Advice please - dye virgin wanting to go purple during lockdown

[CastleCrasher]

I have mid-dark brown shoulder length hair. I've always wanted to try out a purple dye, but it wouldn't be possible with my job.

I'm now going to be working from home for the foreseeable, more than likely until September, so now seems like the ideal time, except I'd have to do it myself, and I've never dyed my hair, apart from an attempt with Renbow Crazy Colour last year, which did precisely nothing.

So, I'm asking for your advice - can I go purple without bleaching first? Any recommendations? (Assuming of course I can manage to get anything suitable at all, I won't be shopping specifically for hair stuff, so it'll either be picked up while doing prescription and essentials run for neighbor, or online)
If I did bite the bullet and bleach, how likely am I to fry my hair? And if I'm suddenly called back in to the office, can it be dyed back to brown easily enough?

I'm sure I should have figured these things out by now (I'm nearly 40!) but here I am!

[haverhill]

I think Schwarzkopf do a purple dye now. I have a ‘temporary’ purple dye which lasts well, but my hair is light brown. You’ll probably be able to get a subtle wash of lavender without bleaching.

[sweetkitty]

Following for DD1 almost 16, I bought some L’oreal purple wash out stuff for her and it didn’t work at all. She was gutted bless her, she has mud brown hair never coloured before.

[CastleCrasher]

@haverhill - thank you! I've just checked online and there's a Schwarzkopf Live ultra violet that looks like it just might do the job, and according to the app, is available in my local Tesco, so I should hopefully be able to grab one when I'm in at the end of the week!

Stupid question, but can I just use a plain brown dye over the top of it if I needed to (eg suddenly called back at work), or do I have to use a stripping product first?

[haverhill]

I’m not sure, and to be honest, the stripping products I’ve used weren’t particularly effective anyway. I’d just go for it; it’ll wash out in time anyway.

[cosmo30]

I've dyed my blonde hair purple many a time, the live colours were always vibrant but they would be on blonde.
You should be able to just whack a brown dye over it after if you need to change it, I don't see what could go wrong with that

[cosmo30]

Also doubt you'd fry your hair, the darker colours are nowhere near as bad as lightening. Take it from someone who has seriously damaged their hair over the years with all different colours lol

[TheHumansAreDefinitelyDead]

On brown hair, especially virgin (previously untreated) healthy brown hair it will do nothing.

DS dyed his hair blue for charity, left it on twice as long as it said in the packet for more vibrant effect....

The result: slightly darker brown hair

You need to damage your hair with bleach first for the colour to take properly

[Oldraver]

I have a turquoise waiting to be used and was thinking the same.

DS has dark blond hair and when he uses bluee it ends up a light bluish/grey. I've used a bit on ym brown hair and it's barely noticable

[NoRoomInBed]

It depends how purple you want. If you want vibrant purple you'll need to lighten the hair 1st but it's not hard to do. I did mine pink over bleached blonde. Quick pic to show how bright colors can be on blonde.

[sweetkitty]

@TheHumansAreDefinitelyDead that’s probably what happened with DD1, no purple whatsoever

[CastleCrasher]

@TheHumansAreDefinitelyDead that's what happened the one and only time I did try to dye it - left it on for the max time it said on the bottle, not so much as a slight tinge!! Was gutted as I'd seen reviews with before and after with people whose hair was darker than mine!

Ah well, guess the only thing for it is to try it, and I'm grateful for the advice given so thanks all. I'll see if I can grab a pack when I'm next at the shops. Will post pics if it's a disaster so you can have a giggle!

[GhostCurry]

You need to bleach it first. No question.

Think of hair dyes as ink, not paint. Paint is opaque and pigmented, the colour has usually been added to a base of white and it obscures whatever you apply it to. So you can paint a dark wood table with purple paint, and it will appear purple.

Now imagine trying to paint that dark wood table with a pot of ink. It would stain it a little, yes, but it would not look purple.

That is why you need to bleach your hair first. It’s not just that you need to “damage” it for the dye to take; its more that you need to give the dye the chance to actually be perceived once it’s on the hair.