And another thing!

[rolanni]

As I was running the aforesaid errands, I happened to wander, by misdirection rather than accident, into the Hair Coloring aisle. And there almost immediately before my was a box of purple hair dye.

And I said to myself, "Self, I will dye my hair purple." I meant it, too. It's been 'way too many years since the last time I dyed my hair purple. In fact, the last time I did, my boss told me to leave work, go home and wash my hair until all the purple was gone. Only then would I be allowed back at my desk. At that time, I will note, my hair was considerably darker than it is today and you could only see the purple when I sat in direct sunlight, but! The Chancellor's office had its pride.

So! Purple, shampoo-in hair dye was just the thing, as far as I was concerned, to counteract the last couple weeks of wish sandwiches. Except --

The box in question contained real, (semi) permanent hair dye, with gloves, and peroxide and the whole messy mess.

Those who watched this space last summer as I detailed the construction of my office chest of drawers will know intuitively, and will know why I do not dye my own hair.

However, the seed of purple hair had been planted, so to speak, so I scoured the shelves, looking for shampoo-in hair dye in fun colors.

There were none.

As a matter of fact, I can't remember the last time I saw shampoo-in hair dye in even boring colors.

Is this just a Maine thing or is there no shampoo-in! washes out in six to eight washings! hair dye anymore?

Comments

[lagilman]

if it is available, it is available in Certain Stores of which one might find in certain environs of NYC. I should inquire?

[adina-atl.livejournal.com]

I have not seen shampoo-in hair color in quite some time either. I considered dyeing my prematurely (ahem!) gray hair some years ago, but got quite scared off by the chemicals in the regular hair dyes. I discovered, however, that henna hair rinses were still available at the health food store--no gloves, peroxide, etc. I haven't seen them in purple, but at least one place on the web claims to have such a creature.

[sraun]

Manic Panic makes one. I have a colleague who has a different bright color stripe in her very black hair every other week.

[hapaxnym.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen shampoo in color since forever, but spray in color (purple, blue, green, you name it) is available in most drugstores.

I don't have the faintest notion what color my hair is naturally, since I haven't seen it in almost thirty years. It's normally some shade of blonde-to-light brown, but my children and co-workers have learned to gauge my stress level fairly accurately by how close to fire-engine red I get.

[cailleuch.livejournal.com]

For very temporary color without bleaching there is also this: Dyehard® Temp Hair Color Styling Gels (http://www.manicpanic.com/dhgels.html).

I've used their CLASSIC CREAM FORMULA (http://www.manicpanic.com/classiccreamformula.html) without the bleach for just a hint of color. You should get good results just on your natural hair.

[xinef.livejournal.com]

I've heard of kids dying their hair temporarily with concentrated solutions of Kool-aid! Haven't tried it, can't comment on method or how well it works.

[katmoonshaker.livejournal.com]

I was bemoaning that very fact a few months ago when I started running across L'Oreal and Garnier temporary colors. Howsoever they do not have the kick... ah... ummm... I mean the bright primary colors which were once offered. I would suggest checking Hot Topic or a beauty supply store which allows anyone to purchase items in it or a costume supply store. Actually, the latter might be the best place to start your search engine. Actors are more likely to need quick color changes for their hair.

The Chancellors house may not have a biscuit! I recall when a dear friend of mine had his hair died a deep burgundy. You could only tell in certain lights and even then it looked like a highlight in his dark hair. It was absolutely stunning!

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

Rear Neighbor Kid changes her hair color on a weekly basis. Temporary colors must be available, but I have no clue where or what brands . . .

[dmellieon.livejournal.com]

If the drugstores and hair product places fail, try a party/halloween costume store. Speaking of which how do you feel about wigs? Such as http://www.zoogstercostumes.com/landing/wigspurple.php

Dying your hair

[(Anonymous)]

My daughter used to dye her hair quite often, then live with whatever she had done for at least 6 weeks. Recently she has taken to selecting certain strands and dying only them red, green, purple, however the spirit moves her. Again, she has to live with this change for 6 weeks or so but it makes her happy.

Maybe if you do something similar it would satisfy your personal free spirit and yet not drive your boss to such demands.

Just an idea.

[mardott.livejournal.com]

I use a spray-in on Halloween, but I'm sure it's toxic. I tried purple once, but my hair is so dark, you couldn't see it. I was so disappointed!

Have fun with it.

[gentlescholar.livejournal.com]

Manic Panic completely failed with me. I spent a lot to have a professional do electric blue, and I ended up with my normal dark-brown to black. That was the second attempt; the first one had me looking like Dr. David Banner about halfway through transformation. I leave the rest to your imagination.

Purple should be easier than blue. For some reason, blue is The Difficult Color.

[kalimeg.livejournal.com]

Temporary dyes still exist, all right. On me they never wash out, but I don't actually care.

And there are hairspray colors, too. I have blue and copper.

Try an eyebrow pencil or even eyeshadow

[steph-writes-99.livejournal.com]

If your local store doesn't have a purple eyebrow pencil you can get one online from walmart:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Hard-Candy-Eye-Candy-Compact-with-Mini-Glitter-Pencil-QUEENLIER-purple/12441184
($5 including the shipping). It may be a bit gooey for hat weather but would be fun for summer.

When I did colors way back when, there were easy to find hair color pencils in pink, green, and purple, but I could not find that now. You dipped the pencil in water and then rubbed it on your hair. It washed out.

Best of luck.

[difrancis.livejournal.com]

Amazon carries them too. Manic Panic and Special Effects Dye are good. I like those. That reminds me. I need to dye my hair purple.

Jacket Art

[(Anonymous)]

For a truly gorgeous book cover see C.J. Cherryh's latest book "Deceiver". However going back and looking at the jacket art for the series some of the art is just awful. I am a great fan of Ms. Cherryh. However your books are just as good if not better. Never mind the bad jacket art.

Hope your cat is feeling all better soon.
C. in UT where I don't think there are any fun temp. colors either.

[(Anonymous)]

Oh, if you do this, we MUST see pictures!
Please?

The only item I can offer is possible Feria, and I don't know if
it's still available. I *think* Ann said it was shampoo-in. I *do*
remember her trying the black (I think it was) to cover her
premature grays. She said the blue - which is supposed to deposit
highlights - got sucked into the grays and she wound up with a
whole head of blue. The elementary school she worked at was Not
Happy. She wound up getting it re-dyed at great expense. Pity,
that. She was tall, dark and striking, with an awesome mezzo ---
she was my Alto section leader --- and a wicked strange sense of
humor. :) The blue would have been great - she would have matched
the choir robes at the Cathedral!

I'm now wondering about what color a bookseller should use, if she
could afford it. Hmmmmn.
Lauretta@ConstellationBooks

About the purple kool-aid

[(Anonymous)]

I forgot to mention - the last time my friend Linda used Kool Aid
she had to wash out her hair with that clear Neutrogena shampoo.
Nothing else would get rid of the Kool Aid.

Fair warning
Lauretta@ConstellationBooks

[otaku-tetsuko.livejournal.com]

Podette suggests Hot Topic chain of stores as the place to try..pretty sure they have an online presence.

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one - "one inch long and purple!" is usually the first answer to "what would you like done today?" at the stylist - but alas. Always overruled by Podette. Currently sporting a "reverse bob" in more gray than brown - now that it's fairly evenly distributed, I, too, have given up the hair dye. My gray is more silver than white, which I find gives me giggles...