Keeping locks hardy and other care hints

Want to go for some wild hair color? Here are a few tips:

Keep hair in good condition. “If your hair is overdeveloped, damaged or compromised … the color’s really not going to stay on there at all,” says Marty Pruitt, owner of H20 Hair + Color. “When you get in the shower, it’s going to wash out.” On the other hand, he says, your hair must be bleached enough or the dye color won’t be as vibrant “or pure as it’s supposed to be coming out of the tube.”

Use a color-safe shampoo.

“Don’t shampoo it every day; it’s going to come out faster than you want it to,” Pruitt says. “Rinsing it in cool water helps to keep it from going down the drain.”

Keep old towels and old pillowcases around to catch color bleed.

Don’t expect your hair to look exactly the same with each retouch. “Repeating a mermaid style hairdo that has those four, five tints of hair color in there, it’s not easy,” Pruitt says. Especially considering the fact that the new growth will have to be bleached first, “trying to redo what you did the first time is near impossible. You can get close,” but be open to some change.

Don’t match your lipstick or eyeshadow to your vibrant hair. “You look like a cartoon,” Pruitt says.

Don’t match your clothing to your vibrant hair. Says hairdresser Stacie Mack, also with H20: “If your hair is blue or purple, do not wear the color on your body, because you’ll look like you need to be in Willy Wonka and you’re about to blow up.” She refers to the children’s fantasy Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, whose characters included a young girl who turned into a giant blueberry after chewing a special gum.

Go more natural with your makeup, and keep your clothing silhouette simple — a simple, onepiece dress, for instance. “Less is always more,” Mack says.