Dying my hair, and needing advice.

cold water, mild shampoo as infrequently as you can stand. bleaching first makes a big difference. in the long run, there's no substitute for good hair colour. manic panic is designed to be temporary, and that's what it'll be.

I've used it before. I bought a bottle of the blue hair color but my hair soo dark right now and I can't bring myself to bleaching any of it.

But I've had pink manic panic in my bangs and the color lasted without any touch ups for quite some time. But to retain color, try to use dry shampoo every now and then.

Bleach first
Also depends on what colour you're using. Ive found that pinks tend to stay in longer than most other colours, and purple/blues tend to wash out faster - i usually have to end up re-dying my hair every 2-3 weeks.
Also leave the dye in for half an hour to an hour, that kinda helps it to set into your hair better.
Don't wash your hair (with shampoo) every day!

Hope this has helped you!

Keep some dye back and add it to your regular conditioner to give a little colour boost when you wash.
I bleach mine first, it makes the hair more porous so it can take more colour. But yeah like Lucy said, don't wash your hair every day, it'll only last a week lol

I agree with everyone....strip the colour from your hair first to give it a good base. Use a good quality conditioner to stop it drying out too much. I use dry shampoo in between washes to keep the colour for longer. Avoid swimming pool water too. When I went to hydrotherapy first time it looked like a blood bath....Lol. Now I clip it up well out of the way of the water.

I have problems with re-growth. My CRPS makes my nails and hair grow 3 times as fast as normal so I use a dye stick for the roots. They come in a tube with a comb on the end and a variety of shades to tone in. I think Swartzkoff (can't spell) make them.

EDIT....Lol....I've just noticed our avatars....we have a real spectrum going on here ;D

<--- I use the headband to cover regrowth lol;)

If you decide to bleach your hair, you'll want to wait a few days to let the brassiness wash away.
After that, the only way to get hair dye to last very long is to wash your hair with a mild shampoo and not condition it, then fully dry it.

After that, comb your dye in until it gets foamy and frothy, then massage the froth all over your head. Take a hairdryer to it to heat set it a bit, then let it sit in for 2-3 hours before you rinse it out. I've noticed that the most color-friendly shampoo and conditioner is Naturelle Hemp shampoo & conditioner, but it'll cost you about $9 a bottle at Sally Beauty.

It's all worth it, though, if you want your dye to stay vibrant.

Tee hee Laurel...I've got a wide range of headbands too. I haven't been able to do my hair for months now...damn arms! Still, I have lots of hair pieces that I can put on my glass head to style.....who needs to be able to reach the back/top of their head ;D

Can't your old man do it? My dad dyes my mum's hair because she has spondylosis and arthritis in her spine (amongst other things:/) and can't reach it.
Make him do it lol

Nar..I've seen how much mess he makes when he's in the kitchen. He's not one for attention to detail unless it's cutting coloured wires on bombs and IED's.....Lol

My hair is growing too quick and become very brittle. The permenant dye I have got is coming out onto my clothes. It's all part of the CRPS. I will probably have to strip the colour and go for something close to my natural colour till it grows back proper.

hmmmm "natural colour" I am aware of this phenomenon, but haven't seen it close to LOL!

It's been so long since I've seen mine I'm not sure what colour it is....Lol!

I've seen strands of white....maybe it's developed into a streak

Ooh a streak would be cool My ma started going grey in her 20s but I've been lucky, so far *touches wood*. I don't think these semi-permanent dyes cover grey.

From the looks of things I've by-passed grey and headed straight for white.....Lol