5 Tips for Making Your Wild or Punky Hair Color Last Longer

Love your wild new Manic Panic or Special Effects hair color but worried it will fade out quickly and you'll need to re-dye it every few weeks? Some colors tend to fade faster than others, especially the pale or pastel colors and very vivid colors which will fade to softer pastel versions of the original colors.

If you've dyed your hair a wild or punky color before then you know how disappointing it can be to get the perfect color only to have it fade out after a week or two. Here are some tips that will help keep your color the way you want it for longer, gathered from personal experience and the experiences of my friends over the course of the last fifteen years.

1. Bleach first. Bleaching is a pain and most of the time you won't want to do it before coloring your hair but it's essential to bleach first. Dyes like Manic Panic, Special Effects, or Punky Color are designed to be used on bleached hair so always bleach your hair first.

2. Leave the dye on your hair. The packages usually tell you to leave the dye in for 10-20 minutes but if you want to make the color last longer and be much more vivid leave the dye on for at least an hour. The longer you leave it in, the longer the color will last. Some people even wrap their heads in plastic and leave the dye on for 12-24 hours.

3. Heat helps. Instead of just wrapping your hair in a towel tuck it inside a processing cap from the beauty supply store. This will help hold in the heat and help the dye process. Add heat from a blow dryer even half an hour or so as well.

4. Rinse with vinegar. When you first color your hair add an extra vinegar rinse to help the color permeate your hair. After you rinse out the dye pour white vinegar on your hair. The smell will be eye - opening, but it will really help set the color. Leave the vinegar in your hair for one or two minutes and then rinse out and condition your hair.

5. Refresh your color periodically. Keep the bottle of hair dye that you used, or if you used the whole bottle get another one. Once a week after you wash your hair mix a few tablespoons of dye in with your conditioner. Apply it to your hair and let it sit for five or 10 minutes then rinse as normal. This will give your color a boost and give you a little extra conditioning.

If you follow these tips your hair color will last longer and stay much brighter so that you don't have to dye it as often and can keep that great wild color.