Head dyeing: Three-color dye with stripes and fade

This dye is a three color process, and involves two fades and some electrical tape stripes. You'll need electrical tape, a ruler, an X-ACTO knife and two colors of dye (any of your choosing), plus black dye.



STEP1
Boil the water for your first color. Dye the lighter of the two first. When the water is boiling, mix in the dye until it is dissolved.

STEP 2

Bob your head up and down in the water, only going to the deepest point one time. Pull it out more and more each time, never letting the head sit still.






STEP 3

When you are satisfied with the color, rinse it off and start to boil the water for the next color.

STEP 4

At this point, you have the option of adding some electrical tape stripes to save this white to solid fade. If you'd rather the color to color fade show through the black, hold off on this step. On my head, I added stripes and saved the green to white fade. For the stripes, roll out a long piece of tape. Place the ruler over it lengthwise and make parallel cuts down the tape. If you have the normal thickness tape, 2 slices down the middle will leave you with three even-thickness stripes. From these, cut 1.5 inch long pieces and line them up around the inside of your head. Then use a hair dryer to heat the tape up, and mash them down securely. I left the outside alone because it's so hard to make the tape work around edges.













STEP 5

Next, from your second dye color, create another fade. Again, keep your head moving consistently, from about 3/4 of the way submerged to about 1/4 of the way submerged. You'll get a nice smooth fade. Again, rinse your head and dry it off.






STEP 6

Add additional stripes to protect the new dye color from the black. Follow the same process as step 4.

STEP 7

When your head has a lot of stripes, boil some more water for your black. Get it as HOT AS POSSIBLE! The TEMPERATURE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF GETTING A DARK, SOLID BLACK. This is true for any type of dye that you're doing. When your head is nice and black, rinse it off and pull off all your stripes. Your fade will shine through, leaving you with the task of stringing it.