Not too long ago (a couple of years?) I decided I wanted to dye my hair blue. It was a bit of a crazy decision that seemed to pop out of nowhere, but I was determined.
The road to blue hair was not a straight forward one.
I had previously dyed my hair black for over 3 years before wanting to go blue and if I was going to be successful in blue locks, I knew I had to get the black dye out completely.
I used an XXL bleach blonde kit 8/9 times on my hair over 2 weeks to get my hair light enough to dye blue - I would highly advise against this because of the effects bleach has on your hair!! My hairs texture when wet was like spaghetti and when dry was extremely brittle and used to just break off at the ends.
I would advise anybody trying to strip black hair or any other dark colour for that matter, to go to a professional and if that can't be done to use Colour B4 yourself as it removes more colour with less damage.
When my hair was a white blonde it was time to dye it blue!!
I had done what research I could into blue hair dyes - Because its an extreme colour, not many people have tried out different dyes and reviewed them. I came across 3 brands of blue dye; La Riche, Stargazer & Manic Panic.
I looked into all 3 of these brands particularly looking at their semi permanent dye reviews (not always a blue colour so I could get an idea of how good they were).
I decided to try La Riche & Stargazer on my own hair as I preferred these reviews and my friend who had been dying her hair pink for years had recommended them.
La Riche Directions - Atlantic Blue
La Riche Directions was the first brand I used on my hair.
I couldn't seem to find this brand anywhere on the high street however I'm told that some smaller hair/beauty shops do sell it. I bought mine from Ebay where it was just £13 (P&P Included) for 4 pots which I thought was a very good price as they normally retail for £5-6 each on the high street.
When I received the pots of dye I noticed that they were fairly small and contained just 80ml. The pots also didn't come with any gloves included - I resulted in using some of my brothers mechanics gloves.
Because the dye is in pots, it is really easy to get all of the dye out meaning no waste product!!
The dye was a gloopy gel like consistency which meant that it was easy to apply without it dripping all over the place causing a mess.
When dying my hair, there wasn't enough dye in one pot to cover the whole of my hair, which at the time was a couple of inches longer than shoulder length. I would advise all hair lengths except for short cropped hair to buy at least 2 pots at a time.
With semi permanent dyes, because they contain no chemicals which damage your hair, I would leave the dye on overnight to get the best results - By covering your hair in a plastic carrier bag and tying it tight at the back with a hair bobble this will ensure the hair doesn't escape too much, however always cover your pillow with an old towel just in case.
Leaving the dye on for as long as possible will help the dye stain your hair better, it also helps if you keep your head as warm as possible to open up the hair which will help the dye along even more.
This dye is a semi permanent dye so it will fade rapidly. I found that I was having to dye my hair every 2 weeks if not a few days before the 2 weeks.
You will also notice that the dye will rub off onto clothing and pillows slightly however because of the type of dye this is it washes out with just 1 wash.
One of the best things about this dye is that because it doesn't contain developing chemicals, it is able to be mixed with different shades and colours of La Riche Directions dyes to achieve a different colour (if they haven't got one that you like in their huge range of colours).
Final Scores:
Price: 5/5
Packaging/Bottles: 5/5
Colour/Fade: 2/5
Handling: 5/5
Stargazer - Royal Blue
The second brand of dye that I tried out during my blue faze was Stargazer in Royal Blue. The reason I tried this dye out was because I had forgotten to order more La Riche Directions and needed my hair dying extremely soon.
I bought this dye from a tiny shop in Leicester for £5. However I know that more and more high street stores including clothing stores are now stocking Stargazer products including the semi permanent dyes. You can also buy these dyes online.
This dye was slightly darker than the La Riche Dye but I knew I could always go back to the lighter blue from La Riche when this one had faded enough and was in need to re dye.
Again this bottle wasn't very big and I don't think there was more than the La Riche dye in the bottle however I only used the one because my hair was already blue underneath. I would however advise to use 2 bottles.
The bottle of dye wasn't the best of bottles. There was quite a bit of leftover product left in the nozzle and bottle at the end which meant I had to cut open the tube to get the remaining dye out.
This dye did come with gloves!! They weren't the worst gloves I've seen in a dye, but they were still far too big for my hands and didn't cling enough making it hard to grip the bottle when they were on.
The dye again was a thick enough consistency to avoid it running all over the place - this made it so much easier to apply to the hair.
As with all semi permanent dyes, I left this on my hair over night to boost the results.
I noticed more colour transfer onto clothes and pillows with this dye than the La Riche dye, however again it is very easy to wash out because of the type of dye. This dye faded a tiny bit quicker than the La Riche dye and needed dying every 10/11 days.
This dye can also be mixed with different coloured Stargazer dyes to achieve the colour that you want.
Final Scores:
Price: 5/5
Packaging/Bottles: 4/5
Colour Compared to box: 5/5
Colour/Fade: 2/5
Handling: 5/5
Above are 2 pictures showing the 2 different brands of blue hair dye - Both images I am wearing hair extensions.
On the left is the La Riche Directions dye in Atlantic Blue and on the right is the Stargazer dye in Royal Blue.
As you can see, the La Riche Directions dye is a slightly lighter almost electric blue colour, whereas the Stargazer dye is slightly darker and very much a royal blue.
I did not get a chance to try out the Manic Panic dyes as I didn't have my hair this colour for much longer than 6 months. However if I were ever to go back blue (highly doubtful because of my job. Boo!!) I would probably try them out despite the price tag being £14 for a tub not much bigger than these 2 brands I have reviewed!!
I have also discovered that Schwarzkopf have brought out a new semi permanent bright blue dye called XXL Live Colour Ultra Brights Electric Blue which has been seen on Little Mix's Jade. This retails at around £5/6 - Another semi dye I would like to try out.
Note
To achieve these bright colours, your hair needs to be white blonde before dying - If there are yellow tones in the hair it will alter the colour of the dye (blue will be green, red will be orange etc.)
You will also need to keep bleaching your roots so that the colour matches - This needs doing around once a month.
The road to blue hair was not a straight forward one.
I had previously dyed my hair black for over 3 years before wanting to go blue and if I was going to be successful in blue locks, I knew I had to get the black dye out completely.
I used an XXL bleach blonde kit 8/9 times on my hair over 2 weeks to get my hair light enough to dye blue - I would highly advise against this because of the effects bleach has on your hair!! My hairs texture when wet was like spaghetti and when dry was extremely brittle and used to just break off at the ends.
I would advise anybody trying to strip black hair or any other dark colour for that matter, to go to a professional and if that can't be done to use Colour B4 yourself as it removes more colour with less damage.
When my hair was a white blonde it was time to dye it blue!!
I had done what research I could into blue hair dyes - Because its an extreme colour, not many people have tried out different dyes and reviewed them. I came across 3 brands of blue dye; La Riche, Stargazer & Manic Panic.
I looked into all 3 of these brands particularly looking at their semi permanent dye reviews (not always a blue colour so I could get an idea of how good they were).
I decided to try La Riche & Stargazer on my own hair as I preferred these reviews and my friend who had been dying her hair pink for years had recommended them.
La Riche Directions - Atlantic Blue
La Riche Directions was the first brand I used on my hair.
I couldn't seem to find this brand anywhere on the high street however I'm told that some smaller hair/beauty shops do sell it. I bought mine from Ebay where it was just £13 (P&P Included) for 4 pots which I thought was a very good price as they normally retail for £5-6 each on the high street.
When I received the pots of dye I noticed that they were fairly small and contained just 80ml. The pots also didn't come with any gloves included - I resulted in using some of my brothers mechanics gloves.
Because the dye is in pots, it is really easy to get all of the dye out meaning no waste product!!
The dye was a gloopy gel like consistency which meant that it was easy to apply without it dripping all over the place causing a mess.
When dying my hair, there wasn't enough dye in one pot to cover the whole of my hair, which at the time was a couple of inches longer than shoulder length. I would advise all hair lengths except for short cropped hair to buy at least 2 pots at a time.
With semi permanent dyes, because they contain no chemicals which damage your hair, I would leave the dye on overnight to get the best results - By covering your hair in a plastic carrier bag and tying it tight at the back with a hair bobble this will ensure the hair doesn't escape too much, however always cover your pillow with an old towel just in case.
Leaving the dye on for as long as possible will help the dye stain your hair better, it also helps if you keep your head as warm as possible to open up the hair which will help the dye along even more.
This dye is a semi permanent dye so it will fade rapidly. I found that I was having to dye my hair every 2 weeks if not a few days before the 2 weeks.
You will also notice that the dye will rub off onto clothing and pillows slightly however because of the type of dye this is it washes out with just 1 wash.
One of the best things about this dye is that because it doesn't contain developing chemicals, it is able to be mixed with different shades and colours of La Riche Directions dyes to achieve a different colour (if they haven't got one that you like in their huge range of colours).
Final Scores:
Price: 5/5
Packaging/Bottles: 5/5
Colour/Fade: 2/5
Handling: 5/5
Stargazer - Royal Blue
The second brand of dye that I tried out during my blue faze was Stargazer in Royal Blue. The reason I tried this dye out was because I had forgotten to order more La Riche Directions and needed my hair dying extremely soon.
I bought this dye from a tiny shop in Leicester for £5. However I know that more and more high street stores including clothing stores are now stocking Stargazer products including the semi permanent dyes. You can also buy these dyes online.
This dye was slightly darker than the La Riche Dye but I knew I could always go back to the lighter blue from La Riche when this one had faded enough and was in need to re dye.
Again this bottle wasn't very big and I don't think there was more than the La Riche dye in the bottle however I only used the one because my hair was already blue underneath. I would however advise to use 2 bottles.
The bottle of dye wasn't the best of bottles. There was quite a bit of leftover product left in the nozzle and bottle at the end which meant I had to cut open the tube to get the remaining dye out.
This dye did come with gloves!! They weren't the worst gloves I've seen in a dye, but they were still far too big for my hands and didn't cling enough making it hard to grip the bottle when they were on.
The dye again was a thick enough consistency to avoid it running all over the place - this made it so much easier to apply to the hair.
As with all semi permanent dyes, I left this on my hair over night to boost the results.
I noticed more colour transfer onto clothes and pillows with this dye than the La Riche dye, however again it is very easy to wash out because of the type of dye. This dye faded a tiny bit quicker than the La Riche dye and needed dying every 10/11 days.
This dye can also be mixed with different coloured Stargazer dyes to achieve the colour that you want.
Final Scores:
Price: 5/5
Packaging/Bottles: 4/5
Colour Compared to box: 5/5
Colour/Fade: 2/5
Handling: 5/5
Above are 2 pictures showing the 2 different brands of blue hair dye - Both images I am wearing hair extensions.
On the left is the La Riche Directions dye in Atlantic Blue and on the right is the Stargazer dye in Royal Blue.
As you can see, the La Riche Directions dye is a slightly lighter almost electric blue colour, whereas the Stargazer dye is slightly darker and very much a royal blue.
I did not get a chance to try out the Manic Panic dyes as I didn't have my hair this colour for much longer than 6 months. However if I were ever to go back blue (highly doubtful because of my job. Boo!!) I would probably try them out despite the price tag being £14 for a tub not much bigger than these 2 brands I have reviewed!!
I have also discovered that Schwarzkopf have brought out a new semi permanent bright blue dye called XXL Live Colour Ultra Brights Electric Blue which has been seen on Little Mix's Jade. This retails at around £5/6 - Another semi dye I would like to try out.
Note
To achieve these bright colours, your hair needs to be white blonde before dying - If there are yellow tones in the hair it will alter the colour of the dye (blue will be green, red will be orange etc.)
You will also need to keep bleaching your roots so that the colour matches - This needs doing around once a month.
Amazing tips here! Thanks for sharing such an informative post.
ReplyDeletehttp://hairdyecoloruk.wordpress.com/2012/11/01/how-to-dye-your-hair-at-home/
Well said! Quite helpful, pretty accurate and detailed info!
ReplyDelete