How to Highlight Your Own Hair With Purple

Purple is an exotic and dramatic color. It is associated with magic, mystery and royalty. Colors range from lavender and lilac to darker shades, like eggplant, violet and plum. Choosing the right purple shade for highlighting depends on hair and eye color, as well as skin tone. Lighter shades of purple are suited for blond hair, while darker shades blend well with darker hair. More dramatic looks use dark purple on blond and lighter shades on dark hair. Purple can be used in thin streaks throughout hair, or as thicker chunks.

Things You'll Need

• Purple hair color
• Bleach kit
• Old t-shirt
• Old towel
• Latex or plastic gloves
• Hair clips

Instructions

Highlighting Blond Hair Purple

1. 

   Blond hair is easily colored.

   Choose which shade of purple you'd like to streak your hair with. Purple hair color can be purchased at specialty stores, costume shops and some retail stores.

2. 

   Wear an old t-shirt to prevent dye from staining skin.

   Put on an old t-shirt or drape a worn towel around shoulders to keep dye from getting on skin or other clothes. Remove any rugs in your bathroom that dye might fall on and stain. Read the instructions on the hair dye bottle. Put on the latex or plastic gloves.

3. Apply hair color. Create thin streaks through all your hair, or dye just the tips purple. Use hair clips to pin back any hair you do not want dyed. Applying the color in chunks is also an option, but is better left to dark hair unless you want a true shock of color.

4. 

   Wash hair with shampoo free of sulfates, which cause color to fade quickly.

   Leave dye on hair for the recommended time, which is generally 20 to 30 minutes. Rinse the color out. Shampoo and style hair as desired.

Highlighting Dark Hair With Purple

1. 

   Dark hair has to be bleached for color to show up.

   Choose which shade of purple is right for you. Purchase hair bleach, as bleached hair takes color more easily than dark hair.

2. 

   Always wear latex or plastic gloves when dying hair.

   Throw on an old t-shirt or drape a worn towel around the shoulders and put on the latex/plastic gloves. Use hair clips to pin back any hair you do not want dyed.

3. 

   Leave bleach on for 20 to 30 minutes.

   Apply bleach to the hair you wish to color. It is often recommended that color is applied in chunks on dark hair to make it show up better. Bleach should be mixed in non-metal (aka non-reactive) bowls, and can be applied with either gloved fingers or a plastic brush designed for applying bleach.

4. 

   Rinse hair thoroughly before washing and styling.

   Leave bleach on hair for 20 minutes to one hour. The longer the bleach mix is left on hair, the brighter the color will subsequently appear. Rinse the bleach out.

5. Apply color to bleached areas. Leave on for 20-30 minutes. Rinse, shampoo and style as usual.

Highlighting Dark Hair With Purple (No Bleach)

1. 

   Old towels can also be placed on the floor to catch hair dye.

   Put on an old t-shirt or drape an old towel around shoulders to prevent staining of skin. Pin back any hair you do not want dyed with hair clips.

2. 

   Rinse hair thoroughly.

   Put on latex or plastic gloves and apply purple color to hair, leaving it on for 20-30 minutes or as the instructions dictate. Rinse, shampoo and style hair as desired. Dark hair dyed without bleach will simply appear as less obvious, more blended color.

3. Apply purple clip-on hair extensions if you want a more severe color contrast. Such extensions are found in costume stores and are a good way to experiment with purple highlights before dying hair.

Tips & Warnings

• It is not recommended that purple dye be used on strawberry blond or red hair, unless you are going for an extreme color contrast. Besides chunking and streaking, highlights around the face are another option for purple color.

• Purple hair color comes in permanent, semi-permanent and temporary spray/gel/mousse formulas, as well as clip-on extensions.

• Avoid shampoos that contain sulfates, as this causes hair to fade quicker.

• Make sure hair is healthy enough to be dyed and or bleached. Bleaching hair will often leave hair dry and frizzy. Perform a strand test to check the health of hair by placing a strand in a glass of water. If the hair sinks to the bottom of the glass, it is unhealthy and should wait to be colored.

• Color can stain skin. Shampoo or rubbing alcohol works on most skin that has been stained with hair color.

• The ingredients in most commercial hair dyes include the carcinogenic Quaternium-15, which is also a formaldehyde releaser, Diethanolamine, and Phenylene-Diamines. Hair dyes also contain chemicals like Alkylphenol ethoxylates (APEs), found in spermicides and pesticides.

References

• Indian Child: Highlighting Dark Hair
• Hair Crazy: A Guide To Alternative Hair Styling
• Hair Coloring Tips: Purple Hair Color Ideas
• Red's Toyland: The Official Wicked Hair Dying Page

Resources

• Wiggoddess: Hair Color Chart