Hottest Trend for Spring 2009: Neon Pink Hair

OK this article is great. I love pink hair. I spray dyed my hair hot pink and it was awsome! The onl downside was that it like came of right away. I want to dye semi-perminant but dont want to bleach. Theres got to be a hair dye out there that works for brown hair! My hair isn't even that dark its like medium. HELP! YOur the expert!

Hi Alina. There are many semi-permanent dyes out there that can last up to six or eight washes. However, that too means you have to bleach before applying them because, otherwise, they don’t take or the resulting color is not what you wanted. My advice – and the one a hairstylist would give you – is to go to a hair salon to get the ‘do you want. Neon pink is an awesome color that can truly make all the difference so, if you want it to come out just like you imagined it, it’s best to go see a professional: he or she will be able to tell you exactly what suits you best and then do it for you, and all you have to do is just wait to be marveled at the end. This way, you will also ensure the damage done to your hair (what with the bleaching and the dyeing) is minimal. Granted, it’s more expensive than doing your own hair at home, but with a color as difficult to achieve as neon pink is, I’d say it’s worth the extra money. I hope this helps and the best of luck! :)

Sorry to contradict however the writer of this article clearly isn't a professional hair stylist, has no personal experience when it comes to vibrant hair colour and has not conducted the proper background research for this article. First off, provided your natural hair colour isnt black you don't need to go to the extreme of the type of peroxide suggested here to achieve a vibrant true hot pink, a creme peroxide will do the trick. Blondier creme will lighten your hair perfectly well, without damaging it the way full on peroxide will. It does however take commitment and knowing what brand hair colour to use. Before I go any further, I have pink hair and have had for two years, for 20 years prior to that, well, lets just say I've been through every colour there is and make my own hair dye cocktails to achieve the shade and intensity I want, my hair is long, a little shorter than half way down my back and I can't stress this enough, is in no way what you would call damaged by the hair dye process. So I recommend igora royal color creme in E-00 mixed with a creme peroxide say 25% which you leave in for 15 minutes thereabouts before rinsing it out. You then make up your hair dye cocktail. I order hair dye from the UK by the boxful by the way - A) because it's way cheaper and B) because its superior to anything on the local market at present. To get an intense pink I mix two thirds pink to one third cyclamen which is more purple-pink, sometimes I go half and half. This is trial and error, you need to judge the shade by depth of colour sufficient to last you 2 weeks, if you go for a lighter brighter shade first off in two weeks your hair will be a pastel rather than bright, so aim for depth and in two washes it will be the shade you are aiming for. I wash my hair every third day and in two weeks reapply as it avoid fade out. Once you've lightened your hair to a straw colour - you don't need to go white to get a fabulous colour, apply your cocktail dye and wrap your head in gladwrap, no I'm not kidding, the heat will help the dye absorb better. Watch a movie, read a book, surf the net, whatever for say 2 hours then wash it out. I guarantee if you use a good semi-permanent dye with conditioner inbuilt you can't fail. Two weeks later when you a starting to fade - don't lighten your hair - just reapply your hair dye cocktail. When it comes to a 4 weeks or 6 weeks if you prefer since your original lightening job (this depends on your natural hair colour and when the regrowth starts to show), lighten your hair again with blondier creme as before but just the roots, and only the roots. I promise you, do this and you can maintain a bright, professional looking, affordable hair colour that WILL NOT damage your hair or make you look like feral. I've being doing this for years so this is personal experience - I know. Now go for it - this is publicly acceptable now. 20 years ago you would have got nothing but abuse and had people try and run you down in their cars because they didn't like the way you look. Yes, unfortunately, I know that too.

Hi Nagual. To take this in the order set by you: I’m not a professional hairstylist (of course), I do have personal experience with pink hair (vibrant color, actually), and the proper research for the article has been conducted (if I omitted some details, it could be because I did not want to make this too long a story). However, your tips are greatly appreciated and I’m sure people reading them will find them useful, thank you for sharing them with us. Best, Elena.