Pink, Blue and Purple Dye, Oh My!

Story and photos by Madison Lajewski

Colors like pink, purple and blue are not typical colors one thinks of when imagining hair. For many Central Michigan University students, it allows them to show their personality in a different, unique way.

“I’ve been dying my hair since I was in ninth grade,” sophomore Winter Graham said. “I’ve always found it really fun to just be able to express myself through it. Hair dye is a relatively inexpensive way to have that cool expression within your outfits.”

“I’d say I usually have a new hair color once every two months,” Graham said. “I use a lot of leave-in conditioner products. A lot of the hair dye I use is vegan already. It’s basically like a color depositor, so it basically puts color on top without stripping away the natural oil.”

For many students, the idea of dying their hair an unnatural color is a way to get a need for change out of their system.

“Changing my hair is super easy and it’s temporary,” Graham said. “I had blue for literally three weeks and then I ended up dying it purple, which is what the back of my head is right now.”

Many students find their inspiration on Pinterest, but there are many more creative outlets now.

“When Tumblr was a huge thing, I was just starting high school so I got a lot of inspiration from there,” Graham said. “As that died down, Tik Tok started picking up and there’s a lot of really cool self expression on that app.”

For some students, it is their last chance to dye their hair a fun color before it is viewed as unprofessional in the workplace.

“I dyed my hair super dark purple this year basically because I love it, and it’s fun,” senior Lauren Nicholson said. “I’ve always been the kind of person that I’m very outward with my expression of myself.”

Since Nicholson is headed to law school next year, she saw this as her last chance to dye her hair a fun color.

“Might as well do it while I’m young before I have to be a professional. I’m still at the age where I want to have fun and do fun stuff with my hair, but I’m also trying to sort of transition into being an adult.”

Dying your hair an unnatural color can be fun and exciting, but many have to be ready for the commitment and sometimes consequences that can come with it.

“You have to be really conscious and realize that if you don’t really take care of your hair now, you can’t really start dying it and treating it with bleach without being ready to start taking care of your hair more,” Graham said. “It’s a really big commitment and I feel like a lot of people don’t realize that.”