Cruelty-Free Fantasy Hair: How I Maintain Fade-Proof Purple
In my heart, I’m a unicorn. So it only made sense that my external appearance should match my magical insides! 🦄
That’s why I dyed my blonde hair bright purple.
I took the leap about a year ago, and I get SO MANY compliments! I thought fantasy hair was common enough that it wouldn’t attract all that much attention, particularly in LA.
Wrong!
Personally, I like my color bright. Fading drives me nuts, so I took the time to find cruelty-free fantasy hair products that keep my purple super vibrant. That’s what this post is all about — me sharing my favorite vegan fantasy hair brands so you can have the highly pigmented hued-locks of your dreams!
I was severely overdoing my hair when I first went purple. Every day, I used to awfully dye my hair wearing nitrile gloves (sign up for Unigloves to find safety gloves online) far too frequently. It looked good at first, but over-coloring caused my hair to thin.
Rocking short hair has been fun, but I’m growing it out again and taking much better care of it. I dye my hair much less frequently and use an awesome color depositing conditioner. I also ditched the horrible curling iron and use a heat protecting spray — now my locks are shiny and soft!
Here are the products I use to keep that just-colored look without destroying my hair:
The foundation of my bright purple comes from two Arctic Fox colors: Purple Rain and Girl’s Night. Arctic Fox is an amazing vegan company that makes the full spectrum of semi-permanent rainbow hues. (They even have some designed for darker hair if you want to steer clear of bleach.)
It’s worth mentioning that my hair was never fully bleached — just always highlighted blonde on top of my mousy and forgettable natural color.
My hairdresser touches up my roots with highlights every six weeks, then we do an all-over, half and half mix of the two purple colors.
The end result is a super vibrant purple a la Mel in The Descendants (my hair color inspo)! And by not bleaching my whole head, I’m keeping the damage to a minimum.
Arctic Fox products are free from alcohols, PPDs and harsh chemicals, and the company also donates 15% of profits to prevent animal cruelty through organizations like Second Chance Animal Services and Animal Hope & Wellness Foundation. Yay!
A friend of mine introduced me to oVertone after I started doing my purple, and it’s the best find EVER! Basically, oVertone makes conditioners that deposit color on your hair.
The win here is that the process is less damaging than actual color, so it keeps your hair bright and healthy in between dyes!
I use the Extreme Purple Daily Conditioner and Coloring Conditioner. The Coloring Conditioner is more intense (both moisture-wise and color-wise) and you leave it on for a bit longer — 10 to 15 minutes versus three to five minutes for the Daily Conditioner.
I use one of the two conditioners every time I wash my hair, and these products are serious lifesavers! They keep my purple almost as bright as regular color, and leave my hair super silky. Honestly, my hair is probably in the best condition it’s ever been!
Plus, oVertone cares about protecting the planet. The company’s bottles are recyclable, and its shipping containers are made from 40% recycled materials and 60% sfi (sustainable forestry initiative) certified materials.
They also partnered with the organic açaí brand Sambazon on a #PurpleforthePlanet initiative to preserve acreage in the Amazon rainforest — an effort that’s more important than ever!
Here are a few more tips for DIY fantasy color using these awesome vegan and cruelty-free products:
- Use gloves! Even with the conditioner, the color can temporarily stain your hands, so ALWAYS apply using gloves. If you’ve just applied Arctic Fox color, it’s best to keep the gloves on while washing/rinsing, but with oVertone you can use your bare hands in the shower.
- Keep some scrubbies on hand in case any color gets on your countertops or tiles.
- Use a heat protecting spray before styling.
So there you go — the scoop on how I keep my purple hair super purpley!
Whatever your color of choice, Arctic Fox and oVertone will keep you covered. Just make sure to take good care of your locks — condition, don’t overdo it with the styling tools, and wash sparingly (dry shampoo is your BFF!). 🌈
