Have awesome color using Manic Panic!

First: All your choices...

Manic Panic has a lot of color options.

What you see online, probably won’t be what you see on your head. Search around for pictures of people who’ve used your color… see what results they get. A lot of times, and even on Manic Panic’s website, they’ll tell you what they did to achieve that color.

I prefer the Amplified line as it lasts a little longer…

Third: Color yourself happy...

Apply that color!

Okay, I’m making it sound easier than it really is — but it’s not that hard. You just need to be careful not to get dye everywhere.
Manic Panic dyes will dye everything.

Use petroleum jelly along your hairline and on your ears. If you have a defined part, it might not hurt to apply a little there too. Wherever the jelly is, the dye won’t stain. Your towel will come in handy here too, as you can use it as a smock to protect your shoulders/clothes. (Yes, I have pink spots on my shoulders right now, but they’ll wash off…)

If you don’t have a hair dye brush, a toothbrush (that’s not all crumby and gross) will work. I’ve used mine three times now, but it was that pink after the first time. Brush in the dye, completely saturate your hair.

(Um, please ignore how gross my sink is right now. It’ll get cleaned after the coloring is complete.)

Fifth: Wait, wait, and wait...

Depending on how light your hair is (aka how much you bleached it), you might only need 30 minutes for the color to set in.

The longer you leave it in, the more intense the color will be. Of course, it does reach a peak of intensity. When I first used Cotton Candy Pink, I left it in over night (with my foil cap on) — 13 hours later and honestly though it was pink it wasn’t the pink I wanted. When I used Hot Hot Pink, I only left it in for 3 hours the first time, and an hour and half the second time when I was just touching it up.

For some colors, you might want to leave it in for about 3-5 hours… you’ll just need to keep checking it.

yep! it's me! (and you!)

I decided to use a lot of my own photos for this guide — since I’m currently re-coloring my hair as I work on this.

I’ve played with my hair color since 5th grade… used Manic Panic once in high school — had a friend who could tie-dye her hair with it color it purple for me — and recently started using it again for my pink highlights.

I generally have the attitude of “let’s have fun!” with my hair. I’ve cut it off, I’ve colored it, I’ve had a fohawk — I’ve even had it caked in crisco until I looked like a troll doll (I don’t recommend this. EVER.) Anyway. The point it.. Have fun with this. If you mess up, have someone who can help you do something creative with it… or re-dye it back to your natural color.

Update!
I’ve opened this up as a community guide because I want to see your result pictures and get your tips as well! So please share!

Second: Bleach it.

Manic Panic sells a bleaching kit, and you can find them anywhere hair dyes are sold. However, I chose to have my wonderful (and awesome) stylist bleach my hair for me to get these great peak-a-boo highlights.

If you’ve got blond hair, you might not need to bleach — I’ve even seen some great results from light brown hair that wasn’t bleached. Generally, all hair dye makers suggest doing a test strip, which isn’t a bad idea (not only for color results but for allergies too).

Tip; Use a toner to get your hair as close to white/platinum as possible. It’ll help you get that bold color you want without a weird tint to it…

Love your gloves...

After the last two times putting pink in my hair… I learned, you need gloves… My fingers stayed pink for a few days. It wasn’t bad, but well, yeah.. had they been blue it might have taken longer for it to fade.

Sixth: Rinse & Condition!

Before you rinse your hair with water… rinse it with a diluted distilled vinegar. I’ve read that half-and-half vinegar and water will work, but I generally use two-thirds vinegar and one-third water.
The exact amount of the vinegar rinse you should use is really up to your own preference.

Don’t shampoo your hair. After you rinse it with vinegar, and then water until it runs as clear as it can… use conditioner. I recommend using another mixture, which I’ll explain below.

Also: be aware that you might stain your tub at this time. A cleaning with some chemicals will keep take care of this.