Do you remember our Instagram post from a little while ago?
We asked you to guess why you thought I was obsessing over our dark blue wool. @mzdori was spot on by guessing that I was going to dye my hair that color. I really thought that was going to be tough one, but she got on the first try. Congrats!
I’ve been dying to dye my hair blue for years. Between school and work, I’ve never been able to. But at last, here in the den of artisans and craftspeople, I get to go blue.
Emma suggested I document the process for the blog, and I was more than happy to do so. And I figured it’d be a fun way to introduce myself to everyone. If you didn’t catch this month’s Classes and Happenings newsletter (you can sign up here to receive them) I’m a complete stranger to you. So hi!
It’s a pleasure to meet you!
My name is Lori, and I’m proud to be The Tin Thimble’s new marketing specialist. I couldn’t be more thrilled about the opportunity to work on this team of dedicated artists who are so committed to improving the world around them. You’ll be seeing me a lot here on our blog, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, and our new Instagram. I can’t wait to interact with everyone, whether it’s in person or online.
A bit about me: Along with working, I’m going to college and studying Wildlife Biology (thus the title). My main interest is in ungulates (hooved critters), or more specifically, the herd dynamics of cervidae (deer). Why I’m pursuing marketing and in-depth animal behavior studies at the same time is just a wacky happenstance, but I thoroughly enjoy both avenues.
But enough about me! Let’s get to the hair dye process!
How To Get Blue Hair
To start out my blue journey, I wanted to go slow. I figured just doing the lower layer was a safe option that would be easier manage than just the tips. That was Error in Judgement #1. (In future I’ll be calling these my EIJs.)
If anyone is seeking to replicate this process, here’s what you do. First I washed my hair with dish soap instead of shampoo, which is supposed to help make your hair more susceptible to dye. Dry your hair, then coat your entire being in Vaseline. This will keep you from dying any part of you that isn’t hair. Honestly, the dye I used came off of skin and nails pretty easily with dish soap, but I wouldn’t risk it anyway. Prep yourself like you’re about to go down a slip ‘n’ slide without any water.Then you’ll want to pin up the hair you aren’t dying. I ended up with little patches of baby fluff sticking out like dumbo ears. When you’re doing something like this, you’ve got to embrace the silliness of the moment.
Second, find a way to coat your hair in the dye without it getting everywhere. When you find one, let me know, because I made a complete mess of the bathroom I was using. We’ll call that EIJ #2, because I was anticipating a very simple process.Once my hair was sufficiently slathered, I plopped it into plastic baggies. This seemed easier than plastic wrap, but you may have different results. I had a friend helping me and it was still a sticky mess, getting me to EIJ #3.When my hair was all wrapped up and in balls, I couldn’t help but think of that scene in The Princess Diaries 2 when they’re dressing Princess Mia up for her wedding.
Mia (horrified): “I look like a moose.”
Pablo: “But a very cute moose! Make all the boy moose go ‘waahhhh!'”
The dye I was using recommended using heat to help set the color, so I wrapped my plastic nubs in tin foil and kept the hair dryer on them for as long as I could stand without burning my neck on the metal. (EIJ # 4)Then it was off to bed! Now realistically, there was no need to sleep in the dye. The jar recommends only having the dye in for half an hour. But the gal at Sally’s Beauty Beauty said that the longer you have it on, the better the color takes. Still, there’s a maximum. After a few hours or so your hair is as saturated as it can get and any additional time isn’t doing any good. But I was determined to get my naturally dark hair to be a different color without bleaching, because the Sally’s associate told me it was possible. I don’t think she meant for me to keep it in for eight hours, but what harm could it do?
In order to sleep comfortably with plastic and tinfoil jabbing into my scalp, I added more plastic with a self-fashioned clingwrap swim cap. I felt very vintage with it on!
But despite my eight hours, when I rinsed my dye out, it was very… …green. If the picture looks even somewhat blue to you, I assure you, it’s green. I took a poll. Unanimously it was decided that I had peacock green hair.
I’ve made peace with it. It’s not an ugly color, it’s just not the one I intended. From a distance that section of my hair just looks darker than the rest, and even up close you sort of have to squint to see it. Here’s what it looks like three weeks later:
I would totally do it all again though, even with the same result. It was fun, and at least I tried. Maybe if I picked a different method I’d have more success. The dye manufacture’s website is full of customers who got their desired color without bleaching, and the experts at Sally’s were positive it would work for me.
Oh well. You win some, you lose some.
I hope to see you all in the near future,
– Lori
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