Hair coloring?

[jason1976]

Hey all. I'm thinking of doing a Spike (from Buffy/Angel) costume for one day of an upcoming convention. I have dark brown hair, and I would like to achieve Spike's bleach blond look. I would prefer not having to actually bleach my hair, and I would like the effect to be temporary,

I've looked at some of those spray on hair colors that come out around this time of year, but I haven't seen one for bleach blond.

Any suggestions would be great.

Thanks
Jason

 

[Darth Mule]

Bleach it. Anything else is going to look retarded. Wig = Retarded (unless you have a professional hair and makeup team at your disposal). Temp hair color: your options will be yellow spray, which will look... That's right. Retarded.

Look at it this way tho. You can dye your hair back to normal after halloween.

 

[ObiWannabe]

Ordinarily I would advocate a wig (as I work with them often), but Spike's hair is SO short that I don't think you can get a wig that would look like it. You would see all the wefts, hair that short won't hide anything.

The spray-on stuff is terrible. It runs, it rubs off on everyone but especially yourself, it creates choking fumes when you're spraying it anywhere but outside, and no, there is no "blond" color. They only come in party colors, the closest you'd find is bright neon yellow. Sadly, if you want the correct effect - a natural, not cartoony look - you'll have to bleach your hair. Good luck.

 

[jason1976]

Actually I did find the spray on stuff in hunny blond, and white. (Also gray, brown, and some other naturel colors.) I've come close with the white, because my hair is so dark, it comes out kind of bleached looking. However, your right, that stuff sucks, it's messy, and smelly. I have heard that there is a brush in version, like a gel, that might not be bad.

I'm almost 30, and my hair is already starting to thin a bit, bleaching will just expedite the process.

I do agree about the wigs though. I tried one to do the you jedi padawan look a few years ago, and it sucked. (And it didn't fight right anyway)

Hm. maybe I should rethink this costume.

Jason

 

[foxbatkllr]

I have dark brown hair and I am getting it to blonde for my halloween costume this year. I picked up some stuff from a local beauty supply store that looks pretty good. It's golden blonde and not glittery or anything.

 

[nickytea]

Used a brush on type thing for a lot of theatrical work. It was for greying, but the effect could be controlled by how much you put in/how you brushed it.
Worked wonderfully for me, Im sure someone makes it in a bleched sort of color.
Check Ben Nye.

 

[Phayze]

<div class='quotetop'>(nickthsaberman @ Oct 27 2006, 12:33 AM) [snapback]1345758[/snapback]</div>

Used a brush on type thing for a lot of theatrical work. It was for greying, but the effect could be controlled by how much you put in/how you brushed it.
Worked wonderfully for me, Im sure someone makes it in a bleched sort of color.
Check Ben Nye.
[/b]

Yeah, the Ben Nye theatrical hair white would probably do the trick. It's a little hard to get used to putting it in effectively, but it washes out easily and looks pretty decent. I'll bet you could stir in a little yellow food coloring or something to get it more blond.

 

[jason1976]

Awesome, I was just about to give in, and consider dyeing it, but I think this Ben Nye stuff could work. I looked it up on the web, and there's even a few sites that recommend adding a little yellow food coloring. (They suggested it, for getting rid of that blue look that white hair can get under certain lights, but they did say that you can combine the to chemicals.) It's not all that expensive, so I think I'll give it a try. If it works great, and if not I'll dye it if I have to.

thanks
Jason

 

[ObiWannabe]

I'll be interested to see the results, because if it works like you want it to, I'll have something new to recommend to wig-phobic cosplayers.

 

[jason1976]

Well, I found a bottle of Ben Nye hair white. I looked at 7 costume shops, and the last one I looked at, had just one bottle left.

I have some hair extensions, that are made of real human hair, and are the exact same color as my hair. I tried the Ben Nye, with different amounts of yellow in it. Unfortunately, the result was always the same, a good effect for making the hair look old, but nowhere close to bleach blond. It looks like dyeing is my only real option.

I guess, if I get one of those new hair dyes that have all those nutrients, and stuff in it, it might not damage my hair too bad.

Anyone like one brand of hair dye, better then another?

Jason