About one year ago I dyed my hair purple for the first time. That was quite an experience, first requiring bleaching parts of my natural brown hair with some blonde, washed out highlights. Then my wonderful hairdresser dyed various strands with two different kinds of purple, creating an ombre effect towards the ends. Flash forward to today, and my hairstyle has become a bit brighter, a bit more ombre, and I’ve even touched up my colour a few times myself. Here’s what I learned in this year of purple hair.
I’m the first to admit that I’m a total idiot when it comes to hair. I usually don’t like to fuss with it, which leads to a life of topknots and ponytails, two things I actually can accomplish. But that’s it. I can also dye it myself to refresh the colour, because that’s dead easy (mush dye through your hair. Done. For a longer how-to, look here). But for the hair-savvy and curious – I use Goldwell’s Elumen in RV@all. I think it’s totally fabulous. Basically, it uses magnetic pigments instead of ammonia and is very gentle to your hair. (Here’s a deeper look at the process on Elumen’s site.)
Everything I learned when I dyed my hair purple
Four hours at the hairdresser is nothing unusual. (It’s a lengthy process, and I do it approximately once in half a year. It requires three steps – bleaching to make the purple pop more, colouring and the colour developing. And then cutting, and styling, the works. It’s looooooong and I usually take a book. Or several.)
Red lipstick really suits everybody, every hair colour and every skin tone. The thing is just to find the right one. While I was all over warm, corally or tomato reds when my hair was brown with a beachy ombre, I’m now into dark and wine reds, cool reds and blue reds.
Red eyeshadow actually complements the purple nicely.
Coral lipstick is no longer my BFF. There was a time (the beginning of this blog, actually), when coral and me were OTP and it was my go-to lipstick colour. Sorry coral, but that spot just went to purple. It’s just so versatile with my hair colour – it can look dramatic, or natural (really) or laid-back and everything in between.
Colours that used to wash me out are my new best friends – khaki, I’m looking at you! (I could even imagine to pull of yellow!)
Nude lips? Not difficult at all since there’s a colour on my head. Even the paler ones become easy to wear.
Towels become pink after every shower. (And become white again because Elumen colours wash out easily. Out of fabrics. Skin, fake marble counter tops and tubs is another matter. Invest into a bottle of Elumen Clean and be quick. That dye stains like hell.)
Be prepared to invest in new hairstuff – leave-in products preferred. The dye will wash out, no matter what you do. But you can help the dye to cling to your strands just a bit longer when you don’t use harsh shampoos and try leave-in conditioner (washing out conditioner washes out the dye, too). (My favourites? Lush’s Fairly Traded Honey and balea’s (super cheap but nice!) Pfirsich & Kokos Feuchtigkeitshaarmilch.
Pulling off purple brows? Easy! And the end result doesn’t look like a rave party either, but – (wait for it) rather natural… (I use Armani’s Eye & Brow Maestro in Purple.)
People will recognize you or can pick you out in a crowd easily, while children regard you as a My little Pony.
Also: I learned to be careful when I have a swim at the pool the hard way. It’s totally possible that there’ll be small pink droplets running down your face and body if your hair is freshly dyed… Awkward!
I couldn’t be happier with my hair colour, though. It’s a good way to try a whole new look and also to shake up your makeup routine and your style!
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