Adventures in Vintage Hair Styling-Bright Blue Hair for Once In a Blue Moon

Technically this isn't really a vintage hair adventure, as blue hair isn't vintage unless you count old lady blue rinses (which I love),

 but I've noticed that plenty of people in the vintage community rock crazy hair colors, the sort of tones that would never grow out of anyones head.  Probably when your clothing ceases to be conventional your comfortable  with your hair going the same way.   I admired many of these tresses before trying pink hair this Spring and for my three week summer break from teaching I decided to try something a little crazier, blue hair.  

I'm no hair expert but I read everything I could online, there is a lot of information, before I took the plunge.  First off your hair needs to be a light blonde, at least a platinum color and if you want pastel colors you need Daenyrs Targaryen style ice blonde:

I was afraid that my own light blonde hair, which I get professionally blonded at the best salon ever, Artistic Hair in Jersey City, was to yellow and would make the blue dye turn green on my locks.   So to counteract this potential pitfall I used Manic Panic Virgin Snow toner.   I had washed my hair with clarifying shampoo the day before so it was clean and free of any products.  Then I applied the toner, which is not a bleach but a blue based product meant to remove yellow tones from blonde hair.  I saturated my hair with it and covered it with a shower cap and left it on for an hour.

This was the result.

Not a dramatic difference but it was a bit lighter.   

Next I applied the blue.  I used Manic Panic Voodoo Blue.  I choose Manic Panic expressly because their colors fade quickly.   I've since read you can add a bit of purple to the blue to counteract green tones, if I ever do this again I'm going to try that, but for this go I used Voodoo Blue only.  This is what it looks like straight out of the jar.

  It took one jar to cover my hair  so anyone with longer hair will need at least two jars.  I used a tint brush to cover my hair completely and even with gloves and vaseline at my hair line there was blue everywhere!  Seriously my bathroom looked like an alien murder scene.  Luckily the dye came off my skin pretty easily and most of it came off the tile.  

I covered my hair in another plastic shower cap and left it on for four hours.  

That is 8 times as long as the jar says but everything I read online said the longer the better.  I also applied heat a few times for a minute or so using the low setting on the dryer.  

After the wait time I rinsed it with cold water in the kitchen sink, cold water is a must, and don't get in the shower unless you want your whole body blue.   I also rinsed with a 50/50 mix of white vinegar and cold water since I read that helps set the color.   

The next morning my hair looked like this:

It is basically the color of a blue raspberry tootsie roll pop.  Here is a side view a few days later after I washed and pin curled it, excuse the frizz!

To maintain the color I will wash it only about twice a week in COLD water with a mix of Clairol Shimmering Lights shampoo, white conditioner, and a dab of the voodoo blue hair dye.  Note: you need to wear gloves while you shampoo this dye comes out easily and your hands will be blue.

This hair is definitely a love it or hate it kind of thing.  I've gotten plenty of compliments, as well as odd stares, my father in law was horrified and my husband isn't crazy about it, though he doesn't hate it.  I have mixed feelings myself and realize its probably a color more suited to a teen or a women in her early twenties (though I never would have had the confidence at those ages), then a 38 year old, but I certainly don't regret doing it.  It's fun and I do feel a bit like a land locked mermaid.  I'm removing it in September for the start of school though, so this is a brief vacation fling.   

Once in a blue moon crazy colored hair is a blast and I'm not  ready to stop experimenting yet.  I'm already thinking about trying a purple or pink on my roots for my next hair adventure.  Even though I am fond of unnatural hair colors I hate brown roots with blonde hair and bright colors seem a fun way to disguise them and stretch out the time between professional dye jobs.

Have you ever dyed, or wanted to dye, your hair a crazy color?