The crimson-locked siren below is my friend, Stephanie Inagaki. Stephanie is an artist and head designer of coveted jewelry label, Miyu Decay.
Stephanie has very, very, very long hair. A few weeks ago she called me up and asked if I could dye it red. All of it. I laughed, hung up, caught my breath and called back, saying that I’ll dye some of it, but that’s the best I can offer. So we got to work and took a few photos in the process, to show you how it’s done.
A lot of peeps with super-long hair are anxious about adding streaks themselves, but I’m here to tell you you don’t need no steenkin’ salon if you’ve got a few hours and an extra pair of hands around. The method below should also be useful for other hair lengths.
THE TOOLS
- Plastic bowl
- Dye applicator brush
- Rubber gloves
- Aluminum foil
- Plastic wrap
- Hair clips
- 40 volume creme developer
- Clear Blue powder bleach
- Manic Panic hair color
- Deep conditioner
- Red wine, fresh bread, fine cheeses and gourmet hummus help, but are not necessary
- THE METHOD
- Mix up your bleach and developer
- Separate the section of hair to be dyed
- Please foil under the section
- Have the dye-ee hold the foil, while the dye-er diligently applies bleach mix
- Once all desired hair is well-saturated with bleach, fold foil over, then roll up
- Cover foiled chunk with plastic wrap re prevent drip, then clip in place
- Wait no more than 45 minutes, then shampoo and rinse
- Repeat if necessary
- Shampoo well, but do not condition
- Using the same foil technique, apply dye, and roll up
- Rinse dye out with cold water, until it runs clear, or almost clear
- Pile on the deep conditioner, and leave it on for 5 to 10 minutes – your hair’s been through a lot
- Rinse with cold water, and you’re all done!
- The desired level of lightness depends on what color you intend to use after. Reds and oranges require the least amount of bleaching, but lighter, cooler colors need more
- Leave dye on for at least an hour and a half. Since we’re using vegetable dye, this is safe because it stains your hair without damage
- Because we dyed the entire top section of Stepahine’s hair, when worn down it gives the look of individual streaks. And that’s how you save your time, your money, and your sanity by avoiding the salon. Until the future!
Yeeeesh, you’re a much braver woman than I am to be willing to take on that much hair. I don’t think I could imagine doing ALL of it.
It could be done, of course, but the task calls someone more patient than me. Or me and a BIG bribe.
This came just at the right time for me! I have a friend who has just asked me to help bleach her hair for the first time. I’ve been bleaching and coloring my (very short) hair for years, but I’ve never dealt with hair as long as hers before. Here’s hoping all goes well.
(And lovely job, the streaking looks really great!)
As someone who has dyed their long hair many different colours, I have also come to the conclusion that streaks are best. I always come back to the same style: black hair with bright red segments at the front.
Long brightly coloured hair isn’t something I can keep for a long time!
Wow, you weren’t kidding about that long hair! Looks good though, nicely done.
haha! thanks zoe! ’twas lots o’ fun. :)
You’re welcome, Stephanie! I got wine and cheese and a bleach-job out of it, too. Fair trade, I say.
Hahaha LOVE this post
wonderful job!
kakie krutye shtuki iz metalla!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Since reading this yesterday I have become obsessed with the idea of doing this in purple with my hair – mid-dark-brown, just barely waist-length. Darn unemployment!
Wow, she has really long hair. You also can use cold carbonated water to rinse the bleach hair ;)
Speaking of dye… I miss your beautiful blue hair!
Smashing job!
; )
Zoetica, My daughter (who is 18) would like for me to cut her hair similar to yours, with a few tweaks here there. The thing is, I am having trouble trying to picture what to do with the back. I need an idea, a guide line, a point in the right direction! I was wondering if you would be so kind as to post a picture of the back of your head to help me get an idea of where to start? I would be most appreciative, especially since your haircut was the only one that she felt suited! Thank you so much, Lissa
Now that, is a whole lot of hair, but you did wonders with it, I’ve found that trying to dye my own hair always end in some messy/sloppy results
Nice job. I’ve never been able to make Manic Panic work for me for some reason. – even with prebleaching- the stuff never takes. I stick w/ Special Effects. Thanks for this hair tutorial – reminds me that I need to bleach my roots asap.
I have to agree with thea. I used Manic Panic (red, purple, pink) for a few years but have grown to LOVE Special Effects hair dye. It last SO much longer and doesn’t fade nearly as fast. Plus, it’s a vegetable-based dye as well. :-D Great job on that hair though! I used to have a friend with hair half as long who would dye it all purple. Needless to say, her entire bathtub was purple all the time!
Really insightful blog post. I just wanted to ask, did Stephanie have black dye in her hair before you bleached it or is she one of the lucky ones with hair that naturally dark?
Yeesh. Her hair must be almost as long as she is tall!
At least it looks healthy- most women that let their hair get that long don’t take proper care of it and it looks limp and sad.
Being a hairdresser, I’ve worked with clients that had super-long hair before (one took an hour and a half just to blow dry), but nothing quite like this. You’re a braver and more patient person than I, Zo! Good on ya!
I have pretty long hair myself (hip length) but to those who have light brown or even lighter hair, I would suggest you dye it without bleaching it.
I dyed all of my hair bright purple for a while, and I had it bleached at first by a friend, but even after my own color started growing out, with the purple dye over top you couldn’t see the difference between bleached or my own light brown hair.
I no longer have it purple now (corporate job ftl) but the part where I bleached it is still kind of fried, regardless of hair masks, good care etc. I only bleached it once too.
I estimate it will take another 7 years or so for it to fully grow out.
so yea, just a heads up, if you have long hair but a lighter color, chances are you wont even see the difference between bleached or not, but bleaching can fry your hair where as just dyeing it an odd color won’t.
Once you made a post about some sort of a serum that you use on your skin at night. I was wondering what that was. My skin has been super dry and I would LOVE to to try it out. Thanks! Teiva