How to Dye Your Hair

So you've decided you want to try one of the colours we sell here at HairCrazy.com, but where to start?

Let's Begin with the Basics

Hair colour is translucent. This means that if you put a bright blue dye on jet black hair you're likely to see little or no difference to the black. The blue just won't show on such a dark base. It's like applying water colour paint to a black piece of paper - very little happens.

You'll see the photos in our hair galleries the colours look really bright. So what is the trick to making your hair colour look as good?You need to apply the dye to a lighter base. In other words, if your hair is dark, you'll need to lighten it first.

Lightening your hair can be tricky if your hair has been dyed previously so you may wish to have it bleached at a salon by a professional. Bleaching is a permanent process so you won't need to do it each time you want to re-dye your hair - you'll just need to retouch the roots every few months.

There are home hair lightening kits available but you must follow the directions to the letter and be sure to do a strand and sensitivity test first. You might want to start by bleaching a few streaks and see how you like it before diving in and dyeing all of your hair.

When you lighten your hair it goes through stages; dark, red, orange, gold, yellow-blonde, pale blonde. If you plan on changing colours frequently, you'll need to go light blonde to give you the most choice in future colours. Shades like blue are easily tainted by yellow tones in the hair, and just like mixing paint, will go green if there is too much yellow present. Likewise, violet only looks good when applied to light coloured hair. Shades of red and deep purple will work well on hair that's been bleached to a yellow-blonde but the results may be slightly different to the photos or swatches of that colour. It's just like mixing paint.

The Fun Part

When your hair is a pale creamy blonde comes the fun part - adding some colour!

To get the most out of your colour you should first wash it (don't use conditioner) and towel dry your hair. Conditioner and leftovers from styling products can make it difficult for the dye to soak into your hair, so we recommend using Directions Pre-colour Shampoo to get rid of product build-up and get your hair in a condition to absorb the colour. After all, we want the colour to get into your hair and stay there for a while!

Prepare your work area with newspaper or an old towel and have another old towel for drying your hair. You'll also need to wear an old t-shirt as things can get messy! We also recommend that you sleep with an old pillowcase for a while in case any colour rubs off onto your pillow. Before applying the colour you might want to put some Vaseline around your hairline and ears because some dyes will temporarily stain your skin. Be sure to wear gloves, while applying the dye and also while rinsing. It's not too difficult to get rid of stains on your skin but wearing gloves makes it a lot easier! For a really even coverage apply the dye with a tinting brush. Massaging your hair until the dye begins to foam is a good tip for making sure the dye gets really deep into the hair.

You can leave dyes like Directions, Special Effects, Stargazer and Crazy Color on for quite a while as long as you don't let the dye dry out (never exceed the development time with other dyes, especially those which you have to mix), but 45 minutes is usually about right. The exception is white or silver toner which can go purple or blue if you leave it on your hair too long. For those dyes you should always do a timed strand test.

Finally, just rinse the colour out until the water runs clear and follow with conditioner. Don't forget those gloves!

Maintaining your Colour

Now your hair is perfect, you want to keep it that way! As the dyes we sell here are semi-permanent, you'll probably want to do as much as you can to slow the fading process. For this we have a range of products to help maintain your hair colour and there are a few other things you can do to keep your colour looking fresh.

• Use products for coloured hair - they have UV filters that will stop the sun ruining your colour


• Avoid harsh shampoos which can strip the colour


• Always use conditioner - your hair will hold colour better when it's in good condition


• Put a teaspoon of colour into your conditioner (only with the dyes listed above)

So there you have it, a quick guide to dyeing your hair bright colours and getting great results! Don't forget, there are tons of articles for you to look through! Maybe you'd like to start at the Beginner Guides section?