How to Dye Your Hair Blue and Meet New People

"What honey? Do you see your coach, or someone you know?" The little girl keeps tugging at her father's shirt, and hiding behind his leg. She doesn't want to get in trouble for staring, because she's been told it's rude to stare. We're standing in line at the zoo, waiting to get in to look at the animals, and at the moment I am the one on display. The bright sun is beaming down on my hair, making the blue shine. I glance down at the nervous little girl, and only then realize that she's been staring at me.

"Oh, you see her blue hair. Isn't it pretty?" The father says. "It's okay, you can look at it."

"It's meant to be looked at." I say, smiling and twining my fingers through my hair. "It's blue! You're supposed to look."

"I should do that." Says another man. "Dye my hair green."

"I dye my hair all the time, to get rid of the grey, but I think blue would be even better." A woman says from behind me.

Inside the zoo, I catch out of the corner of my eye as people glance at me, and then do a double take, their eyes wider with surprise. They have to look twice to make sure they really saw that the girl walking by had blue hair. Children point and beg their parents to look. A woman dressed up as a Star Wars Bounty Hunter, who has been serving ice cream to the zoo goers, tells me that my hair looks beautiful and asks how I did it.

"Oh, I bleached my hair and then put in the blue dye, left it in for six hours, blow drying my hair for fifteen minutes every hour. Then I rinsed it once with vinegar, and then washed the dye out with cold water."

"Six hours?"

"Yeah, I want to make it last a long time."

"Wow. You are brave."

I'm brave? She's running around dressed as a Star Wars character, and she thinks I'm brave?

While I'm looking at the bears, an older couple stands beside me, and I sense their surprise as they glance at me. For a few minutes they pretend to ignore me, their faces towards the bears, but their eyes toward me.

"Wouldn't I look great with colored hair?" The man asks his wife. "Neon green hair, what do you think?"

"You'd look like a fool."

"Nah, I think he should go pink." I say, joining in their conversation without being asked.

"You're right. Pink would be less foolish." The older woman says.

As I make my way to the end of the zoo, I smile at the people who smile at me, glare at those who give me mortified looks, and ignore those who ignore me. I always laugh when I'm out in public and find myself the center of attention, as complete strangers discuss changing their hair color to green, or purple, or pink. Of course, not a one of them actually will, but the idea of becoming someone new, out of the norm, amuses them and they dream.

Want to be one of the brave and dye your hair a different color? Here's how I did it:

What you need:

Hair color of choice

Hair color removal kit(optional)

Bleach kit

Towel
Wet cloth

Medical Tape

Helpers(don't try this by yourself, please)

Travel sized empty shampoo bottle

Blow dryer

Time(plenty of it)

Wide tooth comb

White vinegar

Guts

1) Take a trip to Sally Beauty. I bought everything I needed there in one trip. The hair color, hair color remover, bleach kit, shampoo bottle, and I even picked up some conditioner for bleached hair at a discounted price. Sally was good to me.

2) Gather your helpers. People do this stuff by themselves all the time, I know, but I wouldn't trust that I would be able to evenly spread all those harmful chemicals in my hair so that it comes out one color and not multiple shades. Trust someone who can see your entire head.

3) If your hair is dyed a different color already you're going to want to use a hair color remover first. It's not going to magically restore your hair to its natural color, but it will strip out some of the color and make the bleaching process work better. I used Ion Brilliance Color Corrector. A warning: The box claimed it had a "pleasant" smell. I don't know who did the sniffing for them, but in my opinion the stuff smelled like sewage. Follow the directions provided. Simple stuff.

4) Now for the bleaching. This part made me nervous because of all the horror stories I've heard about bleaching your hair and it all falling out. I used Manic Panic 30 Volume Bleach Kit. It provides everything you need, including a little mixing bowl and comb. I suggest wearing a button up shirt that you don't care about, and placing a towel around your shoulders. Have your helpers follow the directions carefully(please do as they say). Wear the plastic cap that is provided because the heat helps. Please, do not leave the bleach in your hair if your scalp starts to burn. I don't care if you think you can handle pain, the burning is not a good thing. Also, do not leave the bleach in for longer than an hour! You want your hair to fall out before you can dye it blue?

5) Blow dry your hair. If your hair doesn't come out a yellowish blonde, and is slightly orange, don't worry. If you are as obsessive as I was with the blue dye, it will still work. If you're worried, you can tone your hair to white, but I didn't do that so I can't help you there.

6) Immediately after bleaching your hair you can dye it blue. Don't wait, because now is the perfect time to dye it. The hair will take color very well at that point. Have your helpers place medical tape around your hairline, over your ears, and underneath along your neck. This will catch the dye so it won't color your skin. Many people say to use conditioner for this, but conditioner, if it gets in your hair, will take out the color before you even put it in! Keep a damp cloth nearby in case some color hits your skin and your helpers can wipe it away quickly.

7) When people bleach their hair it tends to get very dry, and you'll need to condition it more often. A little trick I learned is to put about a tablespoon of your hair color in a travel sized shampoo bottle, and then fill the rest with your conditioner. Mix it up so you have blue conditioner. When you condition your hair, and leave it in for five to ten minutes, you're also putting some of the blue back into your hair as well! Mix your conditioner before you start dying your hair so that you know you have enough dye for the bottle.

8) Follow the directions written on the dye container. I used Manic Panic again. There are other companies with great hair colors, such as Punky Colors and Special FX, but Sally Beauty only carried Manic Panic so that's what I went with. Using a comb(you could use the little one provided with the bleach kit, but, to me, it was too small) start about an inch from your roots and work the dye down the length of your hair. Keep that up until your hair is covered, and then do the roots. After that just slather the stuff on. Use every drop no matter how short your hair is. Keep working the color in so that it gets frothy and foamy.

9) Once there isn't a drop of dye left and your hair's completely saturated, place the plastic cap back on your head(wash it thoroughly first since you used it for bleaching). Then sit back and relax for the next three to six hours. Actually, relax for about an hour, then get up and blow dry your hair for about fifteen minutes. Like with the bleach, the heat will help the dye penetrate your hair. Blow dry your hair every hour. Have no fear of leaving this dye in your hair. It's made of plant extracts and is safe to leave in as long as you want.

10) Once you've had enough of that, remove the tape and rinse your hair out with white vinegar once. Yes, you read that right. Don't rinse the dye out completely, just run some vinegar over your hair. It will help keep the color in. Trust me.

11) Then wash the dye out of your hair with cold water. This will be very messy and you will end up with a blue sink or shower. You could just take off that button up shirt I told you to wear and throw yourself in the shower, but make sure you wash all the color off of your skin as it runs down your body. I don't know about you, but I'm not one for cold showers, so I had my helper rinse my hair out while I stuck my head under the sink. If you choose this option, cover your face with a towel.

12) You now have blue hair! Or green, or pink, or whatever you choose. Remember, these colors are not permanent and will wash out after about forty washes. You can make it last longer by not washing your hair as often(if it's dry because of bleaching you won't need to wash it often, only condition), and by using the conditioner/dye mixture.

13) Final step: Go out and meet new people!