When dyeing your hair, the options are truly unlimited. With the right combination of colour and bleach, you can dabble in different tones and iterations of your favourite shades, and be as subtle or bold as your heart desires.
Take blue, for instance. You can ask your colourist for bright, candy-coloured teal or opt for a moody deep-navy hue that screams winter. We’ve been partial to the latter this season, thanks to its rich borderline-black tone that pairs perfectly with sweater weather.
Ahead, we rounded up our favourite ways to rock dark blue hair to show your stylist or DIY at home. We also spoke to celebrity colourist Aura Friedman, who broke down everything there is to know about getting the (navy) blues.
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The first step in dabbling in dark blue hair is to become familiar with your desired shade. “If you’re looking to achieve a specific colour, bring a picture or an item that shows exactly what shade you want,” Friedman says. “Your stylist will understand your request much better with a picture that coincides with your vision.” If you’re looking for deep navy with barely-there hints of rich violet, then screenshot this indigo hue (seen on beauty personality Āiyana Sakari) to show your colourist.So you’re bored with brunette but don’t want to pre-lighten your hair? That’s totally fine. However, Friedman explains that the darker your starting hair colour, the more subtle your colour will appear, like this oil-slicked navy hue by Nicolas Flores of Sally Hershberger Salon in L.A.
“Achieving this colour professionally depends on the existing colour of your hair pre-dye,” Friedman says. “For a medium to dark brown, navy blue will appear more subtle, so I would recommend lightening hair beforehand to make sure the colour is visible and vibrant if that’s what you want.”
Friedman says to consider how a deep blue or teal shade would look when it begins to fade on pre-lightened or blonde hair. “It’s important to ask your stylist how your colour will fade and how you can get back to your natural colour afterward,” she says. “Since dark blue is such a pigmented colour, it’s important to have a sense of how long it will last because it’s difficult to remove.” Though pre-lightened hair will mean more maintenance, vibrant results — like this colour done by Friedman — make the work worth it in the long run. If a trip to the salon is a bigger concern than your actual hair colour, Friedman says that it’s possible to take blue for a spin from your bathroom. “I do not recommend lightening hair on your own,” she warns, “but there are a lot of at-home dye kits that can help you achieve navy blue hair without a salon visit.” To achieve a sultry midnight blue colour like Toronto blogger Ilekkiya Suppiah, you can use temporary hair colour directly on your strands. “Manic Panic is a great brand for this,” Friedman explains. “You can mix Shocking Blue with After Midnight Blue and apply it to your hair. Results may look better on highlighted hair and may add some dimension.”People with buzzcuts have an easy in on dark blue hair since cascading ends aren’t a concern for absorbing colour. Just throw on some gloves, apply over your short cut, and let the magic happen. Bonus points if your hair is already dyed platinum, so your colour will be even more vibrant, like this result done by Sanya Minette Keränen.Whether you took matters into your own hands or got the job done professionally, at-home care is still a crucial part of maintaining your colour (and keeping your hair healthy). To keep your shade and the condition of your hair intact, Friedman recommends adding the K18 Biometric Leave-In Molecular Repair Hair Mask, which won a Refinery29 Beauty Innovator Award this year, to your routine. “This keeps hair healthy and significantly reduces colour fading to preserve pigment for longer.” It’s safe to use on all hair textures, including curls of all textures like Stacey Ludior’s, so your strands don’t have to suffer for your new colour.
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