temporary hair dye

[topaz]

I started to ask the Internet this, but then I realized that my friends are actually way more awesome than the Internet:

How well do temporary hair dyes work? Do they wash out right away? Do they produce bright and vivid colors? Which brands are best?

ETA: this is a one-day thing, so super-temporary dye shampoos and the like are potentially fine.

If we were to apply more than one color--say, a mohawk with colored sides--is that likely to be way too complicated for an amateur to attempt on their first try? Would we want to use a semipermanent dye for that, rather than the totally temporary ones?

Comments

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

The real answer is that it depends. Different brands work better for different people. And my temporary, do you mean the ones that will wash out immediately, or the ones that wash out over a period of weeks/months.

Personally, when I was doing such things, I loved Manic Panic (partial to Vampire Red) and it does wonderful things in my hair, but obviously since my hair is very dark, it doesn't show up as brightly as it would on you. But the point is, even on mine, it *does show up*.

But other people swear by Special Effects [edited to put in the right name], which, when I tried it, did nothing at all in my hair. Literally, nothing. I ended up leaving it in overnight, and when I rinsed it out, not only was there no indication of even a spec of color, but you could still see the streaks of the previous color from months before.

So yeah, for me, MP lasted a long time, SE never took at all.

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

I love Special Effects for bright and long-lasting colors. Manic Panic has good colors but, IMO, they wash out too quickly. All dyes will be MUCH brighter if you bleach your hair out first, but ... kid. Reds shine the brightest and fade the fastest, I think, but as usual YMMV.

Also, rinse his hair with white vinegar when washing it out, and have him go easy on the shampoo for a while.

Some people swear by dyeing with kool-aid (the kind with no sugar in it). It works, but it's very faint and temporary.

what color and how long do you want it?

[buddhagrrl.livejournal.com]

The other responses seem to focus on more interesting colors. I'll agree Manic Panic is great though for me most colors were more temporary than they were for other people I knew. My hair takes a long time to dye thoroughly, though, about twice as long as is normal for medium to dark brown hair like mine with similar texture. It's an annoying oddity. Bleaching it first of course has MUCH different and dramatic results.

That said, Natural Instincts hair dyes, which I love the feel of, have a "28 shampoos" temporary black that I have been trying to wash out since March. Friends warned me but I didn't listen. Beware any black dye that claims to be temporary. It is rarely true and the color may last as long as the hair is attached to your head. Mine has faded but is still at least 3 shades darker than my natural color. I'd call it espresso or very-dark-walnut rather than black, but still.

Red hennas may also work for temporary color - they usually fade over time - but black hennas will dye your hair a more permanent or semi-permanent color.

[lady-mishegas.livejournal.com]

(Used to work for Clairol) How long do you want it to last? If you really want something TEMPORARY, there are spray-in colors that will wash out in 1 shampoo. Manic Panic and SFX are actually semi-permanent vegetable dyes. Depending on the condition and natural color of the hair, if used on virgin hair (that's what they call it!), they will give you a muted effect and wash out in about a week. On bleached hair, they will give a very bright color and last a lot longer. I put a bright purple manic panic on my natural brown hair, and it was a pretty cherry coke color for a few days. This was a long time ago.

As far as drugstore stuff, the semi-permanent dyes won't do much at all. They are mostly for grey coverage and won't really cause much of an effect on natural color. The demi-permanent actually contain peroxide, and although they do fade, they will probably last a lot longer than you want them to. Both semi and demi permanent colors will not lighten hair, they will only darken and can brighten if you use a bright color.

Hope that helps...

[jostajam.livejournal.com]

If you're going for a very temporarily colored mohawk, try aquarelle crayons. The kind you can also use as face paints. You'll get a stiffening effect as well as color.

Both Manic Panic and Special Effects are considered semi permanent. I dyed my hair green with both Manic Panic and Special Effects. The color fades on me but never really washes out. When I needed Soccer Mom hair, I colored over the green hair with a deep chocolate brown, but in some lights, green highlights still show through.

Another option for very temporary is food color.

[missionista.livejournal.com]

Previous posters pretty much covered it. I'd definitely use spray for this before committing to a longer term thing.


please note, if you do decide to go for Manic Panic, etc. in the future, the dye takes better on damaged hair. So bleaching will make it more vibrant, but so will lots of time with things like curling irons.