.a. mixing a little bleach with your shampoo to get the color out quickly. But I was afraid of damaging my hair, since it’s already bleached. Other suggestions included washing your hair with Head & Shoulders, as something in it’s chemical makeup gets the color out faster than regular shampoo. Another suggestion was washing your hair with baking soda.
So I decided to mix up a simple concoction of Head & Shoulders shampoo plus baking soda. My very scientific calculations went like this:
It’s a very official formula. Don’t screw it up.
Every time I showered, I rinse-washed-repeated with this mix. I guess you could pre-mix it and put it in a bottle, but I legit just mixed it up in my hand in the shower. I washed my hair two or three times each shower, and then covered my it with Clairol Shimmering Lights shampoo. It’s made to clear dull yellow hues out of your hair. I followed the directions on the back of the bottle, which suggest washing it like you normally would once, then rinsing, reapplying and leaving it on your hair for 3 to 5 minutes, then rinsing again.
This is the big bottle, but I bought a much smaller bottle for around $7 back when I bleached it.
After washing my hair about four or five times, I used Garnier Fructis Damage Eraser conditioner to restore all the good stuff I rinsed down the drain. This conditioner is the sh**. I was very concerned after bleaching my hair that I was going to have fried locks, but I’ve been using this conditioner with every wash, and I’ve never had a problem with dryness or breakage.
And it smells delicious. Don’t eat it though. That’s my professional advice.
Six days later, my hair was back to it’s platinum blonde beauty, and soft as a baby’s butt too.
Say hello to my stylish good friend from high school, Anna!
