Writing Tips

Hair Dyeing

Thank you to @snowyjupiter for mentioning this! This is a good topic to go over!

They commented on the previous chapter on hair maintenance. This could be seen as an extension of this chapter, but only for hair dye.

I personally have dyed my hair before, friends have, family has and still does, and a large majority of the world does it too.

Why do people do it?

Any reason really. The joke here in the western world is that we dye our hair when we're going through a mental crisis, but there's way more than just that.

I personally wanted to be a red head when I was little, I got to attempt it when I turned 14 when my mom said I could dye my hair.

The next few times I dyed my hair was to make it a darker brown than what it originally was as my hair had been becoming more and more blonde as I get older. I prefer my hair being dark, hence the dying.

My mom did it to hide her grays. Now there's so many she doesn't dye it anymore.

Those are personal examples I can share, and there's so many more reasons to dye your hair out there.

But now it's onto the care you'd have to do for your hair.

If it's a natural color that's darker than your regular hair color, then you don't really need to do what I'm about to talk about, but it could help it last longer.

Use shampoo meant for dyed hair. This goes for bright colors, unnatural colors, and natural hair colors lighter than your original hair color. This maintains the color longer so it doesn't fade as fast.

Another thing for unnatural/bright colors is root touch up. You have hair that's going to grow in and it will not have the same color as the dyed hair.

Think about this for characters. Are they going to touch up the roots or let the natural color take over and the artificial one fade?

The fade sometimes looks cool as I'm seeing it currently in my boyfriend's sister's hair. She had her hair a neon blue, and now her brown hair is about 5 inches grown more. So the tips are somewhat white due to damage and the bleach needed for her color, but the long blue portion does a shaggy ombré with her brown hair that actually looks pretty sweet!

So think of that when doing the root feature!

Other than that, maybe you're wanting to write a scene where the character is dyeing their hair?

Think of what color your character is getting! Is it darker, equal to, or lighter than their natural hair color or current color?

If equal to, it may be a little muddy or completely cover their hair. I had this happen to myself when I did the strong red, it completely took over my brown hair.

But think, if your character wants to become platinum blonde, they're gonna have to bleach their hair. Same goes for neon colors or other bright colors usually if the character does not have fairly light blonde hair. If their hair has been a neon color before, it may need to be bleached again.

How long the color lasts also depends on if it's professionally done or one of those colors you purchase from the hair section in a drug (CVS, Walgreens, etc) store or general (Walmart, Meijer, etc) store.

When you dye it yourself, it doesn't last as long. You also have a higher chance of it changing to a weird color on you. Like for me, my red hair started turning purple. It's something you have to consider when your character's hair gets dyed.

I suggest looking up a few brands that offer the color you want for your character and the reviews people leave on them. Look to see if it damages the hair, how long it lasts, and also if it changes other colors. Having this information can help to show how the character's hair changes throughout your story, especially if the story spans over a time period that the hair would change.

I hope this helps if making and writing characters who change their hair color!