Create Emma’s Pride Rainbow Look
Step one - Prep the hair
As we are looking to create a vibrant and colourful result, the hair will need to be pre-lightened to level 8+ blonde to provide a bright and successful result. Emma used a 20-volume developer in order to give her client a soft lift; the volume of the developer and how long you choose to leave it to process will differ for everyone in accordance with the base colour that you begin with. For helpful tips when bleaching hair, visit our article ‘How To Bleach Your Hair And Top Tips’.
Once the hair has lightened to a pale yellow tone, similar to the inside of a banana, rinse the lightener from the hair and shampoo twice to ensure no bleach has been left in the hair before colouring. We do not recommend applying conditioner at this point; conditioner helps to soften and seal the cuticle meaning that it will make it more difficult for the colour to penetrate and hold within the hair once it has been applied.
Emma then towel dries her client’s hair as well as possible, ensuring that the hair is no longer soaking wet or dripping.
Step 2 - Sectioning
Now onto the sectioning. Sectioning is very important for this type of look as you will be incorporating a variety of colours and is necessary for producing bold and prominent results.
Before sectioning, Emma considered how her client chooses to wear their hair and created her sections in accordance with this. As her client’s hair sits forward with a side fringe, Emma chose to create small horizontal sections from ear to ear that ensure the colours fall in line, creating a horizontal rainbow. When pushed forward, this technique also exaggerates each of the tones in an array of colours and shades.
Whilst planning her technique for the sectioning of this look, Emma considered each of the colours that she incorporated and worked out a plan to decide which colours sat best beside each other.
Emma’s top tip when sectioning - Think about the colours that you apply at the hairline. Take into consideration elements such as your client’s skin tone and whether the colours applied complement the tone. Also, consider whether the placement of the colours at the hairline will sit nicely when the hair is either pushed forward or pulled back.
Step 3 - Applying your colours
Once all of your colours are prepared, it’s time to start the application! We mentioned the colours used before but here’s a little reminder.
For this look, Emma mixed each of the following colours from the Manic Panic UK High Voltage Classic Colour range with the Pastel-izer to create vibrant pastel tones:
Purple Haze
Voodoo Forest
Electric Banana
Psychedelic Sunset
Hot Hot Pink
She applies her colours to the horizontal sections that were created before.
Once the colours are all applied, leave them to saturate and develop for 20 minutes; if the hair has been lightened to the correct tone before, this should be enough time for your colours to have developed into a vibrant result.
Step 4 - Rinse and style
Once the hair has completed its development time, rinse with cold water. When using semi-permanent hair dyes the hair should always be washed with cold water as this will seal the cuticle and help to lock the colour in.
No need to use shampoo on the hair at this step, however, now is the time to condition! Using a colour-safe conditioner, apply this and massage it well into the hair. The conditioner will also help to close the cuticle and lock the colour in for longer whilst always providing a silky soft result.
Style the hair as desired. If applying heat to the hair, ensure a heat protectant is applied before.
We would love to see your Manic Panic Pride looks from this year so make sure to tag us in your pictures @manicpanic_uk. Happy Pride!
