I know what you’re thinking… “Charlotte, don’t be stupid – you don’t just “accidentally” dye your hair”. But allow me to explain, because it’s not as black and white (and red) as it may initially seem.
You remember that time when you accidentally ate someone else’s Krispy Kreme because you weren’t paying attention? Or that time you innocently forgot to take your pill and had a baby as a result? There are all kinds of accidents, it’s just that some of them aren’t completley blame-less.
I didn’t mean to wake up this morning with bright red hair that leans menacingly toward the cerise, but I’ll admit that it didn’t just ‘happen’ either. It went something like this…
I bought a bottle of Crazy Color semi-permanent hair color cream online from Amazon… after umm-ing and ahh-ing over the shades, I went for #56 Fire mainly because the reviews of some of the other reds in the range were pretty poor. I bought the Renbow Crazy Color because I was looking for something to refresh my recently dyed hair without causing further damage. The Renbow Crazy Color range works by staining the hair shaft without opening the cuticle and penetrating into the hair, it’s a vegetable dye that doesn’t inflict damage in the same way as conventional dyes.
In order to refresh my locks and give them a little boost of colour, I intended to mix a little dye into my conditioner and let it sit for a couple of minutes before rinsing out. Easy peasy! Except, it didn’t quite work out like that.
Once I’d blow dried my hair, I could see that the dye had really taken to my lighter roots, creating an uneven halo effect. Not only that but thanks to my cackhanded application, only the very top layer had grabbed the colour. I tried to live with it for a couple of hours… but I couldn’t kid myself, I looked ridiculous.
So I went for it.
Ignoring the instructions, I applied 3/4 of the bottle to my dry hair and concentrated on ensuring that I was evenly distributing the product throughout. I can’t lie to you, it was messy. At one point, Paul commented that it looked like he’d been trying to murder me. I knew from reading reviews that vegetable dyes are notorious for staining skin and bathrooms but I don’t mind admitting that I got to the point where I didn’t care!
Once I was satisfied that every strand had been covered (and combed through for extra insurance), I set to work on the cleanup. I’d been wearing disposable gloves… an absolute must, trust me. The rest of the cleanup was surprisingly easy – the sink was treated to a hefty dose of Cillit Bang and any ‘staining’ wiped off without any bother. As for my skin? I used a damp flannel and rubbed until my skin bled I decided that I’d rather live with the staining than keep going. I left the dye on for around 30 minutes before rinsing.
And rinsing. And rinsing. I was stood under the shower for another 30 minutes in an attempt to get the water to run clear. Eventually I got bored (and a bit cold) and gave up. At this point, don’t reach for one of your nice towels – you’ll ruin it. I’m gonna burn mine to hide the evidence.
Enough talking… it’s just hair dye. Here’s how it turned out….
BRIGHT!
I’m anticipating that it’s gonna fade quickly (6-8 washes maybe?) so I’ve bought another bottle online and I still have about 1/4 of the first bottle left to go back to my original plan of refreshing the colour by mixing a little in with my conditioner when I wash my hair. I’ll be honest, I’m a bit unsure of my new ‘do’ – it makes my eyes look really green but I think it clashes with my skintone!
Anyway, that’s the story of how one might become an accidental redhead. Call it a cautionary tale if you like.
Do you use vegetable dyes? Got any favourites?!
* oh, by the way, I need to tell you that you all disgusted me, disgusted me with your grubby ways on yesterday’s post – you brilliant, brilliant lot.
The colour is amazing!!! So vibrant. Do you think you’ll need to adjust your makeup to suit? I enjoyed your tale of how the ‘accident’ happened. I completely understand and feel that this is exactly the sort of thing that would happen to me.
PS. I might be going to the hairdressers later. Pray for me! 😀
I love the colour Charlotte its lovely and does suit you. It takes a couple of days to get used to the change but I bet you will fall in love with it x
LOVE IT. I think you suit being a red head 🙂 Veggie dyes never run clear when you rinse them out, which is annoying -_- They also stain some people hair better than box dyes, so you might still have a tinge of red whenever you dye over it.
It does not clash with your skin tone, it looks effing great! I love you in red
If it makes you feel any better, that is the EXACT colour I’ve been trying to get my hair and I now know which dye to try next 🙂 Your hair looks GORGEOUS!
wow, it doesn’t clash with your skin tone at all! that colour is so amazing and ur hair looks so shiny and gorgeous!
Yikes, you look hawt! Fire is very aptly named I reckon and is stunning on you, love it combined with the peachy lip colour. I only wish my home hair colouring “accidents” ended so well, mine usually end up in a salon with me handing over chunks of cash.
W♥w!!! Amazing colour!
It suits your skintone so fine! Very pretty!
I don’t think it clashes with your skintone at all, Charlotte! I love it and if I could, I’d colour my hair the same shade. But it will almost definitely clash with my skintone 😛
It doesn’t clash at all it looks brilliant! I didnt fare so well with renbow dye, I tried lavender and cosmic blue but they didn’t really show on my hair. I’ve had more luck with fudge paintboxes but they’re much more expensive. Btw if you have any Afro Caribbean hair shops near you have a look for the renbow dyes there. I bought mine for £2 each xx
Wow, I love it! So you just plopped the contents on top of your already coloured brown/brunette hair, and this happened? xx
Pretty much, this is the colour it was before: http://www.lipglossiping.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Liz-Earle-Healthy-Glow-Cream-Blush-in-Nude-03_05.jpg (that’s got a 3-week old permanent dye on it)
Wow! Amazing. I’m very tempted to try it out.
My hair is currently my natural hair colour so hopefully it’ll just fade out back to my natural colour.
It looks amazing on you anyway! 🙂
Belive me it is a much different result on bleached hair 😀 its an almost fluorescent bright red that fades to a pinky red.
It looks amazing, really gorgeous accident 🙂
You look great! I’m sorry about the painful application/rinse, but the result is fabulous. Enjoy your new redheadedness!!!
Oh wow! Love it! I’ve been a semi-redhead for ages now (my hair is sort of reddish-golden brown), but this is so much prettier!
I think it looks amazing! It’s bright, but you totally rock it!
It’s reeeeeally pretty 🙂 xxx
LOVE it! X
Love it! It really suits you. I used to use this stuff, got it in the local afro hair shop. It was super cheap – under £2 I think. I had my hair dyed in the salon and then used this when I washed it with my conditioner. It made such a mess though and stained the bath and I ended up getting fed up with the upkeep especially as we don’t have a shower to make the washing easy. I do miss it though.
Brilliant! It doesn’t clash at all. In fact, I think it makes your skin look lighter and brighter. What a lovely accident.
I think your hair looks awesome!
I love it! I recently went red and the dye didn’t take on the ends of my hair, I had a red halo as well!
I now have black hair again!
It looks amazing! Beautiful colour. That’s the kind of red I’d die for, and I nearly did when I became deathly allergic to hair dye all of a sudden!
This post made me die laughing. A particular highlight was the line ‘At one point, Paul commented that it looked like he’d been trying to murder me’. Looking good lady, I love it!
I think it looks lovely – really suits you. And I think this is the first time I have ever seen your teeth!
Oh my gosh! That’s my exact hair color! I use Special Effects Blood Red, though.
I think it looks great on you, and since you keep your hair a bit on the darker side it’ll fade a lot more nicely than it does on my bleached hair. Just watch out on getting your head wet–it can re-stain your skin and turn your hands, your comb, and your sink bright magenta
You look beautiful! I love red hair.
LOVE IT !!!
I actually really like this on you, looks great! It is true that at first your un-sure, but within a couple of days I’m sure you will love it.
It brings out the pinkish hues in your skin tone. Absolutely lovely! Or you apply makeup brilliantly!
It looks great! A handy tip – I used to dye my hair blue (whey!) and I found a really good way to keep vegetable dye colours topped up is by putting some into your conditioner (provided your conditioner isn’t super expensive) so that your colour stays bright x
You look gorgeous! Totally suits you!
Your hair look AMAZING!!!!!! the color looks great on you!!!!!!
I love it, am off now to see if they do a good purple :0)
Looks lovely! I think it suits you.
Wow! You look great. I love it! Don’t listen to the naysayers—do you like it? That’s what counts!
My daughter uses a vegetable based dye called Special Effects in Hot Lava-a really bright coppery red. It never rinses out clear like normal hair dyes so next time don’t worry. And it actually doesn’t fade as fast as you think it would-just don’t wash your hair in really hot water-use cooler water and a cooler blow dry setting too. You can also try “setting” the colour with a vinegar rinse as well.
It looks great on you! Honestly these vegetable dyes are the way to go when going red. They are brighter and last a heck of a lot longer. But yes, they stain your bathroom and make a ruddy mess so be careful!
OH MY GOD. It looks amazing. I love that colour and it looks great on you.
This colour looks FANTASTIC on you.
I wish all my hair ‘accidents’ turned out like this!
I love it! It’s so bright and it really suits you!
It looks fantastic – I think it looks great with your skin tone actually, your skin looks lovely and bright with it!
I accidentally dyed my hair peach once. I was aiming for pale cotton-candy pink, but I’m a natural redhead and red hair doesn’t take kindly to bleach.
That did NOT suit my skin tone. I doubt it would have suited anyone’s skin tone, frankly .___.’
I think the color really compliments your skin. You look ah-mazing. Absolutely fab! what a striking color.
XOXO,
beyondblackbeauty.com
Goes very well with your eye color! Love it!
I think red suits you 🙂 I use vegetable dye to colour mine red too, though I bleach it first so it comes out a lot brighter. If you want the colour to last longer then just use a sulphate free shampoo, wash as infrequently as possible in the coolest water you can stand and try and do at least every second wash as a co-wash (conditioner only, no shampoo). It makes a massive difference especially the SLS free shampoo. Regular washing strips my colour out in a couple of weeks but with this method I only have to re-dye mine once my roots show.
Eeeep it looks amazing on you <333333
ARE YOU INSANE ?????????????? IT LOOKS ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE ON YOU, IT WORKS WITH YOUR SKIN, NOT AGAINST. LOOOOOOOOOOOOVE IT SO MUCH.
It looks gorgeous on you! Gonna have to get me in a bottle of blue and try this stuff. 🙂
I love it! It’s perfect on you! Yay for happy accidents!
The color over-top your brown looks really nice and suits you well! Nice accidental awesomeness!
Also, the nice thing about vegetable dyes is that you can sleep in them. The directions say 30 minutes, but I’ve had better luck with colors staying if I sleep on them. Get a plastic shower cap to cover your head during sleep time and rinse in the morning. The color stays more true for longer.
Oh, I love it! I think it looks wonderful with your skin! I wish I had the nerve to do that. 🙂
::gasp of delight::
I am in love with your accidental new color!
The red is gorgeous! And I think it makes your skin look very luminous, does not clash at all.
I think this is stunning on you- wish I got such great results on purpose! Think you look lovely, and it makes your skin look incredibly glowy!
LOVE it! Makes your eyes really pop! Gorgeous.
Love it and welcome to the club!
I LOVE this colour on you, it really suits you! It definitely makes your eyes look very striking, and I don’t think it clashes with your skin at all.
Loving it. That red hair/pale skin combo is such a great look. Makes me wish I had paler skin, actually.
I happen to really love the color on you with your fair skin tone. However, I had your color once before and completely getting rid of any blue red tones is very hard. It’ll fade into a more pinkish look until you refresh the color and very shower, you’re hair will bleed. You should stick with moroccan shampoo and conditioner or any non sulfate products because they decrease color fading. Blue red color is fun and if you have the right features, which you do, it looks fabulous. But don’t overdo it with the color even if it starts looking pink in the next week or two. This color has a history of browning out the hair especially the ends and it’s virtually impossible, without bleaching and damage, to get the brown out of the ends. I would suggest having a colorist do it next time. You have beautiful hair and I’m sure you want to keep it that way.
But you do look fabulous!
Dlori
kleimanlaw at aol dot com
Can anyone tell me what it does to those pesky grey hairs? Will it make them go pink? I’m going to get some as an ‘inbetween dyes’ colour brightener to mix with my conditioner, like someone has already suggested. I am an already quite bright red, but my greys keep peeking through. Any comments?
Mine don’t appear to have gone pink but I wouldn’t go for this one if you’re looking for longevity – it needs topping up with every wash x
Mine do go a little pink but it really depends on how long you leave it on for x
I absolutely love it Charlotte! I use Fire to top up my salon red every 3 washes and with any red it never lasts because the hair just cant take it! It is a case of if you want red hair or a shade of red you will always be topping it up and its something ive become very used too.
I do get lazy and depending on whats been used on my hair and how recently it either goes an orange-pink or a pink colour. It is currently pink haha!
You will find with any crazy colour when you rinse the water will never run clear so I say rinse for about 10-15 mins then you are done. I am totally gonna try the whole adding it to dry hair though because your colour is so vibrant
x
So beautiful! I did something similar once with a Manic Panic color called Pillarbox Red – started my whole redheaded adventure, as I’m a devoted henna addict now. (Much more permanent and natural looking…MP didn’t last on me at all.)