October 14, 2004

Curious George: hair dye... I want to dye my hair for a short period of time (probably up to 48 hours max) but all of the one-wash temporary dyes I've been seeing rub off very easily or run out whenever you sweat (which I can say, having firsthand experience, is disgusting). My friend says I should just use a semipermanent dye and then go at it with bar soap and heavy-duty shampoo for a while to get it out; is that even possible, especially with darker colors? Is there a way, whether it be a specific brand or general method, to avoid all this?
posted by Mfpb 2 21 20 years ago
  • Semipermanent dye can be pretty permanent, depending on your hair type. It's not really designed to come out completely, it's just supposed to fade so you don't get an obvious line of demarcation between dyed hair and new growth. A wig would be a good way to avoid all that.
  • Years ago when I worked in a record store I changed my hair color monthly. Sadly those days of not having to look professional are gone, but I can offer some advice from experience... Temporary dye looks fake. Semi permanent dye is actually quite permanent. The semi just means it fades, but you will have grown it out before it is all gone, unless you have at corse/darkish hair, in which case it probably come out completely over the course of a month or so. My advice, after you have determined that temporary will not work, is to find a permanent that closely matches your hair color (from experience I recommend Loreal Feria Hair Color. It comes in about a bazillion colors) and re-dye your hair back to normal. It can take about an hour and a half to do a full dye job, 2-3 hours if bleach is involved, and usually about two hair washings, so take that time into account when deciding if a good dye job is worth the effort. It really all comes down to do you want a bad looking temp dye that will wash out easy, or a good looking real dye that you will have traces of for at least three weeks. If you opt for the semi-permanent and haven't ever dyed your hair before, post back and I'd be happy to give you some dye advice.
  • What is your natural hair color? What color do you want to go? Some colors come out easily, some don't. Some are easy to cover, some bleach out where as others don't. Blue is impossible to bleach! etc. (I once went from green/blue/red streaks to natural-looking brown, $200, three inches of hair off, and three hours later.)
  • mfpb221, is this for your costume for the reunion?
  • Yes... I went blue once, having been assured that it would "wash right out." It did, but the problem was that yellow (blonde) plus blue = green, and I had beautiful, snot colored hair until I shelled out the cash to have it stripped. At any rate, the darker the dye color, the more permanent it is. Pinks and reds tend to be the most temporary.
  • My natural hair color is dirty blonde and I was hoping to dye it dark, dark brown or even black. I don't really care how fake it looks, it's only for one evening. And that "reunion" I was talking about in that previous thread (eh, too lazy to link) was my highschool senior homecoming, last weekend.
  • I will preface this by saying that IANAB (I am not a beautician), but have extensive hair coloring and bleaching experience. Your best bet is probably to go to a beauty supply store that's open to the public, like Sally Beauty Supply (which seems to be a national chain). Read product information and definitely ask for advice. In my experience, the employees are often knowledgeable about what they're selling, since they also deal with professionals. At the very least, the beauty supply store will have more choices than discount department stores or drug stores. You might try a rinse, possibly the kind that's set with heat. It's more temporary, and the amount of heat applied determines how long the color lasts. Going from blonde to black might end up making your hair grey, though, as I don't know how well those wash out, or how long they take to fade. I'm sort of confused about the bar soap idea, though. Semi-permanent color is meant to last at least a month, and fades away gradually after that. You'd pretty much have to either have the color stripped profesionally or bleach it at home over multiple sessions. HTH!
  • Shoe polish, duh!
  • There is a brand of wash out hair dye, made for old women, that you might want to try. I can't remember the brand, but it's widely available (in drug stores and supermarkets), and it comes in these big silvery-gray bottles with pink tops. This is a pretty good one because it seems to rub off less than other wash out dyes.... I've used it a couple of times to turn my (blonde) hair black or dark brown. It's also hella cheap.
  • Fanci-full, meredithea?
  • Yes! That's the stuff. Thanks.
  • Thanks! All I'm still curious about now is... will Fanci-Full run out on contact with water or sweat?