Since you said green and purple, I’m going to assume you’re using semi-permanent dyes (such as Manic Panic, Splat, Special FX, and so on), so my advice will be around that.
Heat or time. You either need to heat the dye on your head (which opens the hair cuticle so the dye penetrates better), or let it sit for at least an hour. (Because I work from home, I can leave my dye in for as long as I want, and I usually go for at least 3 hours.)
Rinse in cool to cold water.
Some people use a vinegar + water rinse after rinsing out the dye. I’ve done that in the past, but haven’t found it makes that much difference in extending the life of the color.
Wash your hair less often, and with a gentle shampoo. Washing always fades the color. (I only wash my hair once a week, and it’s fine.
Add a few tablespoons of your dye to your conditioner to refresh the color when you wash your hair. WARNING: this will stain your hands, but baby wipes or Dr. Bronner’s soap with a smidge of coconut oil (any oil, really) will remove the stain.
Maintaining unnaturally colored hair takes some effort, but I think it’s worth it. I hope my tips help! 🙂
Yes, if you buy this post right here, (which I do, and I’m also going to rebagel it bc why haven’t I yet? Maybe it’s buried in the queue…), in which @gojiro informs us that:
“…mirrors used to be backed with a reflective layer of silver — which, as the metal of purity, would not ‘interact’ with Vampires, who are the Devil’s work. However, modern mirrors have used aluminum as their reflective backing for many years now — and aluminum is not a ‘picky’ metal at all…”
So yes you may headcanon Armand as winning the Ugly Sweater Contest by standing in front of Lestat w/ a mirror as shown above by @superhiki!
…but I also really like the “hair dying parties with other vampires cause they can’t see what they’re doing in the mirror.” which still works for the vampires of What We Do in the Shadows, who live in the modern era, and can’t see their reflection in mirrors (but they can see it in photographs, IDK I JUST REALLY LIKE THE DYE PARTY IDEA so as Tim Gunn would say, “Make it work.”)
For Ricean vampires (idk the rules with others), I don’t think dye would last forever bc they can cut their hair, and the dye would be effectively removed.
Dye is a color treatment on material that’s basically dead and outside their bodies. Even though their hair does not grow longer than the length it was when they were turned, it can be cut off and will grow back their natural color. I don’t think the dye would vanish during turning, either, like nailpolish wouldn’t vanish during turning. The nail underneath would change to that vampiry glassiness, but not be visible. The hair would change in texture inside the dye.
With something like a tattoo, I would think that it could be permanent, if the mortal had them before being turned, because the ink is under the skin, but maybe the vampiric parasite would reject the ink as being unnecessary. I don’t think we have any tattooed vampires in canon to know for sure.
romanchronicles is an OC vampiress with that exact problem! I can’t find the post she goes into detail about it, but that is basically what happened. I bet the mun and muse would love to entertain your questions/amusements about it.
…However, as far as Ricean vampires go, I don’t think that would be a problem at all, as they can cut their hair post-turning, and it grows back to the length it was when they died. Hence, they can cut out that bad dye job; and since dye doesn’t exist in the flesh itself, their hair would grow back fine!
The issue would be if someone had shaved their head before turning, bc their hair would stay that length after death 😛 Sorry Uncle Fester, it ain’t coming back.
I-want-my-IWTV 