Well, I made my hair pink and purple on Saturday, and I know from experience that the semi-permanent dye washes out quite fast, although I managed about a month last time without it looking odd. Any tips apart from washing hair less frequently that'll help the bright dye stay in longer?

P.S. I used the brand Directions, in the colours violet and flamingo pink

Short of washing your hair in cold water and keeping it well conditioned? Sometimes I find if I deep condition my hair and then rinse it out I don't need to wash it regardless of the fact that I hadn't washed it in over 24 hours. I really think we are way too shampoo-dependant anymore. Did you do washing your hair above once a month used to be excessive? Imagine having hair so healthy that you didn’t need to wash it more than once a month! That would be awesome! I’m totally going to raise my future children so that they aren’t shampoo dependent.

I’ve read that putting a small bit of the hair dye in your conditioner works but I tried it and all it really did was ruin my conditioner and made my hair fall out way more than usual.

I agree with PinkWeeds. Cold water. It might feel like your head is burning, but it will help. I just dyed mine red and I've only washed it twice in a week both times with cold water. And I've also heard about putting it in your conditioner, but I don't know if it works because I've never tried and after reading what happened to PinkWeeds, I don't know if I will. Also, have you ever tried dry shampoo? That will help. Or I've read that baby powder is supposed to suck up oils out of your hair too.

If you use a blow dryer on medium or high heat right after you've put your hair dye in, it will help maintain the intensity of the colors. Also, combing the dye through your hair until it gets foamy and frothy does the same thing. Froth it up, then mix the froth into your hair and blow dry it and it should last longer.

My unnatural colors lasted just fine when I used shampoo, but I used Naturelle Hemp shampoo and conditioner which can get pretty pricey. Using cheaper hair products, I would only use shampoo once every 2-3 days and use only conditioner for the rest of the washes.

If you avoid putting hair spray or any other styling product in your hair, you'll prevent a lot of fading.

I'm gonna try washing it with cold water and not shampooing every time. Unfortunately because my fringe is a different colour than the rest of my hair I can't put the dye in my conditioner, otherwise I would. When I redye my hair next month I'll blowdry it when I put the dye in and see if that works too. Thanks for the advice

Forgot to add--after you blowdry it, let it sit in for 2-3 hours, or as long as you can stand to keep it in. I used to do that when I dyed my hair turquoise and it would last 4-5 weeks before it started to fade, and I even shampooed every day.

Wow okay, it says that the developing time is 15-30 minutes for Directions though.. Can I leave it in that long?

I hear cold water is the best

I used to leave hair color in for an hour or longer because I have dark hair and nothing ever happened to me. My hair is actually pretty healthy, I think.

use colour-treated shampoo and conditioner. it helps seal the hair cuticle to keep the colour lasting longer. use cold water and dont wash everyday. also this site has lots of really awesome info http://haircrazy.info/
i use it all the time.

Cold water didn't work for me when I had purple hair!! I haven't ever tried the other methods but my hair colour has pretty much grown out now. Some hair seems to be more resilient to hold colour than others, I think my hair HATES bright coloured hair dye... mine always fades soooo quickly!!!!

also, do NOT use any hair products that contain alcohol or any other variant of it. it will strip the colour REALLY fast. so don't use hairspray's or hair gels unless it doesn't have alcohol or has a very low amount. and don't use them often. you're hair will fade really REALLY fast if you use them.
but on the plus side, if you get any hair dye on your skin when doing your hair, some hairspray on a cotton ball gets it off really well! :D

I've used Directions hair dye quite a lot in my time. I find that leaving the dye in until it is pretty much dry is the best way to get the most intense colour that will last longer.

While talking to a friend of mine recently about getting bright hair dye to last longer, she mentioned that mixing some baking soda into the hair dye before applying it would help with colour intensity and longevity. She also leaves her hair dye in until it is dry before rinsing it out. I haven't actually tried this yet though. When I do, I will let you know.

I used special effects atomic pink and it lasted more than 3 months ! ;)
I leave the dye in for atleast 2-5 hours, or just as long as I can, applying heat can help alot

Hello Darling,

First leave in the dye for about an hour after you apply it to your hair and when you rinse it out of your hair use cold water. In a old conditioner bottle, mix your original conditioner and a bit of your hair dye and replace with your original conditioner. It will be a refresher for your hair. I reccomend deep conditioning your hair every end of the week or once a month at least so your hair will regain its natural moisture. Shampoo your hair once every three days to keep color the longest you possibly can.

Any more questions or tips, just leave a comment at my page!

xoxo,

Darling Avea

First bleach the desired amount of hair to a pale blonde. Once that is done make sure the area is 100% dry. Apply the color with a color brush and foil. Let it sit for 45 mins out of heat or 25 with heat. Once it is done processing run a flat iron over the foils a few times then let them cool. Rinse with cold water and sulfate free shampoo. Dont shampoo your hair the next day. Use hair powder if you need to. When you shampoo your hair again always use cool water and sulfate free shampoo.

wash in cold water only thereare special shampoos also try not to wash to often

My hair is pink / purple / black, and this is how I'm keeping mine awesome :)

I bleached my hair out almost platinum blonde, then used N'Rage demi-permanent hair colour (you can get it here: http://www.sallybeauty.com/n-rage/SBS-240686,es,pd.html) in Bubblegum Pink and Plum Purple.
The purple is aces good; it's not faded at ALL and I've had it in for over a month. It does tend to tint the pink, and I will say the pink kind of sucks, but I refreshed it with Kool-Aid, believe it or not.

(I used 2 packets Strawberry Lemonade and half a packet of Cherry unsweetened Kool Aid to make my refresher :D)

N'Rage is a damn good brand as far as bright and long lasting colours go. And you don't have to give up washing your hair (too much - I'd say 1 - 2x/wk with regular shampoo or daily with dry shampoo. LUSH makes an awesome dry shampoo that smells like citrus)

Best way I have found to keep The brand Special Effects dye in is to wash hair every other day in cold water with color protection shampoo and conditioner. Washing your hair in white vinegar sounds strange, smells gross, but it locks in the color as well. Also adding some of your dye to your conditioner help redye it after every shower, makes colors last longer too.