Pthalo Blue
January 17, 2012 2:34 AM Subscribe
I want really really dark blue hair. I have really really dark brown hair. Help?
I've wanted dark blue hair for something like ten years. When I was in college I briefly bleached two streaks framing my face and dyed them "pimpin' purple"; it faded within a day to a pink and I had to bleach those sections of my hair something like three times to get it light enough to begin with and the purple wasn't dark enough. That comprises my entire history of doing anything more to my hair than occasionally cutting it. It is extremely thick with a weird cowlicky wave and frizz to it. It's very dark brown, maybe one step browner in color than what someone would declare to be really naturally black hair.
When I say really really dark blue, I mean the same darkness as my current brown hair, only with the hue switched to blue instead of orange. Something like indigo colored ink, or darker than freshly dyed blue jeans. Is this possible to achieve? Is it possible to get color like that and have it not fade to a dishwater green within days? I am not in the habit of shampooing my hair more than twice a week already because of my hair type, does that help?
I don't want to do this on my own, although I'm waffling on how much money I'd like to drop on it, as well as if I'd like to go entirely blue or have streaks or what, particularly if it's not going to last very long.
Are there any key words I should use when talking to a stylist about this? Any particular dyes used for this that are better than others? What should I expect, process-wise and price-wise?
Are there any good stylists for this? I am in Fremont, Seattle. I would be more comfortable going somewhere low-key than somewhere punky and young; I realize that the blue hair is probably going to fall under the punky & young category but I might as well ask.
I've wanted dark blue hair for something like ten years. When I was in college I briefly bleached two streaks framing my face and dyed them "pimpin' purple"; it faded within a day to a pink and I had to bleach those sections of my hair something like three times to get it light enough to begin with and the purple wasn't dark enough. That comprises my entire history of doing anything more to my hair than occasionally cutting it. It is extremely thick with a weird cowlicky wave and frizz to it. It's very dark brown, maybe one step browner in color than what someone would declare to be really naturally black hair.
When I say really really dark blue, I mean the same darkness as my current brown hair, only with the hue switched to blue instead of orange. Something like indigo colored ink, or darker than freshly dyed blue jeans. Is this possible to achieve? Is it possible to get color like that and have it not fade to a dishwater green within days? I am not in the habit of shampooing my hair more than twice a week already because of my hair type, does that help?
I don't want to do this on my own, although I'm waffling on how much money I'd like to drop on it, as well as if I'd like to go entirely blue or have streaks or what, particularly if it's not going to last very long.
Are there any key words I should use when talking to a stylist about this? Any particular dyes used for this that are better than others? What should I expect, process-wise and price-wise?
Are there any good stylists for this? I am in Fremont, Seattle. I would be more comfortable going somewhere low-key than somewhere punky and young; I realize that the blue hair is probably going to fall under the punky & young category but I might as well ask.
Indigo would probably give you the color you want, if maybe a little on the dark end of things. It's NOT black henna, but is instead actually the indigo plant. henna for hair is a great resource for how-tos and pictures of how your hair will look. I've found that indigo doesn't last as long as henna, maybe 3 weeks tips, but it just fades to dark dark brown, and is actually very good for your hair, so dyeing more often is actually a benefit. In Fremont, I'm almost certain you can get Rainbow Henna Indigo at PCC. It's not the best quality, and won't last as long as finer stuff, but using the tips from the link with it (throw away the instructions on the container!), you'll still get a good sense of what you're in for.
Oh, for after you read about it in the link, I never let my henna or indigo sit over night, and I still get good colour yield.
posted by zinful at 2:48 AM on January 17, 2012 [1 favorite]
Oh, for after you read about it in the link, I never let my henna or indigo sit over night, and I still get good colour yield.
posted by zinful at 2:48 AM on January 17, 2012 [1 favorite]
And I'd like to add, dyeing with black permanent dyes is pretty much the worst thing for your scalp. There's coal tar in there. Eventually, you'll get seeping sores, or worse. Using natural dyes makes your head, hair and nose happier, not to mention the planet.
posted by zinful at 2:50 AM on January 17, 2012
posted by zinful at 2:50 AM on January 17, 2012
Response by poster: I guess I'm kind of after something like this or this, color-wise. The first image is closer in darkness, although I like the slightly more teal-y tint of the second.
posted by Mizu at 2:52 AM on January 17, 2012
posted by Mizu at 2:52 AM on January 17, 2012
Ooooh - those are beautiful. Trust me, don't try to do this yourself. Go to a pro - you should be able to find someone on Seattle pretty easily who can do this. Sorry I don't have a name - I used to get my hair all sorts of crazy colors in Chicago, and when I would try to bleach it and manic panic it myself, it would always look sort of crappy and last for half the time of when I'd get it done in a shop. Have you tried Yelp?
posted by monkey!knife!fight! at 2:56 AM on January 17, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by monkey!knife!fight! at 2:56 AM on January 17, 2012 [2 favorites]
Hmmm. Ok, my advice won't do you any good, then, unless you over-dye blue on top of indigo (which is only possible if the planets are properly aligned and you do a dye test on hairbrush samples). If it worked, though, you'd get a nice deep blue on less-trashed hair!
posted by zinful at 2:57 AM on January 17, 2012
posted by zinful at 2:57 AM on January 17, 2012
If you have 'virgin' ie. untouched, undyed, unprocessed hair, then you're going to need to process it before you can get any type of blue dye to stick.
What I would recommend is using something like a standard drugstore 'blue' toned dye (Feria did one called Starry Night, and also there's a Schwartzkopf Live dye that's a dark blue. This will give you a 'base' of processed hair to work with, and will ensure that the fading is not as apparent. Then, what you need to do is go over it with a vegetable dye - I used to use La Riche Directions, which is a thick cream; Manic Panic is crap and Stargazer is fine for a temporary enhancement to an existing colour but not the kind of extreme change you want here - and completely ignore the instructions telling you to leave it on 15-20 minutes, because you need this stuff on overnight, and you need to comb it every now and then to keep it processed. Be careful because this stuff really stains - hands, head and any surfaces it happens to touch. I used a shower cap or a plastic bag just to keep it covered and avoid contact.
If you want more of a teal-y colour, then you will struggle with the drugstore dye method as few of them are nearly light enough and you will end up with a base that's more dark than blue (if that makes sense). So what you need to do is 'pre-lighten' the hair - I used Garnier Nutrisse's pre lightening kit - and this should both process and lighten your original colour enough to get the deep but very blue shade.
posted by mippy at 4:21 AM on January 17, 2012 [5 favorites]
What I would recommend is using something like a standard drugstore 'blue' toned dye (Feria did one called Starry Night, and also there's a Schwartzkopf Live dye that's a dark blue. This will give you a 'base' of processed hair to work with, and will ensure that the fading is not as apparent. Then, what you need to do is go over it with a vegetable dye - I used to use La Riche Directions, which is a thick cream; Manic Panic is crap and Stargazer is fine for a temporary enhancement to an existing colour but not the kind of extreme change you want here - and completely ignore the instructions telling you to leave it on 15-20 minutes, because you need this stuff on overnight, and you need to comb it every now and then to keep it processed. Be careful because this stuff really stains - hands, head and any surfaces it happens to touch. I used a shower cap or a plastic bag just to keep it covered and avoid contact.
If you want more of a teal-y colour, then you will struggle with the drugstore dye method as few of them are nearly light enough and you will end up with a base that's more dark than blue (if that makes sense). So what you need to do is 'pre-lighten' the hair - I used Garnier Nutrisse's pre lightening kit - and this should both process and lighten your original colour enough to get the deep but very blue shade.
posted by mippy at 4:21 AM on January 17, 2012 [5 favorites]
The crazy-hair salon in my area offers free consultations, and with some processes requires them. I'd recommend calling several salons and asking if they offer both colorful dyeing and free consultations. Go to the ones that do, and go with who you like best. Maybe - if they'll let you - stick around in the reception area for a little while and see how other clients' hair turns out. If you've wanted to do this for a while, and you're only giving yourself one shot, go all out.
posted by Metroid Baby at 4:43 AM on January 17, 2012
posted by Metroid Baby at 4:43 AM on January 17, 2012
I'm in the Midwest so I cant recommend a salon but my sister has her license and is the only person I'll let touch my hair.
I'm nthing everyone encouraging you to visit a stylist. BUT my sister once put purple in my hair, which is naturally the same color as yours. We bought really good dye from a salon store (here you have to have your license to shop at them though) and then we heat processed it. The color took to my hair well and stuck...for months.
I've also done a complete and radical color change at a salon but it took HOURS and first my hair had to be completely bleached. I mean like, to white. I'd imagine that's what you'll have to do here. That color stuck well too, though.
Good luck!
posted by youandiandaflame at 4:59 AM on January 17, 2012
I'm nthing everyone encouraging you to visit a stylist. BUT my sister once put purple in my hair, which is naturally the same color as yours. We bought really good dye from a salon store (here you have to have your license to shop at them though) and then we heat processed it. The color took to my hair well and stuck...for months.
I've also done a complete and radical color change at a salon but it took HOURS and first my hair had to be completely bleached. I mean like, to white. I'd imagine that's what you'll have to do here. That color stuck well too, though.
Good luck!
posted by youandiandaflame at 4:59 AM on January 17, 2012
I was a hair model for Aveda. One thing they did was showcase some fabulous colors that they created. That awesome blue you showed was one of them. They made my hair a bright magenta. I have dark brown hair. What they did to me (and the girl who was modeling blue) was completely bleach my hair. They only did half of my hair and the other half was dyed a super black. The process was a bit arduous and you will have to have about two days. You want to get a good bleach that won't damage your hair and check it every 20 minutes to make sure you are getting an even bleach. You might be better off to have a friend help. Once you get the hair nice and bleached, you want to condition it and wash it. You want to "cool" dry your hair (put the hair dryer on cool rather than warm) before you apply the blue. You will get an amazing electric blue first, but like any other dying process, the longer you keep it in, the darker it will be. Of course, the dye has to be capable of the shade as well.
Have lots of fun, that blue is awesome!
posted by Yellow at 5:27 AM on January 17, 2012 [3 favorites]
Have lots of fun, that blue is awesome!
posted by Yellow at 5:27 AM on January 17, 2012 [3 favorites]
OH! Can you find Mani-Panic hair dye? They make all kinds of color and depending on if you have oily hair or normal or dry hair, it stays a pretty long time. It is also easier to touch up if you are doing your whole head after a few weeks.
posted by Yellow at 5:32 AM on January 17, 2012
posted by Yellow at 5:32 AM on January 17, 2012
Forgot to say - if you've ever had a red toned colour put in and it hasn't grown out yet, you want to get a professional to do it. I decided to bleach my hair white once after five years of dyeing it red. It went white at the roots and the rest was a horrible apricot-cream colour. Red is not easy to get out.
posted by mippy at 5:48 AM on January 17, 2012
posted by mippy at 5:48 AM on January 17, 2012
I've done a very, very, very dark purple on my almost-black hair before; it looked black in dim conditions and would flash purple when the light hit it. It didn't show up very well in photos, sadly, but people definitely noticed it.
I achieved it by dying my hair a purple-based black and then using a semi-permanent vegetable dye over it weekly, much like Mippy suggests. Because my hair would only "fade" to a slightly purplish black, it was a lot easier to maintain than bleached-and-dyed hair, but to keep it purple I was dying constantly.
Keep in mind that black hair colors come with different bases-the most common, natural blacks are brown based. Blue-based blacks are becoming more common, and will typically be the darkest, shiniest, most unnatural black in the drug store, though you can get dyes with more blue in them at salon stores. Even less common, and typically only found in a salon stores, are red and purple based blacks.
posted by Juliet Banana at 5:57 AM on January 17, 2012 [1 favorite]
I achieved it by dying my hair a purple-based black and then using a semi-permanent vegetable dye over it weekly, much like Mippy suggests. Because my hair would only "fade" to a slightly purplish black, it was a lot easier to maintain than bleached-and-dyed hair, but to keep it purple I was dying constantly.
Keep in mind that black hair colors come with different bases-the most common, natural blacks are brown based. Blue-based blacks are becoming more common, and will typically be the darkest, shiniest, most unnatural black in the drug store, though you can get dyes with more blue in them at salon stores. Even less common, and typically only found in a salon stores, are red and purple based blacks.
posted by Juliet Banana at 5:57 AM on January 17, 2012 [1 favorite]
My hair is very similar and I successfully dyed it a dark blue (like Grover) several years ago. First I got it bleached out at a salon. The stylist applied a purple/blue dye but it really wasn't as dark as I wanted, and I made the mistake of staying out in the sun for a couple of days immediately following, which faded it considerably. Then I bought a very dark blue shade of manic panic and applied it at home on my own. It worked great and the color lasted quite a while. Tips for working with it: it will stain your skin if you let it, so wear gloves and apply Vaseline all over your hairline unless you want a blue forehead. I still got a blue streak down my back which lasted a few days but luckily was covered by clothing. I washed my hair three times after applying and the water was still running blue so be prepared for that to happen and don't freak out. The dye continued to run every time I washed my hair for the next three weeks, I had to wash my hair, then scrub my hands, then scrub the tub. Be careful sleeping on your good linens - use a towel over your pillow or use a pillowcase you don't care about, as it's likely to come off there too. It was a lot of work, but totally worth it, since, like you, I had wanted to have blue hair for literally years.
After the second batch of blue started to fade I went back to the salon and had them take me back to dark brown and it worked great. I went to Salon 7 in Bellevue which was way overpriced and not really used to dealing with odd requests but they were quite willing to do whatever I wanted to pay them to do.
posted by bq at 6:41 AM on January 17, 2012
After the second batch of blue started to fade I went back to the salon and had them take me back to dark brown and it worked great. I went to Salon 7 in Bellevue which was way overpriced and not really used to dealing with odd requests but they were quite willing to do whatever I wanted to pay them to do.
posted by bq at 6:41 AM on January 17, 2012
Manic Panic dye has great colors, but many of them don't stick. Special Effects has similar punky colors and I've had GREAT results with their reds.
posted by getawaysticks at 8:04 AM on January 17, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by getawaysticks at 8:04 AM on January 17, 2012 [1 favorite]
You definitely have to have this done by a stylist as others have said because-- this is gonna happen, trust me-- if you don't get your hair bleached lightly and evenly enough, you will have green hair. Think about it-- yellow blonde hair + blue dye= green hair.
posted by devymetal at 8:31 AM on January 17, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by devymetal at 8:31 AM on January 17, 2012 [1 favorite]
I know you said you wanted to dye your hair but just going to throw the option of a nice wig into the mix. I know a decent wig isn't cheap I can't imagine having it dyed would be cheap or great for your hair and you'd have to keep getting it touched up. Otherwise I'd go to a saloon that specialises in colourings and talk to someone there and be prepared to touch it up with a water based colour weekly as a lot of colours like that don't "stick" very well.
posted by wwax at 8:48 AM on January 17, 2012
posted by wwax at 8:48 AM on January 17, 2012
I have black hair and have had dark blue /indigo/violet colouring done (I colour regularly for the grey) and they act as highlights where the original hair is silver and regular dark natural colour when there isn't direct light etc. I too strongly recommend going a professional colourist for this, the colours they use and the way they do this makes a big difference from the blue/black of the off the shelf stuff (having done both). When colouring at home I stick to natural black.
posted by infini at 9:02 AM on January 17, 2012
posted by infini at 9:02 AM on January 17, 2012
Get it done professionally, then use Manic Panic to maintain it.
If you don't know of a professional near you, just ask someone with differently colored hair who does theirs. Every city (even SLC!) has a large community of people who specialize in this sort of thing.
posted by coolguymichael at 9:33 AM on January 17, 2012 [1 favorite]
If you don't know of a professional near you, just ask someone with differently colored hair who does theirs. Every city (even SLC!) has a large community of people who specialize in this sort of thing.
posted by coolguymichael at 9:33 AM on January 17, 2012 [1 favorite]
I have done this but only at the expense of trashing my hair. I usually had to bleach it twice. The first time would get it to red, and the second to blonde. Then I'd dye it. So far so good. However, when I would go to touch it up, the next time I'd bleach it would FRY the hair that had been bleached during round one, and I couldn't figure out how to just do the roots.
The end result was that I had to keep my hair really short.
If you can afford it (I couldn't. It was at least a couple hundred dollars!) get a salon to do it.
posted by small_ruminant at 12:04 PM on January 17, 2012
The end result was that I had to keep my hair really short.
If you can afford it (I couldn't. It was at least a couple hundred dollars!) get a salon to do it.
posted by small_ruminant at 12:04 PM on January 17, 2012
Nth-ing the "when you have dark brown hair, you have to have it bleached white before you can get a true color, and you should probably have it done first by a professional and then you can touch it up yourself."
I loved having blue hair, so I am 100% on board with your idea!
posted by Sidhedevil at 1:26 PM on January 17, 2012
I loved having blue hair, so I am 100% on board with your idea!
posted by Sidhedevil at 1:26 PM on January 17, 2012
Lots of fun hair dyes (Manic Panic in particular) are natural and temporary.
You can pick a dark shade and try it out on your hair, and if you want it to cover well, you can actually leave it on for a couple hours under a shower cap and it won't damage your hair at all. A good way to make sure it doesn't fade is to put a bunch of the dye into your conditioner bottle, so you're effectively touching up your dye job every time you wash/condition your hair.
posted by custard heart at 2:46 PM on January 17, 2012
You can pick a dark shade and try it out on your hair, and if you want it to cover well, you can actually leave it on for a couple hours under a shower cap and it won't damage your hair at all. A good way to make sure it doesn't fade is to put a bunch of the dye into your conditioner bottle, so you're effectively touching up your dye job every time you wash/condition your hair.
posted by custard heart at 2:46 PM on January 17, 2012
Best answer: Goldwell's Elumen color line is designed for just these types of color requests. It looks like there's a salon in Seattle called Spex that offers full color Elumen for $85, which is a pretty sweet price.
Elumen is a completely different type of dye process, which bonds to the hair a lot more, and means that the color won't fade nearly as quickly. When I do an Elumen coloring on my red hair, it stays super bright for months. It also makes my hair feel and look amazing (super sleek and smooth.)
My stylist does her own hair with purples and blues from the Elumen line all the time and they do look amazing!
posted by nerdcore at 3:00 PM on January 17, 2012 [4 favorites]
Elumen is a completely different type of dye process, which bonds to the hair a lot more, and means that the color won't fade nearly as quickly. When I do an Elumen coloring on my red hair, it stays super bright for months. It also makes my hair feel and look amazing (super sleek and smooth.)
My stylist does her own hair with purples and blues from the Elumen line all the time and they do look amazing!
posted by nerdcore at 3:00 PM on January 17, 2012 [4 favorites]
I lived with a girl many years back who had dark brown hair that she always made dark blue/purplish, and she'd always bleach it first.
posted by tumid dahlia at 3:30 PM on January 17, 2012
posted by tumid dahlia at 3:30 PM on January 17, 2012
I wanted blue hair for years, but I had easier hair to manage than you: light brown, not dark brown, with basically no texture. About ten years ago I decided to just go for it.
I got a friend experienced with dying her own hair to help me out. We bleached my hair, bought good dye, and ... I ended up with polka-dots. After a few weeks of people asking me if it was intentional ("yes, totally") I went to a local salon, with a picture of the color I wanted, and they did a fantastic job of fixing me up. It looked fabulous.
I think it's a good idea to consult a salon. This *is* the kind of thing that you can do on your own, probably, but in my opinion it's better safe than sorry, especially since you have more difficult hair and it is the first time you are doing it.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 4:17 PM on January 17, 2012
I got a friend experienced with dying her own hair to help me out. We bleached my hair, bought good dye, and ... I ended up with polka-dots. After a few weeks of people asking me if it was intentional ("yes, totally") I went to a local salon, with a picture of the color I wanted, and they did a fantastic job of fixing me up. It looked fabulous.
I think it's a good idea to consult a salon. This *is* the kind of thing that you can do on your own, probably, but in my opinion it's better safe than sorry, especially since you have more difficult hair and it is the first time you are doing it.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 4:17 PM on January 17, 2012
Goldwell's Elumen color line is designed for just these types of color requests. It looks like there's a salon in Seattle called Spex that offers full color Elumen for $85, which is a pretty sweet price.
I was coming in here to suggest this. My hair is red and violet, done with Elumen. It's over some slightly lighter, formerly lifted areas and my natural light brown, and looks awesome. It doesn't wash out or color your pillowcase like Manic Panic. Totally worth paying extra for, IMO. I get complements on my hair all the time.
posted by oneirodynia at 6:19 PM on January 17, 2012
I was coming in here to suggest this. My hair is red and violet, done with Elumen. It's over some slightly lighter, formerly lifted areas and my natural light brown, and looks awesome. It doesn't wash out or color your pillowcase like Manic Panic. Totally worth paying extra for, IMO. I get complements on my hair all the time.
posted by oneirodynia at 6:19 PM on January 17, 2012
Response by poster: Don't worry, there was never a question of my NOT going to a salon for this. I'm still curious about process - as I'm a hair virgin (the college thing was, dear god, 8/9 years ago?) I've never gotten my hair colored by a stylist before and have no idea what to expect. That being said, I don't want temporary. I want permanent if at all possible - not that I'm going to be blue forever but I'd like to be blue until it grows out. This isn't just a whim of mine.
And I'm curious about what a reasonable price might be. I'm intrigued by this Elumen stuff although when googled all results have horrible almost unnavigable web design, alas. Spex seems really odd but when I have time in the next couple of weeks I'll be giving them a try, I suppose. If anybody else can answer about process and price, or maybe, um, explain some of these things about pre-processing and maintenance and some of this more chemistry-sounding stuff in a way that an intelligent person completely unfamiliar with hair color can understand, I'd appreciate it. Also links to websites with pictures? Is Elumen just a scam sort of beauty product thing or is it legitimately different, like, say, gel nail polish?
Obviously when I have blue hair I'll turn into a myspacey tween and post a million pictures of myself everywhere so my MeFi userpic will change to blue hair mizu, theora55.
posted by Mizu at 1:31 PM on January 18, 2012
And I'm curious about what a reasonable price might be. I'm intrigued by this Elumen stuff although when googled all results have horrible almost unnavigable web design, alas. Spex seems really odd but when I have time in the next couple of weeks I'll be giving them a try, I suppose. If anybody else can answer about process and price, or maybe, um, explain some of these things about pre-processing and maintenance and some of this more chemistry-sounding stuff in a way that an intelligent person completely unfamiliar with hair color can understand, I'd appreciate it. Also links to websites with pictures? Is Elumen just a scam sort of beauty product thing or is it legitimately different, like, say, gel nail polish?
Obviously when I have blue hair I'll turn into a myspacey tween and post a million pictures of myself everywhere so my MeFi userpic will change to blue hair mizu, theora55.
posted by Mizu at 1:31 PM on January 18, 2012
My laymen's understanding of how Elumen works is this:
It's very similar to how bicycles are painted using a powedercoat. The prep gel is applied to your hair and the acidity in the prodict creates a positive charge in your hair. The color itself is negatively charge. When it's applied to your hair, they form a stronger, magnetic bond which is sealed with heat (I generally sit under a dryer for like 30 minutes).
The color bonds to your hair, more permanently than most other dye processes, and it doesn't wash out at nearly the same rate. Bonus: Elumen doesn't have any peroxide or ammonia, so it's less damaging on your hair and scalp. It also acts as a sealant and makes each strand of hair smoother and shinier.
With my stylist, elumen takes longer to put in and is more expensive than traditional color. So I usually alternate between an elumen color job and a regular dye. From my experience, Elumen absolutely provides a brighter, more fade resistant color, and my hair is noticeably smoother.
I think I pay between $100 and 120 for Elumen (although I might be including the price of the cut? I can't remember, but I do know that my stylist charges more for Elumen because it does take longer.)
There aren't a ton of great websites out there that talk about it. It seems like a lot of stylists aren't super web savvy.
I don't have a lot of compare/contrast photos but, this one and this one are both about 1 week post-Elumen coloring (I'm the redhead.) I should note: Elumen isn't a miracle or anything. After a few months, the color does fade, but it's a matter of months, not weeks.
posted by nerdcore at 2:58 PM on January 18, 2012
It's very similar to how bicycles are painted using a powedercoat. The prep gel is applied to your hair and the acidity in the prodict creates a positive charge in your hair. The color itself is negatively charge. When it's applied to your hair, they form a stronger, magnetic bond which is sealed with heat (I generally sit under a dryer for like 30 minutes).
The color bonds to your hair, more permanently than most other dye processes, and it doesn't wash out at nearly the same rate. Bonus: Elumen doesn't have any peroxide or ammonia, so it's less damaging on your hair and scalp. It also acts as a sealant and makes each strand of hair smoother and shinier.
With my stylist, elumen takes longer to put in and is more expensive than traditional color. So I usually alternate between an elumen color job and a regular dye. From my experience, Elumen absolutely provides a brighter, more fade resistant color, and my hair is noticeably smoother.
I think I pay between $100 and 120 for Elumen (although I might be including the price of the cut? I can't remember, but I do know that my stylist charges more for Elumen because it does take longer.)
There aren't a ton of great websites out there that talk about it. It seems like a lot of stylists aren't super web savvy.
I don't have a lot of compare/contrast photos but, this one and this one are both about 1 week post-Elumen coloring (I'm the redhead.) I should note: Elumen isn't a miracle or anything. After a few months, the color does fade, but it's a matter of months, not weeks.
posted by nerdcore at 2:58 PM on January 18, 2012
I think nerdcore basically has it. Elumen color won't last forever, but it won't cover your towels and pillowcases with blue, either. It's not damaging to your hair, is shiny, and if you take very good care of it stays vibrant for a very long time. You don't need color lift (bleaching) beforehand for the color to be true. That's not the case with Special Effects or Manic Panic.
I pay about 175 for a cut and color. In between I get roots dyed with a cheaper semi-permanent, because the Elumen sticks around. I get it re-done about every 12-14 weeks.
It's not a scam. I've been dying my hair with Special Effects/Manic/Punky Color for decades.
I wouldn't go back. I hated having purple fingernails from washing my hair and worrying about coloring my sheets purple just by sleeping in them. The color is much prettier, because it goes over my regular hair with its natural variation, but still is quite violet. It looks as if purple hair grows out of my head, instead of being screamingly plastic purple crayola hair. My hair is also thicker and softer because the Elumen builds up in the hair shaft.
posted by oneirodynia at 8:21 AM on January 20, 2012
I pay about 175 for a cut and color. In between I get roots dyed with a cheaper semi-permanent, because the Elumen sticks around. I get it re-done about every 12-14 weeks.
It's not a scam. I've been dying my hair with Special Effects/Manic/Punky Color for decades.
I wouldn't go back. I hated having purple fingernails from washing my hair and worrying about coloring my sheets purple just by sleeping in them. The color is much prettier, because it goes over my regular hair with its natural variation, but still is quite violet. It looks as if purple hair grows out of my head, instead of being screamingly plastic purple crayola hair. My hair is also thicker and softer because the Elumen builds up in the hair shaft.
posted by oneirodynia at 8:21 AM on January 20, 2012
Response by poster: EXTREMELY BELATED UPDATE:
After asking this question I realized that I couldn't have blue hair for a family occasion and get out alive. (Well, without making my grandmother go into a strop, same diff.) So I ended up growing out my hair all year instead. I finally, finally made an appointment at Spex and got enblueified yesterday.
The stylist, Ida, needed to be momentarily convinced that I knew what I was talking about when I said I wanted very dark blue hair, all of it. And there was a brief moment of confusion because apparently it's pronounced e-LU-men, like illuminate, that we had to navigate before we understood each other. But after that it went quite well.
Because they charge based on time, she suggested that she do very heavy foils instead of all-over blue, and that it would also give her more control. I'm a fan of the professional feeling comfortable as well as spending less money, so I went with it. When I arrived for my appointment she asked if it would be okay to actually dye my ends darker, in order to contrast better with the dark blue. I said yes, good plan, because when my hair grows out it gets kind of frizzy and perceptively lighter, but still very dark brown.
Well I said that I wanted it to look like indigo ink, like the color of very very dark blue pens, and that's what my hair looks like! Here are some quick shots I took yesterday, but the light was poor. It looks like there is a lot less blue than there is. In the future I'll probably tag more photos of myself with my shiny blue hair tag. I fiddled with my MeFi profile photo to display the actual amount of blue, although it is not realistically saturated. In crappy lighting it just looks cool-toned and dark. I don't notice the blue out of the corner of my eye. But in any kind of warm light, especially sunlight, it sort of glows blue all over. Apart from some bright sections at the crown of my head, it's all entirely the same darkness as my normal hair, just with the hue switched to blue. It's awesome! Hooray! Unfortunately it cost my $300. My stylist had to order two boxes of blue for all my hair. I'll be going back in October to get some kind of cool haircut and also to get the color refreshed - some small portions didn't take quite as well as others, but that's the nature of the product, evidently. Ida said that she would just charge a chemical processing fee for this, only $20! Sweet. I have to use special shampoo to keep the PH of my hair low. It looks so badass that I'm motivated to stick with it, though.
So the straight blue elumen color is perfect, because it is very pure, royal blue, kind of nearly purply. And combined with slightly yellow, not totally fried but still professionally lifted hair, the color is a very dark, ink blue. The underlying yellow of my hair (if yours bleaches to more orange I'm sure it would be different, but it turns out mine goes straight to the lemony range) balances out a lot of the warmth in the pigment.
posted by Mizu at 10:15 AM on September 28, 2012 [3 favorites]
After asking this question I realized that I couldn't have blue hair for a family occasion and get out alive. (Well, without making my grandmother go into a strop, same diff.) So I ended up growing out my hair all year instead. I finally, finally made an appointment at Spex and got enblueified yesterday.
The stylist, Ida, needed to be momentarily convinced that I knew what I was talking about when I said I wanted very dark blue hair, all of it. And there was a brief moment of confusion because apparently it's pronounced e-LU-men, like illuminate, that we had to navigate before we understood each other. But after that it went quite well.
Because they charge based on time, she suggested that she do very heavy foils instead of all-over blue, and that it would also give her more control. I'm a fan of the professional feeling comfortable as well as spending less money, so I went with it. When I arrived for my appointment she asked if it would be okay to actually dye my ends darker, in order to contrast better with the dark blue. I said yes, good plan, because when my hair grows out it gets kind of frizzy and perceptively lighter, but still very dark brown.
Well I said that I wanted it to look like indigo ink, like the color of very very dark blue pens, and that's what my hair looks like! Here are some quick shots I took yesterday, but the light was poor. It looks like there is a lot less blue than there is. In the future I'll probably tag more photos of myself with my shiny blue hair tag. I fiddled with my MeFi profile photo to display the actual amount of blue, although it is not realistically saturated. In crappy lighting it just looks cool-toned and dark. I don't notice the blue out of the corner of my eye. But in any kind of warm light, especially sunlight, it sort of glows blue all over. Apart from some bright sections at the crown of my head, it's all entirely the same darkness as my normal hair, just with the hue switched to blue. It's awesome! Hooray! Unfortunately it cost my $300. My stylist had to order two boxes of blue for all my hair. I'll be going back in October to get some kind of cool haircut and also to get the color refreshed - some small portions didn't take quite as well as others, but that's the nature of the product, evidently. Ida said that she would just charge a chemical processing fee for this, only $20! Sweet. I have to use special shampoo to keep the PH of my hair low. It looks so badass that I'm motivated to stick with it, though.
So the straight blue elumen color is perfect, because it is very pure, royal blue, kind of nearly purply. And combined with slightly yellow, not totally fried but still professionally lifted hair, the color is a very dark, ink blue. The underlying yellow of my hair (if yours bleaches to more orange I'm sure it would be different, but it turns out mine goes straight to the lemony range) balances out a lot of the warmth in the pigment.
posted by Mizu at 10:15 AM on September 28, 2012 [3 favorites]
Cool! I bet it's screamingly blue in the sun. People who have only seen me indoors and/or at night always gasp when they see my purple hair in the sun- it wasn't until someone took a photo and showed me that I realized myself how purple it was. I'm glad the Elumen worked for you! It looks great.
posted by oneirodynia at 11:50 AM on September 29, 2012
posted by oneirodynia at 11:50 AM on September 29, 2012
Man, that is SO rad! I have always had a secret longing to dye my hair blue.
posted by bardophile at 10:17 PM on October 23, 2012
posted by bardophile at 10:17 PM on October 23, 2012
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by corvine at 2:41 AM on January 17, 2012 [1 favorite]