2.16.2012

Hair Adventures


loreal hicolor magenta, loreal hicolor red, raw ruby red
Most of the questions and comments I receive are directed at my hair. I've received comments like "If you continue to dye your hair, it will stop growing" or "You'll go bald" but obviously it's not true. My hair isn't fried or breaking off. I baby my hair in between processes and never do multiple bleaching sessions. I've been dyeing my hair since I was a teenager so I've gone through all the mistakes already.

I put together a list of dyes that I've used so far for my whole hair.

Loreal Hicolor Hilift in Magenta and Red. 
These dyes are made to actually work on virgin dark hair but it has to be completely virgin, not this: My color has faded though! It's been a couple of months. Otherwise, you need to use a color stripper like Colour Oops and/or bleach.

I bleached my whole head to a blonde and waited a few days before dyeing since you use a developer with these.  I mixed 30 volume in and left it on for around half an hour. A whole post about it is here.



RAW Ruby Red

I use this dye afterward for touch ups and I only used the Loreal dye for doing roots :) RAW dyes are veggie and won't damage your hair.  Usually, you can get away with a second dye job using Loreal just to possibly get a brighter result but it shouldn't be used to regularly touch up your color. This kind of repeated chemical process will damage and dry out your hair.

*2016: RAW was a popular brand at Hot Topic but it no longer carries the colors it used to. I couldn't find this online anymore so I recommend Ion Brights Red.




Special Effects Pimpin Purple

This dye is a pretty purple. If you want to do 2 colors soon then this is your best choice. Since this purple is pink based, it will fade out to a bright pink. This color photographs pink in direct sunlight. :) I mixed in a lot of conditioner to dilute it since it was extremely dark which means it will fade faster.  This color lasted a month on me.

faded pimpin purple special effects

Faded Special Effects Pimpin Purple

It fades out to this bright pink. It's very intense in person. You can easily touch it up with another purple and it would cover it completely.


manic panic ultra violet
Manic Panic Ultra Violet

This is a very pretty blue-based purple. I always dilute my dye with conditioner to avoid spending so much money on multiple jars of dye.  Since it does contain a blue undertone, it will fade out towards green especially towards the roots.

Hot pink to Ultra Violet transformation here



Manic Panic After Midnight 

Eventually, I got this dye to cover up the pinkness. I really loved that my hair had purple and blue tones in it. You can see that the root area was fading slightly green but because it was light, you could redye with a pink-based purple.

If your purple/blue goes green then you need a blue-based dye to cover it if it's bright.

raw deep purple
RAW Deep Purple

I had this purple for about a year. My longest color ever!  I've only had to dye my hair 2 times throughout the WHOLE time. I shared why my hair color doesn't fade.


*2016: This dye is still available at Hot Topic but it's also on Amazon!


Manic Panic Voodoo Blue

This was my first time going this shade of blue and I LOVED it. It's my favorite from Manic Panic. I shared a review of this dye here ♥ I also recommend Punky's Lagoon Blue for a similar color or to touch up your roots with! (Diluted Punky Atlantic Blue could work as well)



Manic Panic Rockabilly

I adored this color so much. It was SO beautiful but the overall experience was a huge pain in the butt. The formula stains to the extreme. You can't get your hair slightly wet without this bleeding everywhere. Sweating included. Full review here.


*2017: I STILL haven't found a dye as vibrant as this one yet. :(


Punky Atlantic Blue
It was a decent dupe of Rockabilly because it didn't stain and but it faded EXTREMELY fast as well with only sun exposure. :(



SFX Blue Velvet
This is my most recent blue as of 2013! It's a gorgeous dark color.

I'll make a new post about my next batch of colors ;)


PLEASE NOTE:

I don't bleach every time I want to change colors or touch up the color. I had to bleach my red out to get to a pinky base for the purple to cover, not bleached blonde! I usually just try to shampoo my color out the best that I can and deposit new color on top. This could give you a slightly different shade or intensity. If you want the exact color, you'll need a blonde base.

My favorite dyes are Loreal and RAW. Those are long lasting for me personally and yes, they bleed/stain everywhere for the first week or two. Black pillow cases are absolutely necessary. 



Here's a photo of my hair when I first dyed it red and one year later as purple.

Hair that doesn't seem to grow is due to breakage at the ends, genetics or etc. Biotin can also help along with Mane N Tail to thicken hair.

2.07.2012

Amigurumi: Squids



Today I'm sharing my little collection of squids I've made. I made a few with modifications to make the head size larger at the top and thinner towards the eyes. It's slightly different from the last squids that I made here since those were ovals. The shape looks better on these!

It's probably time to move on to designing that cuttlefish next!




2.01.2012

Crochet Pattern: Bow Headband


It's a little late! D: I'm going to make more of these. I don't wear headbands often and these keep the beast hair out of the face. I also made a thinner style headband that was only pinched in the center and sewed together.




Hook I.
Chain 14.

Color one:
1. Skip first chain, sc across.
2. Ch 1. Skip first sc, sc across & into side.
Repeat 24x

Color two: The bow! 
Ch 1. Skip first sc, sc across & into side. 

Repeat 22x

Color one:
Ch 1. Skip first sc, sc across & into side. 
Repeat 24x or your length.

Try it on as you go and make sure there's no overlapping. Sl st together!

Use the second color and wrap it around in the middle to create the bow. Cut and secure! Or you can bunch up the section & sew it.



Bow headband made by doing Chain 7:


View this on Ravelry!

Crochet Pattern: Triangle Scarf





Pattern:
I've used worsted and bulky types.
H to N hook. (depending on yarn type)
You can substitute double crochet with half double crochet if you like.

Foundation:
  • Chain 3.
  • 2 dc into the last chain. Ch 1, 3 dc (into last chain), ch 3. Turn.

Row 2:
  • 2 double crochet in the first st.
  • Chain 1. '3 dc, ch 1, 3 dc' in the ch 1 space (hole) *ch 1, 2 dc in last st.
  • Chain 3, turn.

Row 3:
  • 2 Double crochet in the first st.
  • Chain 1. 3 dc in ch 1 space. Chain 1. '3 dc, ch 1, 3 dc' in the [hole].
  • Chain 1. 3 dc in ch 1 space.
  • Chain 1, 3 dc in last st. Chain 3, turn.

Repeat row 3 to get it as large as you would like.

I see this in my head better than explaining. I wouldn't deem this a beginner project! I put up bullet points to separate it into pieces.


How I see this:


The Chain 3 before Row 3 acts as the third double crochet.
  • BEGIN ROW 3:   3 dc in each ch-space (hole) until you reach the middle point.
  • Middle point: '3 dc, ch 1, 3 dc'

-Go back down the other side with 3 dc in each ch 1 space.

-While chaining one in between :)


You can attach yarn to make a double crochet rectangle to wrap or tie around yourself.
Sew on a large enough button and wear it like so.
I left tails on both sides to loosely tie it :)


I do have variations of this scarf that I'll be writing up shortly.




This is a basic pattern of this watermelon scarf. That one has a lace-esque edging and two rectangles on each side to tie/wrap around.
Tiny Moon © . Design by FCD.