Purple. It’s been a favorite color of mine since Willa Wonka rocked that suede purple jacket making the color a must-have fashion trend. But, I decided that I like the color so much that it needs to be used far beyond clothing or makeup; it needs to be used in my hair. This happened rather accidentally when I looked received Condition Culture’s COLORSMASH hair shadow in a gift bag a few months ago and side-eyed it on my vanity on a regular basis without enough courage to take the plunge. What would my co-workers think? Is it even appropriate for the office? Would my family and friends hate it, or embrace the uniqueness of my new colored hair? I decided to roll the dice; color is temporary, after all. I used the shade COLORSMASH shade in Iris and here was the result (if you haven’t seen it on my Instagram already):

Here are my recommendations and thoughts:

Use on dry hair – As you can see the color is nicely pigmented, but I learned very quickly that you need to use this on dry hair. When I tried using this on my hair wet, the color didn’t appear bright, or at all for that matter…

Wear gloves – For some of you this may be a no-brainer but I don’t normally do anything regarding color so I did it with bare hands and let me tell you…remember that scene in Willy Wonka when Violet turns into a blueberry?…is all I’m saying…

Protect the area you are working in – Once again, this might be a no brainer for some of you, but you all should know, as you are rubbing the chalk in your hair, the product sheds all over the place. As I used it I was so focused on the gorgeous hue that was appearing on my hair, that by the time I looked down, my entire sink was just as purple as my hair and it was a nightmare to clean. This also applies to whatever clothing you are wearing; put on something you don’t mind getting messy.

Be cautious – The instructions of this product says to seal it in with hairspray and all will be well, but such was not the case for me. Maybe I didn’t use enough hair spray but whenever I ran my hands through my hair, my clean hand came back tinted with the color. Also, sometimes when my curly hair is frizzy, I like to add a little water to smooth out the fizz before reapplying product. You can’t do that when this is in your hair, because as soon as water touches the color, it immediately washes off. I covered my hair at night so it wouldn’t rub off on my pillow.

All of my cautionary tales aside, I really did love the vibrant shade that was added to my hair and I got tons of compliments. Considering my hair is deep brown, the color pigment really did “wow” me; I would just only use it for a special event. Additionally, maybe it was the amount of hair spray used or the product itself, but my hair felt dry and lifeless so after one day I decided to it wash out.

The product retails for $13.