Adventures in Hair Color. My new look, and a review of Ion Color Brillance Brights.

I've always been enamored with candy-colored hair. At a few points in my life, I even got brave and added peek-a-boo highlights in red or purple, but it wasn't until after last Christmas that I finally did something that always scared me - I got teal highlights! Here I am just before the new year came around:

Fun, right? That was a huge leap for me. I used Manic Panic "Shocking Blue", which faded fairly quickly into a more greenish shade. It was easy to touch up my own color at home, but I was disappointed to find that I had to reapply at least every 10 days or so in order to avoid looking like I'd had an unfortunate chlorine incident.

A few months ago, someone told me about the new Color Brilliance Brights by Ion. I've used them a few times to touch up my teal, and I've been happy so far. Earlier this week, I finally took the plunge into much more vibrant multi-colored hair, and found out that even my stylist hadn't heard of this line of hair color yet. It seemed like a great time to show off my new 'do, and also spread the word about this great product line!



The complete line of Color Brilliance Brights, photo from the Sally Beauty website

This semi-permanent hair color is a little different from styles that you may have tried in the past. The texture is quite thick, sort of like an acrylic paint, but you DO NOT add any peroxide or developer. The instructions say that the color should sit on your hair for 20-40 minutes, but I've found that keeping it on for more like 40-60 gives more vibrant results. The product is ammonia and peroxide free, and only deposits color, so there isn't really a risk of damaging your hair.

Here's a shot of the four colors that we used this time (Clockwise from top: Sky Blue, Fuchsia, Purple, and Aqua):
 

 As you can see, this stuff is thick! For some reason, the Purple was noticeably thicker and drier than the other shades. You can also see that some shades, such as the Fuchsia, have a slightly pearly finish when wet. I can't confirm whether this contributes to the final effect in all cases, but the aqua shade certainly seems to be somewhat multi-tonal once it's actually on the hair.

After a long day of bleaching, mixing, and foiling, I ended up with vibrant jewel-toned hair. Here's the nitty-gritty, followed by lots of hair porn!

I don't want to lift my natural color first! Can't I just apply this without bleaching?
I wouldn't recommend it. The color payoff is significantly reduced, even on light brown or dark blonde hair. I'm a natural brunette, and you can't see this stuff at all when it's applied to my natural hair color.

Exactly how light are we talking? This whole process is taking too long!
If you want to experience the joy of super-bright color, it's totally worth the long lifting process; I promise! If there's still a yellow tint to the hair, your final color will look a little yellow. And if you color over hair that wasn't fully lifted and then try to fix it later, you'll have the exciting task of lifting not only your natural color, but also the extra color that you added, and bleaching over bright colors takes simply forever. Just be patient; after all of that waiting, you get to the fun part!

Does this product stain?
Oh goodness yes! When I've used it at home, I wear gloves both to apply it and to wash it out. Also, you'll want to avoid washing it out while, say, standing in the shower (or really any other position where the colorful suds will get on any part of your skin that you'd like to remain flesh-toned). Towels, clothes, and bathroom tile are not safe from this colorful apocalypse. You may also experience a bit of color bleeding for the first two or three shampoos, but it's not as noticeable as other brands that I've used.

OMG! I didn't listen to that last piece of advice, and now my hands and other assorted body parts are blue (or purple, green, etc)!
Told ya so. When I accidentally turned myself into a smurf, I used this simple homemade exfoliating scrub: Dish Soap + Sea Salt + A squirt of Lemon Juice. Scrub Scrub Scrub.
Don't use this on your face or on very sensitive skin.It would also be pretty terrible if you have any cuts on those hands, so check first!

Hooray! My hair looks awesome, and my skin is flesh-toned (and smelling faintly of salty lemons). How long before I have to do this again?
So far, I only have long-term experience with the Teal and Aqua shades, but I found that touch-ups every 4-6 weeks were sufficient.  I noticed some fading by about 3-4 weeks, on average, but I'm lazy about my hair sometimes. I went about 2 months without a touch-up once, and my hair was certainly still teal, but rather lackluster by that point.
Also, I have really oily hair, so I shampoo daily. If you shampoo less often, you may see even better results, but I honestly don't have any facts to back that up.

I'm getting bored. Where's that hair porn that you promised?
I'm so glad that you asked! Here it is!

The absurd level of blonde that was required

 One of the many steps involved. We kept the placement pretty random.

 The finished product! My face is super washed out, but you can really see the color here.

 And finally, proof that I'm loving my new color(s) just a bit too much!

So, what do you think? Would you ever play with candy-colored hair? Is there something that you've always wanted to do to your hair, or something awesome that you have done and want to share? Let me know below!