How Blue Fashion Hair Dyes Fade – Review

Ever wonder how those fashion hair colors fade over time? Me too! I looked at a lot of pictures before I took the plunge, trying to determine exactly how I wanted my hair. I did find a couple that I wanted. REALLY, REALLY wanted. But, they were either too radical for me and my dayjob or I just didn’t have my grey hair yet.

Alas, the stylist does not want to do this one because it’s just too damaging to my hair. I love this stylist for his honesty! I’ve not had one quite like him, ever.

And this one, well, I’m only now seeing a few strands of silver in my hair. Only a few. Why does it take so long to have them come in. Yes, I am weird. I WANT grey hair! Because…look at that picture! Oh and to be able to do that flower bun thing would be cool too! But the color!! TheHubs has been going grey since his 20s. Now he has a touch of his natural color left throughout his head. Me, I am just now finding a few strands. Ugh. How long do I have to wait? I want my grey! If my father is any indication what type of grey I will have, I can’t wait. It came in silver and turned to pure white. Not that dingy grey or yellowed grey. Please grey hair fairy, hurry up! 😛

Anyway, last July I went to a stylist and had a few streaks of blue put in my hair. She used N Rage Demi Cobalt Blue

It really is a nice color when freshly done. Of course, I had to have her bleach the streaks first. Then she added the color. If you notice the color is not even across all strands. Some are darker than others, which is fine really. And I did not have any expectations except blue seeing as this was the first time. It was nice. But not gorgeous nice.

I knew, since this was a demi-permanent color, that a little color would wash out with each wash. The very first wash had me petrified, though. So much color came out, my tub was left stained. I quickly learned, as well, that I needed to get a dark pillow case. I put a t-shirt over my pillowcase in the mean time to keep it from bleeding as I slept. Eventually that stopped after a few washes, but I still sleep with a dark pillow case, just in case.

Now, the question was, how long will my blue last?

Everything I read and even the bottle said, 6-8 weeks. I wash my hair every 3 days and use a sulfate free/color friendly shampoo. I think it held my color mostly well. It faded, yes. And by September, you could hardly see the teal mingling with my natural hair.

By October/November, it started turning green. I was not happy with it by this time. I know, I know, you’re probably telling me that I needed to re-do it. In all honesty, I knew that was what I needed to do and I was too chicken to do it myself. Plus I didn’t want to go back to where I had it done. So, I waited. I wanted to go to my friend’s stylist but I had to get his info from her. Once I had that, then I had to wait until it wasn’t the holidays.

The end of December I had my hair consult. That’s when he told me that I shouldn’t get the all over blue because it’s too damaging. He doesn’t recommend it unless you are doing a photo shoot…no matter what color it is. He also tried to talk me into getting purple done, only because when it fades, it turns silvery and he knew how much I wanted the silver and blue one pictured. But purple is not my color. Blue is. So blue it was.

On January 2nd, he bleached more of my hair and applied a new type of blue dye. Pravana Chromasilk Vivids Blue. 

This time, I thought to take a picture after every washing to see how this one fades. (Should have done it the first time, too, but didn’t think about it. Oopsie.) So, below is a slideshow of my pictures after every wash. There’s no touch ups, no filters. It’s all natural and me. You can see the progression and how it fades for yourself.

Personally, I like how this one fades, much better than the ‘N Rage brand. I like the Pravana’s silvery blue fade versus ‘N Rage’s green. I’ve had several people tell me I should get the Manic Panic, but I’ve read so many reviews about that and how it fades to green. I think I will stick with Pravana. And it’s very easy to apply at home. I will only need to go back to my stylist for root bleaching and cuts. I can color the blue at home. Easy Peasy. 🙂

Hope this has helped you. It was so very hard when I was researching it myself since I couldn’t find any pictures or blogs or anything that showed me how certain brands faded. Let me know what you think.