3 min read

So you want to be a MERMAID or a UNICORN?

I mean, that was a silly question right…? HEHE.

Here’s the 411 on getting your hair to be those fun colors that are vibrant, pastel, neon, metallic :

The thing is these colors are an advanced technique and need to be done with care and lots of hair lovin.

If you want these fun colors your hair needs to be lightened to blonde first because if not the color won’t look as vibrant or as pastel as you may want it. Think about when you were a kid and drew on construction paper; markers and crayon colors never looked as good as they did on plain white paper right? That’s why! If there's pigment blocking the color's true potential it won’t shine as it’s true self. Let that color shine baby!

These colors, like most things in this life, are not permanent. Since these colors are unnatural they don’t have the potential to last long or be permanent; they are called a semi-permanent color which means it sits on the outside of the hair strand. Think of it as a stain… over time the vibrancy of a stain washes out, it’ll always be seen a little bit but over time it will fade away. The more you get your hair wet and wash it the faster your color will fade from your hair.

Water is the #1 cause of hair color fading so just getting it wet alone will cause the color to rinse out. HOT water especially will cause the color to fade out faster, also any type of heat, whether it's from the sun, or hot tools!

It’s important you take home the recommended hair products suggested by your stylist because we want your hair to look and feel it’s best to make sure your color stays as long as possible. I have another blog on why it’s important to purchase your hair products from the salon. DRY SHAMPOO is your new best friend when you get fun colors in your hair!

Have commitment issues? Can’t even make a decision on a color at the nail salon? What about the color you want your hair for a long time?

This is an important decision to make because it's on your head! These colors are a COMMITMENT so be prepared for up-keep; your roots will be ready for a retouch at 4 weeks as will your vibrant color. Anything past 4 weeks your hair will need a color correction again because the hair won’t lift to blonde as easily due to the hair becoming too long and far away from the scalps natural heat. Your pastel color may need to be redone in 1-2 weeks depending on how often you wash your hair.

Depending on your hair history such as; have you ever colored your hair before, how light or dark is your natural hair color, is your hair healthy enough to withstand this color?

I’m coming to you from experience of not only a hairstylist for 7 years but also a fellow mermaid. My natural hair is black, I had to make my hair blonde to get my hair to the fun colors I've had in my hair such as purple, pink, blue, teal, + more! My hair did not like me for a while, she was dry, split, fragile, and pissed TF off lol! I kept my hair like that for over a year and it was longer than it is now it was about shoulder length, I kept cutting it and cutting it so make it healthy but it got to the point where I was ready for a change and it was a lot of work to keep it healthy so it was easier for me to just CHOP IT OFF!

I’ll attach pictures of my hair below so you can see my hair journey.