The color of Royalty, purple, has gained a lot of attention recently. From celebrities to working class moms and lavender to eggplant, the purple craze has a little something for everyone.
As a purp-head myself I love seeing all of the varying shades on such a variety of women (and men sometimes too!), but one thing the beauty blogs always forget to mention is the preparation and maintenance associated with this lovely hue. As a stylist it is relatively easy for me to touch up my color but for many women coming in to the salon every 3 weeks seems daunting.
You natural level (and if you have ever box dyed your hair) can make a huge difference in choosing the particular shade of purple. Women with darker hair that want to have lavender, or a very vivid shade of purple, usually have to pre-lighten their hair to achieve such bright colors. Women with naturally blonde hair can sometimes skip the pre-lightening and go straight to purple.
To make it even more complicated, every shade of purple takes a different degree of maintenance. Lavender and lighter colors need to be refreshed every 2-4 weeks due to the lack of pigment in pastel shades. Deeper darker purples have more color molecules and are able to stay in the hair shaft longer (depending on the brand of color used, you could potentially get upwards of 8-10 weeks without any fading!)
To put it plainly, this is a service that should always be done professionally. Trying to achieve any color at home is asking for a disaster, especially when the process is tough for even some seasoned stylists. And when you do decide to take the purple plunge, be patient with your stylist, Rome wasn’t built in a day!
-Christine Woods
Purple Hair Expert 😉
Garnish Hair Studio
