At one time or another, you may have wanted an unnatural color put into your hair. Blue, red, pink, green, or purple, odd hair is striking. If you want to get an odd color, but don’t wish to use commercial products or a salon, then read on.
These tips all involve common household items, or things that can be obtained easily and cheaply. They are all temporary idea’s. They will all wash out anywhere from 1 week to 8 weeks after application. Remember that the darker your hair, the hard it will be to see the color; if you have black hair, or very dark hair, this will be virtually impossible. You will need to purchase a commercial bleaching product and bleach the strands you wish to dye. Bleaching is permanent, so be sure it is what you want. You will likely need to ‘refresh’ the color in your hair every couple of weeks.
Substance: Food Coloring
Effect: Mild
Duration: 1 week
Using food coloring to add unusual colored highlights to you hair will work best if you have light or blond colored hair. If you have dark hair, it’s effect will not be noticeable. The coloring is very light when rinsed out, and ideal if you wish to do a color ‘tinting’ instead of dyeing.
To use food coloring, obtain the paste type. Separate the strand that you wish to color and cover it thoroughly in food coloring. Wrap it with some foil and let it sit for at least an hour. Ideally, leave it in all night.
Substance: Kool aid/Jello
Effect: Medium
Duration: 2 – 3 weeks
Kool aid tends to be the favorite among the cheap hair coloring agents. It works well on hair that is light, and is mildly effective on darker hair. It lasts longer than food coloring, and dyes slightly darker. The same principles of dark hair apply for Kool Aid and other powders as food coloring.
Substance: Ink
Effect: Strong
Duration: 6 – 8 weeks
This is a seldom used technique that works well. It involves using a pair of needle-nosed pliers to pull the metal tip off an ink pen, and then tapping the pen so that the ink comes out. Tap the ink out onto a paper plate or other non-porous surface. Put on rubber gloves to avoid staining you fingers, and avoid getting the ink on your face or scalp. This is a very strong method, and will be visible even on brown hair. It will be very visible on blond or light hair.
Use your fingers to rub the ink into your hair. You can use any color – purple, green, or blue. However, the green and blue will not be extremely bright, so test first to make sure you like it. Once it’s rubbed on, leave it alone until it dries – approx. 15 minutes. Once it’s dry, run that strand under hot water and rub continuously until it feels smooth. If it feels rough at all, then there is still dry ink on the hair.
Once you get all the ink off, rub some conditioner onto that strand, and let it sit for a minute or two. Then rinse it off. This is to help prevent the strands from damage.
Understand that this is a more permanent way to color your hair, and will not simply wash back out.
Using all of these techniques may damage your hair, though I have used each one without incident. Do so at your own risk. If you are worried about the effects it will have on your hair, you may want to consider getting your highlights done professionally at a hair salon.
