Long before the greys started to come in (groan), I was colouring my hair just for the heck of it. I’ve always been fairly safe with colour, especially since being a dark brunette you never have much room for versatility without bleaching, but I’ve just never been precious about my hair.  Colour will come and go, hair grows and gets cut off; it’s no doomsday if I don’t dig a style.

I started being a hair model for Saks Academy just over ten years ago, usually just for cuts and re-styles but every now and then a complete transformation for trend shows and hair stylists who’d travel from all over the world to come and teach.  Whilst I’m not an extrovert with my personal style, I’ve always enjoyed handing over full permission to do whatever, and when colour stripper appears I get really excited!

Saks Art Team – Autumn Winter Trends Show 2010

Alan Edwards at Saks:  Six Colour Hair Style

So when I won the Tresemme competition last year and went to Stratford to get my hair madeover by leading hair stylist Matthew Curtis, I was fully open to all creativity.  When Matthew said I’d really suit a dark brown blended with an autumnal coppery red dip dye, I knew I was in for a treat.  The final result was stunning since I’d had colour removed from the tips to allow the red to hold, and it was a quality colour.  I was just disappointed the red faded come Christmas, so I decided to home dye where the red had been, to refresh my look.

I decided I would try a purple shade (Katy Perry’s new do was the deal maker) and after a good look at reviews online I plumped for Schwartzkopf Live Color XXL Ultra Brights in the shade Purple Punk.  The stripped parts of my hair were now a very faded pale orange, so I knew with the red washed out it was the perfect time to dye.  Although it didn’t give me the tone of violet I’d expected, and I wasn’t sure whether I was initially happy with the difference, I quickly came to love the result.  The colour was more of a deep blackberry stain which was pretty cool and the effect was still strong and vibrant.

Purple as a Grape!

Recently I felt the colour could do with a boost as it had begun to look a little drab and washed out, now looking more pink than purple.  I happened across Mellor and Russell Simply Bright hair dyes in the pound shop and I was pretty ecstatic to see a solitary pink dye called Pink Kiss sitting next to dozens of blacks.  It was the colour I’d been thinking of so was perfect timing to chance upon the bargain.

I decided to do the dye job today, or rather rope in the OH to turn his hand as hair stylist again.  (It’s a good deal since I get to just sit on the edge of the bath and be pampered.)

Unlike the Schwartzkopf dye, which was a really simple to use tube of colour dye, the Russell and Mellor dye was your normal method of colour tube that you decant into the bottle of developer and mix together.  As the OH applied the dye through my stripped ends the colour became apparent in the bottle as it began developing into a pretty pink.

That pretty pink wasn’t to be seen again though.  On my hair the colour disipated into simply a wet look.  There was no hint of pink, but since the instructions said to leave for 40 minutes, I didn’t want to judge prematurely.  When the time came to wash out the dye I was unbelievably deflated at what my hair looked like.  Standing in the shower I gathered my hair up and rinsed it thoroughly; a slight pink washed out into the water but wasn’t much to speak of, and my hair literally looked brown.  It was so disappointing.

Does this look like pink?

Now I’ve dried my hair off I can honestly say there’s barely a hint of colour other than brown on the ends, let alone pink.  It’s actually frustrated me to the point of anger, as not only do I not have the pink hair I expected, it’s completely removed any colour I already had.  No sign of pre-lightened hair, no pinky purple.  Just an orangey brown.

To say I’m cheesed off doesn’t really come close to how this has made me feel, and regret is just the tip of the iceberg.  The dye may have only cost a mere £1 but it’s actual cost is so much more for me to rectify.  I’ve lost the style that Matthew Curtis gave me – a top stylist to celebrities and leading fashion magazines – and his services do not come cheap.  If I want the same look again, I will have to go to a hair stylist and ask to have my hair stripped and re-coloured with dip dye again.  How much will that cost?

I’m stuck with an ultra boring hair do and it’s my birthday on Saturday.  Mundane hair will not cut it.  It looks like I’m back to the drawing board to figure this one out, but believe me, you haven’t heard the last of my hair palava.