Whether you call it unicorn, granny, opal, or anything in between, unnatural hair color is in, in a BIG way. Since my first tub of manic panic, I've been a huge advocate for bright, fun hair, and finding the best products to keep your color looking amazing as long as possible. Don't get me wrong; all hair color will fade, but here's the down low on what you can expect from a vivid color service with your truly.
My beautiful BFF rocking her Vivids and showing off the fade.
The images above are stolen from my homegirl Ashley's Instagram, both because they are the perfect example of the fading process between two different lines, AND because she is just flipping adorable. You're welcome.
In the salon, I have two color lines that I typically reach for when created vivid or pastel tones for my guests. The first is Pravana. In the photos of Ashley, her blue based look was created with Pravana, which is a Demi permanent direct dye pigment. The first image is the day of her service, the second is 10 weeks later. You can see the whole the fading is significant, it fades on tone, and still looks gorg almost 3 months after the initial appointment. Pravana is great for clients who don't want as much commitment to their new hue, and is also offered at a lower price point in the salon.
Ashley's fiery locks in the bottom were customize colored using Elumen. Elumen is also a direct dye pigment, but is considered to be a permanent hair color. The second photo of her red is also 10 weeks after her application. !!!. You can see that the fade is almost non existent. This makes the Elumen perfect for clients who are committed to a look (and as we found out, Ash is definitely a lady in red.) Elumen also makes your hair feel AMAZING. Seriously. I once referred to it's reparative effects as "glueing ultra damaged hair back together" (side note, pastel blondes can be toned with Elumen, so get at me bloodies!). The biggest downside to Elumen is it that it can be almost too permanent, creating quite the corrective process when clients want to make a change to a lighter color, and it is also a slightly higher charge, as it is a more premium product.
With any color service, particularly these direct dyes, your color will fade over time. How fast this happens is dependent on a lot of factors; hair texture, how often you shampoo, how dark or intense the color was to begin with, even the shade you chose (pinks fade faster while blues stay forever), but hopefully this break down