And just like that, my purple natural hair is BYKE!
But pRoy, where did it go?
Boring Hair, Needed a Change
Have you ever been so tired of your hair that you just wanted to chop it all off and start over? That was me. I needed a change in length, color – SOMETHING!
Purple natural hair is my thing, I’ve been rocking it since FOREVER, but I just … I needed something else.
I had already taken myself to the bathroom and chopped it all off, but the color wasn’t “hitting” like I wanted it to hit. Taking a short cut with semi-permeant hair color, I decided to try a new color on my hair – teal.
I used the ion Color Brilliance Neon Brights Semi Permanent Hair Color in Cyan on my tips, fading it into Manic Panic’s Hot Hot Pink and Ultra Violet. The color turned out like below:
To say it was everything I wanted would be a lie. It left much to be desired. I think my main issue was the fact 1) Manic Panic wasn’t really holding the colors in my hair since the base of my hair was not as bright as before and 2) the teal was not quite the color I was looking for – go figure.
As it “faded” out, it wasn’t as teal as before and gave me hints of just green. I didn’t want green hair sooooooo… I had to make a change.
Cut before Color
Before I colored my hair, I decided to touch up my cut. I pretty much just went into the bathroom and cut the sides and back down to a shorter length, not disturbing the full middle that I have. My hair afterward looked like this:
Bleaching My Hair
I know there are ways to achieve high lifts in hair color sans the bleach, but desperate times call for desperate measures. I would highly encourage anyone not familiar with bleach or lifting hair colors to consult a professional! You can also take a look at my tips on caring for color treated hair.
But listen – at this point in my hair journey, I’m down to try anything. I figure I can cut it off or dye it black so I’m down for taking chances.
With a hope and a dream, I went to Sally’s Beauty and picked up the following:
Two (2) packets of Salon Care Blue Flash Powder Lightener
Salon Care 20 Volume Creme Developer
Three (3) ion Color Brilliance Neon Brights Semi Permanent Hair Color in Radiant Orchid (Buy Two, One Free)
I already had the gloves and mixing bowls at home so it was off to see if I’d end up with my hair on the floor or have it colored how I wanted it!
After mixing one bleach packet with the appropriate amount of developer, I used the balyage method similar to what I had done in this style, finger/hand painting the bleach on my hair starting with the tips, processing it for about 8 minutes and gradually moving closer to my scalp leaving just enough hair near my roots to not be completely transformed (no harsh grow out lines). In total, I processed my hair for 25 minutes. Unfortunately, I didn’t capture a picture, but after shampooing that out I can just tell you this: the tips were still green; very green.
I toned my hair with the GVP Shimmer Lights shampoo to erase some of the brassy color and to make my base more off a cooler tone than warmer.
Purple Natural Hair
The next step was to cover up the green and newly bleached hair with purple. I ended up using two of the Radiant Orchid tubes with a little bit of the third. I knew that putting the purple directly over green would just land me with a more bluish purple (violet). I covered my whole hair in this mixture, processed it for 40 minutes, rinsed, shampooed, and conditioned my hair.
The Styling Process
I wasn’t able to style my hair immediately because – baby – but during nap time I was able to twist up my hair with Obia Naturals Curl Moisture Cream and Obia Naturals Curl Enhancing Custard – two of my holy grails. I simply two strand twisted my hair in the middle and finger coiled my hair on the sides, much like this style. Here’s how it turned out:
The next day, I was able to take it down and style it! Here were my results:
A Week Later
It’s been over a week since I did all of this and my color, as per expected, is still bright and vibrant. Heck, my hair is still “done” and it’s time for me to wash and style it mainly to maintain moisture. You can read about how maintain moisture in color treated natural hair here.
For now, I’m sticking with my old faithful purple natural hair until further notice!
What do you do when you want to switch up your natural hair?
Have you ever tried Joico Color Intensity? They work awesome. I have Amethyst which is a gorgeous purple and when it does inevitably fade, it’s a nice Magenta, so win-win. I can send you picks if you want or come see me on instagram 🙂 @degoodsbystephanie