I’ve always loved idea of coloring my hair a vibrant color. I’ve been successful at doing it before, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to get the best results unless I bleached my hair. While I’ve been dying my hair since high school, I knew that bleaching it would make it unhealthier. Additionally, most colored dyes are temporary; the vibrant color will eventually fade leaving only the bleached blonde hair on my mismatched Filipino complexion.
This is my current Facebook profile picture, which is also unedited. I’m currently letting my roots grow out, but you can also see the color of what I used to dye my hair. Also, at the ends of my hair, I’ve dyed it a lighter brown to give it a subtle ombre effect.
I frequent the Groupon Goods section and one time, I spotted a nine-pack of hair shadow for only $10. Hair shadow is like eye shadow except for your hair; it gives a vibrant color, but can easily be washed off. I decided to try it out since it was cheap and came with multiple colors. (Well, apparently, art pastels work the same as hair shadow; they’re even the same price and come in more colors. Expect a blog post of that sometime in the future!)
If you visit Colorsmash’s website, you can see I got a really good deal as the regular price of one hair shadow is already $12.99. They do have some interesting colors I’d like to try out.
I’ve wanted to dye my hair both purple and pink in the past, so I decided to work with those hair shadow colors first. I started with the purple hair shadow named “Oh La Lavender.” I believe I had a bit of beginner’s un-luck; I accidentally pressed my hair onto the shadow a little too hard and the shadow started to slowly fall apart onto my sink. By the time I was satisfied with my hair color, I almost ran out of that shadow and my sink nearly turned purple.
I dyed my fingers too. Also, this is not the complete mess; I let water run through my sink a bit.
I had much better luck with the pink color named “Je Ne Sais Quoi.” On a different occasion, I also tried out the red color, “American Rose.” After experimenting with those three colors, here are some rules I came up with that left me satisfied with my hair color.
Note: Hair shadow is used to dye the ends of your hair or a few strands, not your entire scalp.
- I recommend applying hair shadow after washing your hair and blow drying it. If your hair is too wet, your hair will be left a tangly mess after applying the hair shadow. If your hair is too dry, the color may not last as long or be as vibrant. Also, I’m sure you’ve heard of this rule before, if not, when you blow dry your hair in general, you’re not to supposed to blow dry it all the way dry. It’s healthier to dry it only up to 80%.
- As you can tell by the pictures, I highly recommend applying hair shadow over your sink. If a few shadow particles land on the sink, it’s easy to wash away.
- Wear a shirt you don’t mind getting some accidental hair shadow on.
- Apply petroleum jelly around the areas you don’t want to get hair shadow on such as your fingers or your neck. Hair shadow is definitely easier to get rid of on your skin compared to dye, but just in case, petroleum jelly is a great preventer of accidental skin coloring.
- Make sure your hair is as untangled as possible. As I briefly mentioned, hair dye does leave your hair in a bit of a tangle.
- Hold a small strand of your hair taut.
- Hold the shadow like a brush and firmly press and brush it into your hair. The method isn’t entirely mess free because some particles will fall into the sink and a bit of shadow will touch your fingers. But the mess should be minimal.
- Repeat until you get the desired color/look.
- Seal with hairspray.
Tips:
- The whiter your hair, the more vibrant the hair color will be. This is how it is for all hair coloring products, though.
- Try not to play with your hair or the color will rub off onto your hands.
- The shadow will only get only get onto if the parts of your hair with the shadow is pressed up against something, like the headrest of your car or the back of your shirt while sitting down. This can easily be washed off with proper cleaning products.
- It should easily come off your hair with shampoo and conditioner in the shower.
- I don’t recommend sleeping with hair shadow still on. Not only will it stain your pillowcase, but the color will also fade. If you must, though, cover your pillowcase with something you don’t mind getting dirty. If you have long hair, put your hair up before you go to sleep so that way the parts of your hair with the shadow will only touch the thing protecting your pillowcase.
Hopefully with more experience, I can make the hair shadow last longer and be more vibrant. I’d also love to incorporate it in different stylings of my hair.
I put my hair up in a sock bun with braid and only used hair shadow on the braid.
Do you have any additional tips for hair shadow? What cool ways have you used hair shadow? I’d love to know, especially if you have pictures!
DANICAT 