DIY mermaid dip-dye with Manic Panic :) Pic HEAVY!

[italianamama]

I haven't dyed my hair in seven years and I was itching for a bit of change! But not too much change :) I thought that the mermaid hair trend of just dying the ends would be perfect for me to try. I absolutely love love love the results and I wanted to share!

Of note, this was all done on virgin hair. I did use a bleach processor first, the Manic Panic lightening kit. For the color I used Manic Panic's After Midnight Blue. I also did have my best friend around to help out with the dying process (especially the bleaching!). It was really nice to have a second pair of hands to help.

First, in order to get that piecey look, I separated my hair into sections with rubber bands. I tried to make it a bit uneven to get the dip-dye effect. My friend bleached and foiled my ends up to the rubber band, and I let the bleach process for 45 minutes. My normal hair color is a very dark brown, and the bleach lifted my color to a very light brown. There was a bit of orange brassiness but that was ok with me because I wanted some green in there!

http://i1050.photobucket.com/albums/s408/italianamama/DIY%20mermaid%20dip%20dye/1BC1124D-5E92-4A99-AE8D-F7D74EDB67A2-14189-00000B1BCAB04BA3.jpg
http://i1050.photobucket.com/albums/s408/italianamama/DIY%20mermaid%20dip%20dye/DBB1342B-55B2-42C7-9030-3578A74C4D0D-14189-00000B1B80744239.jpg

After very thoroughly rinsing the bleach out (which is incredibly important especially with the Manic Panic because any residual bleach will interfere with color absorption) my friend liberally applied the Manic Panic from about 3-4 inches above the bleach line down. She sectioned off my hair and used foils for the process. I than let the color process for about 9 hours before I rinsed it out. I used a plastic shower cap to help keep the mess contained during the waiting time. Another great trick I used to keep my hair contained during the dying is that I put it in a low ponytail. If you're just doing the ends and you hair is waist length or longer, this will work really well. After the initial rinsing off of the color, I soaked my ends in white vinegar for five minutes to set the color. Also, buy gloves and protect your floor! Manic Panic gets EVERYWHERE!

http://i1050.photobucket.com/albums/s408/italianamama/DIY%20mermaid%20dip%20dye/1A2D8B44-7CC8-4840-AB59-451FC2051A52-14189-00000B1B971EED4F.jpg
http://i1050.photobucket.com/albums/s408/italianamama/DIY%20mermaid%20dip%20dye/28C2B774-0C2C-4D46-8860-FF7E2710C06F-14189-00000B1B673E26F2.jpg

Here's my results! (Hands indicate waist)

http://i1050.photobucket.com/albums/s408/italianamama/DIY%20mermaid%20dip%20dye/8D086DDD-4024-4C49-A1F3-A453CFB4B60D-14189-00000B1B388D37FB.jpg
http://i1050.photobucket.com/albums/s408/italianamama/DIY%20mermaid%20dip%20dye/9EE40FB6-B992-4559-A01B-0995F98BBC6C-14189-00000B1B2B22E9D9.jpg
http://i1050.photobucket.com/albums/s408/italianamama/DIY%20mermaid%20dip%20dye/C46F798D-D4D4-4F7C-A129-9236E3299ED8-14189-00000B1AF9CD1F8E.jpg
http://i1050.photobucket.com/albums/s408/italianamama/DIY%20mermaid%20dip%20dye/F16F4999-CB62-4104-BEDD-8A917D2CF7B9-14189-00000B1AD77FC95D.jpg

Now I'm a mermaid!!!!

[oatmealpie]

Lovely! You do indeed look like a mermaid! That's a great technique to get a natural, piecey look and avoid the eternal issue of root growth.

I hadn't heard of using vinegar to help set the color. Can any of the science-minded folks explain why that works? Is it something about the pH level?

[artemishunt]

Woah that's beautiful!

[red-again]

Vinegar closes the hair cuticle as its acidic. Hopefully that makes the colour last longer

Btw, it looks great!

[millyaulait]

Very mermaid-y! :o

[10000days]

Wow!!! I love it!!!! Oh no- you've just planted a seed... just when I'm growing out for 100% virgin!

[see_turtle]

SO pretty!!

[HadessThera]

Soooo pretty :) you did a wonderful job and it looks very mermaidesque :)

[missfaroe]

Wow this turned out well for you! Looks absolutely stunning! You have such beautiful hair! :o

[Vanilla]

I love it! :)

[PrincessIdril]

That looks amazing!
I had no idea this was a trend, I've been doing something similar myself recently with hair chalk (all colour I do has to be temporary because of work :( ) I have accidentally been trendy! lol

[Anywhere]

That's very beautiful! You did an excellent job! It blends in very nicely.

[Mya]

W-H-O-A

I could never imagine Manic Panic could do that.

[Bagginslover]

That looks really pretty! I don't usually like dip dyes so much, but it really does look great! Also, your figure is wonderful! fabulous curves! (hope thats not a creepy thing to say, I mean it as a totaly non-creepy compliment ;) )

[Nev]

Fun! and the color turned out so pretty!

[DarkCurls]

I love dip-dyes and that is such an awesome color. :D I also like the tattoo on your arm.

[Lunadriael]

I love this. It works really well with your waves.

[oktobergoud]

Very pretty, I love it :D

[melusine963]

If I ever have the courage to dip dye my ends, I think I'll follow your technique. Thank you for posting such clear instructions. The results look great on you!

[Ocelan]

That looks perfect! Some of my favourite colors in there! Oh no, don't you enable me! Though my hair in the ends isn't virgin yet so basically it couldn't hurt... No, don't let me do it! ;)

[Jenny31557]

Very pretty I love it!

[maborosi]

That is GORGEOUS! I love that color!

~maborosi~

[labailaora]

Wow, that's SUPER pretty! I love that shade of blue/green and it blends really nicely with the rest of your hair!

[aspartame gram]

OMG! This is so amazing! I love it!!!! You are definitely a mermaid! ^_^

[joflakes]

Ahh! Beautiful :crush:

[Micayla47]

i love it! i wish i could do the same, but the last 6 inches of my hair were damaged from bleach, so they have about 6 layers of henna.

[BambooBeauty]

Amazing!!!! I love it

[spidermom]

Simply gorgeous; hope it lasts a long time for you.

[jacqueline101]

Looks awesome.

[italianamama]

One, thank you all for all the awesome compliments!!! (And no the compliment about my curves is not at all creepy and much appreciated.) I'm totally thrilled that this dye thingy worked out exactly the way I had planned on paper :D

I was the most apprehensive about the bleaching part of the process because I have NEVER bleached before. During the time the bleach was developing I checked my strands every 10 minutes or so to make sure we were on the right track with the color. I probably could have left the bleach on a lot longer and got a brighter blue, but I wanted to avoid as much bleach damage as I could.

The Manic Panic is the best dye I have ever used, hands down. The key really is to leave it on for as long as you can stand it, 9 hours in my case. I have enough of the blue to last me for touchups for the rest of the year! I probably won't repeat the bleach process for as long as I can hold out. When I do I'll try a tip I sadly read after the fact, which is to bleach and than use Manic Panic's Virgin Snow, THAN after rinsing that out, process with your bright color.

All in all, I'm totally thrilled with the results :D

[rut.de.leu]

Just a tip (I actually learned this here) - to avoid bleach damage in the future, or for anyone else considering doing this, coat your hair in coconut oil prior to bleaching it. It can be dripping! Then, without rinsing, bleach using a low-volume bleach for as long as needed to get the lift desired. (Though if bleaching all of your hair, always apply bleach to roots last because heat from the scalp causes bleach to work very fast.)
Coconut oil prevents damage and makes bleach work more quickly and more evenly. I am one example in a sea of success stories - even results and no additional damage to speak of.

Your color results look gorgeous! I love the tone and how it pops with your dark hair :)

[rut.de.leu]

Ah, I meant to add one more thing.

Virgin Snow is a purple toner.
What it does is neutralizes warmer or "brassy" tones (yellow, orange) from fully-lifted hair by adding cool tones (blue, purple). It does not work on just any bleached hair; it needs to be hair that has been bleached to the lightest level it can get to.
Virgin Snow might actually put darker tones back into your hair if used on hair that isn't first made light enough.

So don't feel bad that you didn't use it the first time! Your hair wasn't made light enough to have been positively affected by the product, and it actually could have taken you back a step or two.

[italianamama]

I actually did soak my ends in coconut oil! I forgot to mention that step :/ Much appreciation for you bringing it up though. I haven't noticed any change in the condition of my ends yet. I probably could have let the bleach process a lot longer but- because this was my first time bleaching ever- I got that bleach off the instant I thought my strands were light enough!

Thanks for the FYI about the Manic Panic Virgin Snow!

I did get some brassiness when I lightened. It wasn't a lot but I wanted to get a bit of green undertone (cause, Mermaid) in there so I was ok with it. Anyone know how to get brassiness out of light brown hair, just so I can avoid it the next time if I need to?

[rut.de.leu]

I'm happy for your hair! :D

You can probably find a blue or purple (possibly labelled "ash" or described as reducing brassy tones) toner or color corrector in a place like Sally, such as this one which seems to have good results for many reviewers http://www.sallybeauty.com/Red-Gold-Corrector-Plus/ARDELL20,default,pd.html?cgid=Hair05-07
A purple toner isn't a bad idea, but Virgin Snow in particular tends to deposit too much except on nearly-white hair and can darken hair back up.

[Quixii]

Beautiful!

And I hadn't heard the vinegar thing before. I'll have to check that out.

[rut.de.leu]

Vinegar does several things. As someone mentioned already, it closes the hair cuticle, which sets color to prevent fading - but it also neutralizes bleach to prevent progressive lightening, and prevents further pigment uptake, which is especially important for traditional permanent dyes.
It's also lovely as a rinse for many people and helps to reduce frizz and buildup, but rinses should be heavily diluted. Using vinegar to set dye, or to neutralize bleach or dye, can be done less-diluted if you'd like.

[ejking2]

Lovely! I did something very similar recently using blue Pravana Vivids.

[italianamama]

Vinegar does several things. As someone mentioned already, it closes the hair cuticle, which sets color to prevent fading - but it also neutralizes bleach to prevent progressive lightening, and prevents further pigment uptake, which is especially important for traditional permanent dyes.
It's also lovely as a rinse for many people and helps to reduce frizz and buildup, but rinses should be heavily diluted. Using vinegar to set dye, or to neutralize bleach or dye, can be done less-diluted if you'd like.

I barely diluted my vinegar and it was more of a dip than a wash. It was just regular white vinegar because it was going on just my ends and not my scalp, so no worries about scalp irritation! I also use vinegar in my laundry wash cycle, it helps the clothing retain their colors longer :D

[italianamama]

Lovely! I did something very similar recently using blue Pravana Vivids.

I've never heard of that hair color before, but I checked out their website and they're stunning! I'm hoping my Manic Panic lasts quite a long time (I'm a lazy trimmer so I'll probably just refresh for 6-8 months before I even remember I need a trim) but if it fades fast on me I'll probably consider something more permanent. I went for subtle this time (in case I hated it for whatever reason, or my hair reacted badly to the bleach) but I seem to be one of those enviable people for whom bleach (at least in moderation) doesn't really do any damage. My hair tends to spit out traditional hair color (the boxed DIY kind) but responds better to salon dyes.

[italianamama]

Ah, I meant to add one more thing.

Virgin Snow is a purple toner.
What it does is neutralizes warmer or "brassy" tones (yellow, orange) from fully-lifted hair by adding cool tones (blue, purple). It does not work on just any bleached hair; it needs to be hair that has been bleached to the lightest level it can get to.
Virgin Snow might actually put darker tones back into your hair if used on hair that isn't first made light enough.

So don't feel bad that you didn't use it the first time! Your hair wasn't made light enough to have been positively affected by the product, and it actually could have taken you back a step or two.

Thank you!