Unnatural hair colours?

stir_crazy

Frith wrote: »

Have always thought about it. But perhaps just the front rather than the whole lot!

Trouble is, I have black hair. Would I have to bleach it first for another colour to take?

Unfortunately yes you would have to have your hair lightened, and its best to get it done professionally unless you like to take the risk of landing up an unflattering shade of orange.

I'm a fellow dark haired girl and would love to dye my hair wild colours. They fade so fast though and the last time I lightened my hair I ended up with a burnt scalp and killed hair.

The resulting purple was totally worth it though. :beer:

beedeedee

"And as for the person who says people judge you badly for it, I got a prestigious internship and whopping internship grant and I interviewed with bright pink hair. No one cares."


You were obviously clever and they would have recognised that fact.

Unfortunately I have seen not-so-clever people belittled and undermined in many different labs - and yes, I did stick up for them especially when people thought they were incompetant or whatever simply because of their candyfloss hair colour. Personally I would wait till your colleagues in the lab got to know you a bit. That's all.

Rain_Shadow

I worked for a German construction company. The managing director of one of the subsidiaries had her hair dyed in the colours of the German flag. No one gave it a second thought.

Caitlin_Bree

Frith wrote: »

Have always thought about it. But perhaps just the front rather than the whole lot!

Trouble is, I have black hair. Would I have to bleach it first for another colour to take?

Yes, for it to be noticeable rather than a red/blue/purple tint. Lighter colours won't show at all on black.
Probably better to get it bleached by a hairdresser though as you'll risk turning it Cyndi Lauper orange (which will affect the end colour of any additional dye), having uneven roots and tips, and/or ruining your hair. (I know this from experience. £140 to have it recoloured :eek:)
Stir_crazy beat me to it.. good advice.. please heed. Also .. never wax a top lip the day before an event!

Hermia

FatVonD wrote: »

I'm toying with the idea of pillar box red at the moment, I love coloured hair, what I don't get is the current fashion for dip-dyed hair, why would anyone dye their hair so it looks like they have really bad roots growing out??!

I hate the ombre hair look and I think it's starting to look a bit old-hat. The problem with ombre hair is that to make it look nice you need an artistic hairdresser who is going to carefully paint the dye on your hair to get a gradual change in colour along the length of the hair. If you try doing it at home or go to a rubbish hairdresser you get that awful roots growing out look.

Hermia

beedeedee wrote: »

"And as for the person who says people judge you badly for it, I got a prestigious internship and whopping internship grant and I interviewed with bright pink hair. No one cares."


You were obviously clever and they would have recognised that fact.

Unfortunately I have seen not-so-clever people belittled and undermined in many different labs - and yes, I did stick up for them especially when people thought they were incompetant or whatever simply because of their candyfloss hair colour. Personally I would wait till your colleagues in the lab got to know you a bit. That's all.

I think that is true. If you are mega-talented it maybe doesn't matter what you look like, but I think a wacky appeareance can hold you back if you are just ordinary and are having to compete with lots of people who are just as talented/well-educated as you.

I think work places aren't anti-mad hair as such I think it's that they are more worried about what happens if they need that person to look a bit more conventional. If someone is a bit scruffy or wears crazy clothes on days they are not meeting clients it really doesn't matter if you know they can stick a suit on when it matters. If someone has purple hair or a tattoo on their neck then you have a situation where you might be concerned about sending them to a conference or to meet conservative clients.

Candles_by_Lisa

Frith wrote: »

Have always thought about it. But perhaps just the front rather than the whole lot!

Trouble is, I have black hair. Would I have to bleach it first for another colour to take?

I have my hair bright red. The hairdresser asked me how vibrant I wanted it and I said bright enough I could be seen from space!! I have very dark hair and the tint they use does have a slight bleaching agent in it and I have to admit it has taken quite a few sessions to get my hair really vibrant as the colour needs to build up on dark hair. You can get your hair bleached totally and then dyed red however red fades very, very quickly (I probably need to get it done every 2 or 3 weeks but can't afford that so leave it for at least 4) and if your hair is totally bleached you end up with that faded orange colour.

I have been all colours in the past (child of the 80's as you can imagine) but this colour is definitely the one that draws most attention and comments. All the comments have been nice so far.

lostinrates

FatVonD wrote: »

I'm toying with the idea of pillar box red at the moment, I love coloured hair, what I don't get is the current fashion for dip-dyed hair, why would anyone dye their hair so it looks like they have really bad roots growing out??!

Hahaha, I knew I needed to go to the hairdresser because dh saw an advert for such a think on tv and said, he thought charmingly, 'dealing, you are still trendsetting, look!' . It had been almost a year since I had been to the hairdresser until a could of weeks ago.


I like dyed in 'fun colours' but agree in natural colours (like that tv advert) it just looks unkempt.

lostinrates

beedeedee wrote: »

"And as for the person who says people judge you badly for it, I got a prestigious internship and whopping internship grant and I interviewed with bright pink hair. No one cares."


You were obviously clever and they would have recognised that fact.

Unfortunately I have seen not-so-clever people belittled and undermined in many different labs - and yes, I did stick up for them especially when people thought they were incompetant or whatever simply because of their candyfloss hair colour. Personally I would wait till your colleagues in the lab got to know you a bit. That's all.

This, I agree with. Some companies (mainly traditional ones, especially public facing roles) still don't like it (or tattoos, piercings and facial hair for men...or I suppose women!).

As a sometime 'corporate wife' my disabilities and extra weight are sadly enough to counter DH's excellent work record, and I toe the line completely to mitigate that as regards clothing choice, and indeed hair. Should it matter? No of course not, is there a chance it might...yes.

Fwiw, my father until his retiremement worked for such an employer and shares those values, When I had my ears....just my ears, pierced he was disappointed, when I had the second holes....he told me I had 'ruined the chance of ever working for him'. That's fine by me. He now has a small retirement job working for me, I let him dress how he wants.

Fuzzy_Duck

I love unnatural hair colours. Seeing pink hair especially makes me smile.

I've had coloured streaks before but they never got much of a reaction (except from work, who were perfectly fine with me having a pink fringe but drew the line at green). I also had bright orange hair for a while but that was a mistake- I'd asked the hairdresser to dye my hair burgundy!

I've love to have more exciting hair but the constant bleaching, reapplications and staining would put me off I think, so I just appreciate other people's crazy coloured hair.