Pink is one of those hair colors that has always been associated with a slightly edgier sense of style, but that seems to be changing.
Over the last few years, pink hair has edged its way into the mainstream and has been seen on all sorts of celebrity heads, from music stars Katy Perry, Avril Lavigne and Pink, to actresses Rachel McAdams and Scarlett Johansson.
The trouble is, for celebrities pink hair is easy to work – they have the hairdressers and stylists to ensure that their hair looks perfect at all times. However, us mere mortals don’t have access to round-the-clock stylists, so we need to be a little more careful with our color choices.
Will pink work for my hair?
Pink is a really fun color and if you’ve got naturally blonde hair you should find it relatively easy to get your hair to the shade you want, as your hair will naturally take on any color. However, if you have darker hair the pink will not show up without the help of some bleach to lighten your natural color, which is where things can get tricky.
In this case, I would advise talking to your salon Colorist to see the possibilities (and costs) to get your hair professionally lightened. Or, why not lighten just a few areas of your hair, such as around the fringe and face, and then color those lightened areas pink?
This means that you’re not lightening all of your hair so you don’t need to worry too much about your hair becoming dry and frizzy (or worse). However, if you do decide to take the full bleach route, be sure to follow up with a deep-conditioning treatment once a week.
As with any hair color, for pink to work you really need to tailor the shade to your skin tone and lifestyle. For a quick guide to the right pink for you, take a look below.
Which pink shade will work for me?
Those with pale skin tones tend to have lighter hair, and they can definitely get away with some pink in their hair. However, you should be careful of neon pink if your skin has pink undertones, as you’ll end up looking like a raspberry if your skin gets flushed – instead, stick to a ‘barely there’ rose tint. Think Katy Perry for inspiration.
You might be better off coloring sections in your hair, such as under your fringe and a few panels in the underneath of your hair rather than the full head – simply because it can be a very strong look and difficult to pull it off.
Avril Lavigne worked pink particularly well last year when she had a few neon pink panels through her fringe, but if you’re desperate for a full head of pink hair, consider a wash-in, wash-out shade.
Those with darker skin tones don’t suit a gentler pink shade as much as paler-skinned individuals. That being said, if you’ve got olive or dark skin, you could be lucky enough to get away with a neon pink tone – as long as your hair is dark brown, brown or black.
Unfortunately for you red-headed ladies, pink will not work for you as it will clash with your gorgeous natural color.
Top Pink Hair Color Products
If you are looking for a pink hair dye, here are our pick of the bunch:
1. Manic Panic – Cotton Candy Pink
2. L’Oreal Paris Color Rays Highlights – Fuschia Flash
3. Splat – Pink Fetish
4. Special Effects – Atomic Pink
5. Punky – Flamingo Pink
Ultimately, pink hair can work for you as long as you are confident in your style and your look – so if you want to go for it, give pink a blast!
I have been helping my 7 yo daughter play with hair color for a couple of months now, ever since she she heard her first blond joke at school and didn’t think it was funny. Pink is a tough go without a salon even on young almost white blond hair I have found. We tried Manic Panic, Splatt,L’Oreal, and a dollar store product (which sadly worked the best even if not well.) What we did find that worked well was to dip dye sections in hot vinegar and pink food coloring. It works much better than Kool Aid which washes clean after a single trip to the pool.