It has been about two and a half years since I've had a full head of hair that was my natural color. During my senior year of high school, I finally annoyed my parents into letting me dye my hair, and to be honest, I couldn't tell you what color I tried first. It was probably blue or purple or some combination of the two. After I ditched boring old brown, I never looked back. Well, that's not entirely true. Even though having blue hair is great, it can be a huge pain in the butt to maintain. Whether you dyed your hair once or a million times, odds are you probably ran into a few of these problems.
1. It doesn't last long
The sad thing about unnatural hair dye is that it is never permanent, especially the kind you purchase at a store. Some last longer than others, but for the most part, your dye job will last around six weeks, depending on your maintenance. Washing your hair and exposure to the sun make it fade, and although you can control the former, the latter is a bit out of your hands. Unless you never leave the house.
2. Showering is never the same
If you want your hair color to last, you'll have to change how you shower. Cold water will do the least damage, and you might need to invest in shampoo that is sulfate free and specifically designed for dyed hair. It isn't so bad in the summer, but washing your hair with cold water in the winter is 100% as bad as it sounds. Plus, the more you wash it, the more it fades, so when I dye my hair, I shower way less. Well, I wash my hair way less. Dry shampoo becomes your new best friend.
3. Dye everywhere
Your pillowcase, your towels, your shower, your floor... there will be hair dye everywhere, no matter how hard you try to be careful. The dorm room from my first year in college has a fair share of hair dye stains on the floor because my room mate loved dyeing our hair, and didn't have the budget to get it done professionally. Especially after you first dye it, you have to keep track of what you put your head on to avoid ruining all your stuff.
4. Awkward fading
In a perfect world, hair dye would fade evenly until it eventually washes out completely, but alas, here we are. Fading varies widely depending on the color, the weather, how you wash your hair, etc. For the longest time I had a red/pink color that washed out almost completely, except for the area right near my roots. Whenever I wore my hair pulled back (which was every day, essentially) I had my roots (dark brown) a weird halo of red/pink and then the rest was blonde. It is not a look I want to replicate.
5. DIY is risky (but cheap)
The ultimate question every person has to ask themselves when dying their hair: DIY or professional salon? When it comes to bleaching your hair, the safer option is leaving it to the professionals. I bleach my own hair, and I've been pretty lucky so far, but my hair has definitely taken some unnecessary damage. The actual hair color isn't as risky, but it is pretty labor intensive if you've got a lot of hair. More complex dye jobs (rainbow, ombre, etc.) are way harder to nail, but certainly not impossible. Every hair dye enthusiast would choose a salon in a heartbeat, but most of us don't have that kind of cash.
6. It's all worth it in the end
Despite all of the hair dye woes, fun hair is totally worth it. You look fierce, you feel fierce, and everyone knows it.
