Multiple Haircolor Disorder

I'm sure many of us have gone through the whole hair chameleon thing. When I was super gothy, I had hair that was black in front, black on the underside, and blood red everywhere else. It's been completely unnaturally red, coppery red, dark brown, black, purple, tree green... you name it, my hair's probably been it. I started using Palty Sakura Creamy because I heard the dye really blends older colors well, will lighten darker dyed hair, and I loved the color.

The color on the box is very much a creamy red, slightly coppery, but subdued. It's a gorgeous color, and I fell in love with it immediately. This is what it looks like when my hair is freshly dyed.

Sadly, this does NOT last. My natural hair color is a sort of mousy brown that picks up a little red in the winter and a little blonde in the summer. I love having some red in my hair, and was a little upset when the color was gone in three weeks. The last time I dyed my hair was about two months ago, and this is what color my hair is now.

These were taken directly in front of the bathroom lights. (Please don't judge my poorly-styled hair; I'm getting it cut  and dying it later.) As you can see, it's pretty darn blonde except for my roots. It's a lovely golden color, and I don't really hate it. My hubby loves it, as do most of my friends, and a ton of people says it's very youthful on me. As you can see, however, it's NOT a creamy red.

Now, I understand why it's like this. Palty dye is meant for Japanese hair, meaning it will lift black. When one bleaches black hair, it turns orange initially, and I'm positive the dye takes that into account. When you bleach a lighter brown, it turns blonde. Mine will turn near-platinum with 20 minutes of 40 volume peroxide. That being said, as much as I love the Palty dye, I may have to give up using it if I don't find a color that will last better.

This is really hard for me, since I love nearly everything about Palty dye. It smells nice, it leaves my hair in decent condition, and the applicator bottle makes things so easy (I even saved one in case I change back to American dyes.) The only things I don't like is the super-tiny conditioner packet and that not as much seems to come in the bottle as American dyes.

Since my hair comes out this blonde color after a couple of weeks, I'm considering trying a different Palty color to see if I have the same issue. I'm considering Maple Doughnut.

It's pretty much the color the Sakura Creamy fades into, and I think it might be more consistent to where I don't have to worry about it changing colors on me. I still have three boxes of Sakura Creamy left, which means one box for my next dye job and probably two for the one after since I'm growing out my hair.

Ah well, First World Problems and all of that, but hopefully my experience with this helps shed some light on any person of Caucasian origin who might think Palty dye looks interesting enough to try. If your hair is brown, THE RED WILL FADE. Not in a bad way, but... it will.

J!