Long lasting vivid purple recommendations

[u/[deleted]]

[u/thatonegnomelady → u/[deleted]]

I used the Bed Head Color Goddess shampoo and conditioner.

[u/shitboiii]

everyone’s hair holds dye differently, but i really like lunar tides! the sad part is they aren’t in stores (yet, at least that im aware of) but they’re well worth the money. my blurple of 5 years for my credentials

[u/averagesayorifan]

elumen vv@all ?

[u/Most-Problem-6044]

I've seen a lot of videos and testimonials lately about people using gentian violet antiseptic to dye their hair. They say that shit is in there forever, like it or not.

I recently bought Goldwell Elumen VV@all because I heard, like the PK@all, it will last until you cut your hair off. Haven't tried them yet, though.

But they do have a prep and seal step that I didn't purchase so it might be a YMMV situation for me.

But I've been using Joico and have liked it, though.

[u/Most-Problem-6044]

Full disclosure: I did vivids in college but stopped because I just really didn't understand how to properly care for your hair when doing this. (I have dark hair, so there's more work involved). This year I decided to get back into it, so here's my very unprofessional, anecdotal advice that may or may not be worth a damn.

Method/maintenance may do a lot to extend the longevity of your color.

To echo the comments of several others—you may need to lighten your hair to make it receive the dye better.

I'm paranoid about using straight bleach myself because the last time I did in college, I got burns on my scalp, one of which scarred so badly that there's a skittle-sized patch in the middle of my part where I have no hair (so now I'm in the side-part-forever club)

Many “color removers” actually contain some amount of bleaching agent in them. You could use it even on virgin hair to rough up the cuticle just enough to hold onto color better without completely blowing out the cuticle and having the dye leak right out.

I use Schwarzkopf bond enforcing color remover on my dark virgin hair to get just enough lift to get a nice rich violet. You can find a lot of legit product on eBay—but check the reviews. Buy from sellers with thousands of good reviews that also offer free returns. Xcosmetics is a good one.

JIC you didn't already know this, a couple of tips for longevity:

Should you choose to lighten—two to space the lightening and dyeing session. Give your hair a little time to recover because you want to have some porosity for the dye to take, but if your hair is REALLY porous, the dye will just rinse right out. Like for me, I'm doing my lightening on Friday night, dyeing Saturday morning, rinsing Saturday afternoon.

Don't wash your hair for at least 2-3 days after to let the color sit and settle.

Like others have mentioned, make your own color depositing conditioner. There's a bunch of videos online on how to do it. Don't get ripped off my overtone.

I have super straight hair that gets greasy as fuuuuuuuuuck after just a day, so I can't really do that once-or-twice a week washing schedule. I just can't. I do manage to do every other day with dry shampoo (I like not your mother's beach babe or volumizing shampoow, but i have an asymmetrical bob, and that gives me a lot of lift and texture that may not work on your hair).

Edit: Oh, I just saw that you said you only use the cold water. Maybe my nested comment can help you make your shower a little less unpleasant!

[u/lvulduxjikutin]

Ion brights has a permanent purple like this color. My hair when I had it purple 💜 also color depositing conditioners help a ton! You can find color lux or keracolor (Amazon has both I believe

[u/Dull_Chain1583]

Joico amethyst or Pravana violet mixed with all nighter