Dye Your Hair in a Crazy Color: Unnatural hair color is still a huge craze. What if you want to dye it brown or blonde again, even though pink, green, blue, gray, red, and even colored hair color is flashy and fun?
For years I've been playing with the idea of the death of my emerald green hair. Shameless self indulgence is my inspiration for Kylie Jenner's green bob.
One day I felt impulsive (more than ever) and went to a salon where I spent seven hours from brunette to peacock green / blue hair and loved it. I feel energetic, strong, expressive, and for once, my spontaneity paid off.
By tweeting a photo of what I just made, I totally recall this unique response from a stranger: "It looks great, but it's a nightmare to get out, I have to cut all mine to lose the green".
Oh I never thought so far.
Fast forward eight months later and I have to dye my hair brunette again. The whitening green and monthly fillings were avoiding my hair and I started to feel that this wasn't a "sophisticated" approach to life. While I was thinking about a stranger's tweet, I looked for someone I knew could help.
Angeline Tan, creative director of the FDP salon, did her job with the prestigious London Toni & Guy, and her skills and knowledge became Singapore's leading hair stylist for celebrities and mortals alike.
So I was there, sitting in the warm chair, Angeline checked the condition of my hair and discussed how we could get back to the brunette. While he was working, people in the wild colors of the resurrection didn't ask him, I asked.
Angeline admits that customers do not understand how difficult it is to remove such colors. They seem to expect it to be easy, a change in the session - but that's usually far from the case. It takes a lot of work, a lot of time, and often multiple sitting.
It is always better to do a big color change in stages to ensure that the hair is as protected and not damaged as possible, so that the hair has time to settle before applying another layer of bleach.
"Green is the hardest color to remove, then blue and red. But it all depends on how long you die with those colors," she said. "On average it takes 5-8 hours to pull off a crazy color, but once again depends on the previous intensity".
I will explain today, we took three separate seatings and 19 hours in total to completely remove my green and turn it into a very dark brown. Sigh.
To neutralize the green, Angeline needed a light wash of bleach all over my hair to help lift the color, then neutralized the green tones with a layer of red dye. Oh, and a lot of Olaplex. Olaplex should be included after your hair is overly white and you have changed its color.
When the red layer is complete, he puts brown paint on it. After two sittings I no longer need a fade that is red to neutralize, Olaplex treatment, and then a brown coat to finish.
The reason I had to go back more than once was because after washing my hair the red and brown dyes took off very quickly, revealing a dirty green color that was still there. Immediately after the third session at FDP, my hair stopped washing and settled down like the brunette color I wanted.
If you want to be even lighter in the shade of blonde than brunette - this is more difficult, but not impossible. "Generally, I would recommend the client to do this gradually if the current hair condition is difficult and brittle. However, some clients have relatively strong hair, so it can take four whitening sessions with a single strand. Intensive Olaplex treatment to combat sitting and breakage."
It's easier to go back with pastel colors. They require a lighter bleach bleach and do not require much set up, giving pastel lightness in the first place.
