There is a fast way to dye your hair with koolaid and there's also a slow way. The slow way takes at least 6-8 hours. The fast way takes about 30 minutes. I'll tell you how to dye your hair with koolaid fast.
You'll need to be okay with dip-dying your hair. You could dye all of your hair instead of just dip-dying, but it would probably be too messy. Dip-dying is the best way to dye your hair fast.Supplies you'll need:
- A packet or two of unsweetened koolaid (how many you need depends on how thick your hair is)
- A dark plastic cup or a disposable plastic cup
- A dark towel or old wash cloth
- Old clothes
- Warm water
Before you start, if you have any concerns about not being able to get the koolaid out of your hair, you should do a strand test first. Dye only a small area of hair and then use this method to get the koolaid out. If it comes out, then you're good.
If you have brown hair or dark hair, it may not show up as well.
Prepare the koolaid mixture
Turn on the water and let it get warm. Some people use boiling water. You don't have to do that. All boiling water does is it gets the koolaid to soak deeper into your hair which might make it harder to get out later. Just use warm water because it does just as good of a job. So fill the cup 3/4 with warm water. Take your koolaid packet(s) and pour them into the cup. Stir. Now you have your mixture.
Prepare to dip-dye your hair
Before you begin, place your dark-colored towel by the sink. You'll probably want to sit for this, since it takes 30 minutes. You will also probably want something to do like reading or browsing the internet. Your head mobility will be limited during this time, so keep that in mind. Put on some old clothes and sit down at a table. Place your cup in front of you. Put your hair in a ponytail and dip your hair into the cup. Dip as much as you want to dye. If your table is low, you might want to put your cup on top of some sturdy books. Be careful though. If you spill koolaid, it will stain everything. Leave the hair dipped for 30 minutes.
How to rinse the koolaid out
Once the 30 minutes is over, carefully walk to the sink with your cup. Don't spill it. Rinse your hair out until the water is clear. Don't shampoo it. Just make sure you get all the koolaid out. You should have a dark-colored or old towel sitting conveniently by the sink. Wrap your hair in it until it dries.
Once your hair is dry, it should look awesome.
ok so i want to dye my hair blue and my hair is really dark brownn, how much kool aid do you recommend? i only want to dye the side of my head so im guessing im gonna have neck problems if i have to keep it dipped for 30 minutess xD
ReplyDeleteI usually put the cup on top of some books so I don't have to strain my neck. If you have dark brown hair, more koolaid won't make it show up more. You might need to lighten your hair some way. Usually if you have dark hair, it will show up as a tint only, but you can try it. If you decide to lighten you hair, I take no responsibility lol.
DeleteAnother way to do it, since your wanting to dye half of ypur hair, but can make a type of paste. You should probably use ten packets so the dye can be strond, and you have enough. You should pour the needed amount of packeta into a bowl, than put enough conditioner into it to make a paste. After that, you mix it together. Take some kind of hair dye brush, or paint brush, or even toothbrush, and dip it into the paste. Apply it onto your head. Wrap strands into foil. Keep it there for about a half an hour. If you want it really bright, keep it on for a lot longer. Hope i helpex!
DeleteCool. I did that on another post. But I usually prefer dip dye because it takes less time. I used the conditioner method and kept it in for 3 hours once and there was barely any color in my hair. I have a post about that too. It was the first time I dyed with black cherry.
DeleteI am going to this so thank for the help
Deleteso i want to dye my tips a really light brown and blondish color what flavors should i use ?? and for how long will my hair be dyed ??
DeleteLike a dirty blonde? I don't think you can get that color with koolaid. You can get brown by mixing purple and yellow koolaid. How long it stays in your hair is different for everyone. For some people, it stays in for one day and others can't ever get it out.
DeleteThis method helped so much I have old honey blonde in my hair but it's alittle lighter than light brown or probably hazel colored and I dip dyed it with Strawberry and it came out PERFECT!!!!!! �����������
Delete❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
Deletei want to dye my hair orange with kool aid , but it doesnt work because i have thick black hair! any advice?
ReplyDeleteWhen lightening your hair, if it's that dark, it usually turns some shade of orange anyway, so you may be able to try some at-home lightening techniques just to get it light enough. Then make the orange really bright using the koolaid. I don't know how well it will lighten your hair, but some people at The Long Hair Community use honey because it contains natural peroxide and it's supposed to be less damaging. If you want to try it out, I would suggest looking here: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=148
DeleteHere are some pictures of someone with black hair who dyed it with honey: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=148&page=286&p=348680#post348680
You can look on the first link for more pictures. It will give you an idea of how light your hair could get. If that doesn't lighten it enough, you may need to have it bleached. Probably get a professional to do the bleaching unless you want to trust yourself with it.
Would this damage your hair
DeleteThere are some people who said it did a little damage and others who have done it several times with no damage. I think it depends on many factors: the current condition of your hair (is your hair weak? is it already damaged or dry?), what honey you use and how you use it). You can definitely go check out the threads and read first-hand experiences. That's the best way to be informed of whether or not you want to try it. Well, I guess another way would be to actually test it on a small piece of hair.
DeleteI'm gonna dye my hair today. The color is: Red cherry...if i put like 5 packets what would happen?? Oh and what is the slow way??? Advice?
ReplyDeleteThe amount of packets you need really depends on how thick your hair is and how much of it you are going to dye. I don't think there will be much of a difference color wise if you were to use more packets. I get a pretty dark color with just one packet.
DeleteI would do a strand test to make sure it's going to come out of your hair. Because some people say they can't get it to fade (although I never have had this problem myself). Use baking soda and hot water when you want to get the koolaid to come out.
Also, your hair looks pretty dark so do you plan to lighten it? On your current hair color, the red would probably show up, but I'm not sure how bright it would be. It would be like mixed with your current hair color if that makes sense. So it wouldn't just be red. It would be black and red mixed or brown and red mixed (can't tell how dark your hair is).
If you don't want to lighten your hair, you can try hair chalk which works well without having to lighten the hair. I haven't tried it myself (because I can't get my hands on any at the time) but I've seen photos and it seems to work well.
Oh, I forgot to answer your other question. The slow way is adding koolaid packets to conditioner and putting it on your hair. Then neatly fold foil over the hair and leave it for 5+ hours. It takes a lot longer than dip dying, but it's helpful if you want to dye streaks of hair, just your bangs, or all of your hair. You know, things you can't dye with a dip dye.
DeleteYou can speed up the foil method by using lots of dye and a blow dryer on high.
DeleteThanks for that tip. I probably wouldn't though. One main reason is because I don't own a blow dryer lol. After the last one I had burned out, I never bought a new one because I figured I shouldn't damage my hair anymore and the blow dryer never made much of a difference for me anyway. It gave me volume for like 30 minutes and then my hair was flat again. But someone will probably benefit from this info definitely.
DeleteWill it be good to use cherry or grape flavour kool aid for a black brown hair? Must we condioner our hair aft we kool aid our hair?
ReplyDeleteIt might not show up in your hair. You may need to lighten your hair or use hair chalk.
DeleteI think it's a good idea to condition because koolaid always leaves my ends feeling dry. Especially if you lighten your hair, you'll need to condition. I wouldn't use "conditioner" though. Conditioner only coats hair and makes it look smooth for a time. The best thing for dry, damaged hair is food grade organic oils like almond, coconut, grapeseed, etc.
I would add that reds seem to show up more if you have darker hair, so go with a red color. You can try it first and see what the color turns out to be. Most likely it will be like your hair color now except with a red tint to it.
DeleteOkay tks for the info. But just to ask if I mix both colour wat kind of colour do I get?
DeleteIf you mix cherry and grape on brown hair, it would likely give you an auburn color. I'm not quite sure though, but that's probably what would happen.
Deleteyou can use a product called sun in and use the blow dry method it should lighten your hair after 2-7 uses
DeleteActually just purchased that product this week and I'm getting ready to do a product review here.
DeleteAnd just to ask using the slow method will it make my hair more visable with the colour I dye or the dip dye method is better?
ReplyDeleteThe reason dip dying results in brighter color is mostly because you're using warm water which open the hair cuticle and deposits more color. The conditioner method can be just as vibrant though if you leave it on for at least 6 hours. I did it once for 3 hours and the color wasn't that bright. I think dip dying is better just because it takes less time to get a better effect.
DeleteOh okay tks! I will be trying out soon.
DeleteHow abt using food coloring?
DeleteIt's pretty similar. I couldn't ever get a very dark color with food coloring and I'm not sure why. Most of them didn't even show up at all.
DeleteI have dark hair and love the gel bottle food coloring. I get a brighter color turn out with it. Powder food coloring leaves a blotchy end result. Water based did nothing. Oil based was a terrible mess!
DeleteThank you for this, I dip dyed my blonde my hair with red and it turned out fantastic, although it did make my neck hurt hahaha. If I wanted to do green, would I follow the same directions??
ReplyDeleteThank you!! :)
DeleteYou can use these directions to dye your hair with any color koolaid. You have two options to prevent your neck from being uncomfortable. Get a taller cup or stack some books and put the cup on the books. Oh, you can also split your hair down the middle and then place the cup in front of you and dip both sides in at the same time. I do that sometimes too.
DeleteMy hair is a dark-brown color. If i use Cherry & black cherry kool-aid, will it turn out good. Oh, and i'm going to be doing it with conditioner. Thank you if you help
ReplyDeleteIt's a stain, so it will be a mixture of your hair color and the color of the koolaid. If you have dark brown hair, it will most likely turn out as a red tint or an auburn color at best. The lighter your hair, the more of the koolaid will show. It always mixes with the hair color. Even my hair color being as light as it is interferes with the koolaid and changes it slightly.
DeleteIf you use conditioner, you have to leave it in for a while to show up. I've heard over night is best.
ya, it should turn out good. i used red koolaid too. and it worked really well.
DeleteI'm dying it right now while I'm posting this, lol.
ReplyDeleteBut some people are saying it's gonna turn out green? (My hair's blonde and I'm dying it blue_
The more yellow in your hair, the more green it will be. The more white in your hair, the more blue it will be. It will turn out blueish unless your hair is really far from pure blonde. You'll see what I mean.
DeleteYeah, it turned out green. That's okay, It came out easy. :P
DeleteMine stays aqua colored for the first day and after one wash, it's green.
DeleteI have dirty blonde hair and dying it with red . Any tips?
ReplyDeleteDo a strand test first to make sure it will dye properly and come out properly. To do this, just dye a small amount of hair like one inch at the bottom of your hair. Only do that to a chuck of hair. Then try to get it out. If it works, you know you'll be fine.
Deleteok so i have dark hair bt my hair iz no longer then past my ear any tips on how to dye it using dat method?
ReplyDeleteMix the koolaid with a small amount of conditioner and use foil. It takes longer though. You can read how to do it with conditioner here: Click here to read that
DeleteIt will probably be best to use a red color. I'm not sure how the others will turn out in dark hair, but you can try.
How would u get a brown? How would it look on blonde hair
ReplyDeleteBrown can be made by mixing any two colors that are opposites on the color wheel. Red + Green makes brown. Yellow + Purple makes brown. Blue + Orange makes brown. So if your hair is extremely yellow and you add purple, you'll get an auburn brown color. It really just depends on your hair color. You'd have to try these out to know if they work on your hair, because your hair color makes a difference.
DeleteThank you so much for this! I mixed Grape and Mixed Berry (Blue) and I love it!
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen Mixed Berry. The only blue I know of is Ice Blue Raspberry Lemonade. I mixed it with grape before and it gave me this brownish dark blue color that looked kinda weird. It faded to a dark auburn purple. I was trying to get a deep blue color. You can see the colors of it here.
DeleteIf I put grape Koolaid in my blonde hair, will it eventually wash out?
ReplyDeleteOnly you can know that through doing a strand test. That's where you dye a small piece and then try to get it out.
DeleteI have light brown hair, and I want to dye a few pieces of hair a purplish red. Any kool-aid combination suggestions?
ReplyDeleteGrape and Cherry would probably work the best for this, although I haven't tested it.
DeleteI have dark brown hair. If I were to dip dye it tropical punch(red), how would it turn out?
ReplyDeleteCheck out the pictures in this post of brown hair dyed with cherry koolaid. It would likely turn out similar to that, maybe a little brighter because it's tropical punch.
DeleteHow long will it stay in ~ approximately
ReplyDeleteIt depends on a lot of things. I can't guarantee it will stay in any length of time and I also can't guarantee you'll be able to even get it out. But I think most people can get it out using the method I've put on this blog. It always works for me. It's best to dye a small piece of hair and test it out first before dying all of your hair.
DeleteFor me, koolaid usually stays in 2-4 weeks if I don't do anything to make it come out, besides washing. That's just me though.
I tried to dye it blue about a month ago, and it was green, I just dyed it red and it's pink? What? (But it still looks awesome) :)
ReplyDeleteYour hair probably has a lot of yellow in it.
DeleteWhile your in the process of dying your hair do you think if you take a spoon and kind of run its way through your do you think it will dye your hair a bit more thoroughly?
ReplyDeleteYea. I usually just pick up the hair and put it back in, dipping it again until I feel like all of the hair has been coated. My hair isn't as thick as some people's though.
DeleteOk because I've been trying that when I dye my hair and it sorta works but I'm probably going to try dipping it next time.
ReplyDeleteI also swirl it around in the water too.
DeleteWould Pink Lemonade Kool-aid wrk on dark brown hair ??
ReplyDeleteI've tried Strawberry Lemonade koolaid on brown hair and it worked, but I haven't tried Pink Lemonade. You can try it, but it's so light, I'm not sure that it will work.
DeleteOk I'm blonde and I want mine to be kinda pink. So if i used one packet of cherry would it turn out pink?
ReplyDeleteCherry would turn it red. The closest I ever got to pink was when I used black cherry. It's not a really hot pink though, so I'm still trying to figure out how to get a more hot pink color.
DeleteIf you want a bright/hot pink I think that strawberry mixed with pink lemonade would work. For a pale pink try just a couple packets of the pink lemonade.
DeleteI want to dye my hair purple but my hair is a dark brown and I don't want to lighten it what do I do?
ReplyDeleteHair chalk will probably be your best bet because any color of koolaid will just blend with your current color and you'll be able to see it some, but not like bright and very noticeable.
DeleteWhat is the best color to do with dirty blonde hair
ReplyDeleteAny color you want to do will look good in dirty blonde hair. Red is always the best color because it shows up a lot in anyone's hair.
DeleteHow well would purple work on sandy colored hair
ReplyDeleteI'm sure it would show up just fine. I don't know the exact color it would turn, but it would probably be more purple and less brown than what I got when I dyed my hair with purple. Mine turned a little brownish because of all the yellow in my hair.
DeleteI want hot pink but I'm not sure which pack of kool-aid I should get!
ReplyDeleteI haven't figured it out either, but when I do it will be on this website.
DeleteOk im wantin to do this to my daughter's hair for her bday since she always wants to dye it but I refuse so figured hey this would be perfect for a kid. So is this safe to do for a 8yr old with dirty blonde long hair?? And ne tips to make her time waitin go by fast n keep her sittin still? Like her on floor wit a pilloa under her butt n me on couch holdin cup and her hair???? And what if she decides 2 colors... like persay pink first then purple at the very ends... so all tips wud b pink and purple. Is this possible? ? Or actually a red and a blue on tips since her bday is the 4th of july...... ne tips or ideas please!!
ReplyDeleteIf you're going to dip dye two colors, you'd need to dip dye one of the colors. Rinse out, and then dip the tips of that into the other color when you are done. So red and blue might not work for dip dye because the tips might change purple (so it would be either red and purple or blue and purple), because blue + red = purple. I'm still not sure because I haven't tried it out, but I think that's probably what would happen. I can try really quick and see what happens. BUT you can do red and blue if you use conditioner.
DeleteYou'd need to get some conditioner and a paper plate. Put two areas of conditioner. Put blue koolaid in one area and red in the other. Take the hair. Apply red koolaid/conditioner mixture to the first part of the tip and blue to the rest of the tip. If at any point the red and blue overlap, you'll end up with purple though. You have to do the hair in individual sections like this and fold the foil into squares until none will drip out. It has to stay in about 8 hours or overnight. You can do it during the day if you are able to watch her and make sure she keeps it in. Here is a post where I explain the conditioner method with pictures
As far as keeping her occupied goes, it's going to take a long time with the conditioner, but she is allowed to get up and walk around and stuff (unlike with the dip dye). You can even put a small shower cap on her head or something like that to try to secure it more.
Thank you. I def shud have known that about the purple.... oops lol. But what if I part it? Put top half of hair in pony n dip in a color then rinse n then do bottom hair in a pony n another color. Would that look good???
DeleteIt could give the same effect if her hair has layers. Even if her hair isn't layered, I think you could probably still see it very well. That would definitely work. Just tell her that if she moves, she will never get her hair dyed again until she moves out of the house in 10 years.
DeleteI commented at 11:11. Make a wish.
DeleteI did her hair n it worked out great. We did red on bottom half n purple on top. Purple didnt show as well as red but it blends into the red n it looks so flippin cute! She loves it!!!! Btw I did make a wish ;) thanx for the neat idea n my daughter loves it!!!! Perfect idea for a lil girl who watches mom dye her hair but mom tells her she too lil so it was her own way of gettin her hair dyed :) thanx again
DeleteI'm glad it worked out so well.
DeleteI have tried the slow way many, MANY times and it has never worked.:( I usually leave it in for about 13 or more hours:(. I have never tried the fast method, but I think I will! -And, even better, I just bleached my hair so it should work better!:) p.s. thanks for the tips :)
ReplyDeleteThis should work for you.
DeleteWhat if I add lemon to the kool aid?
ReplyDeleteI have no idea. I've never done that. Lemon tends to strip moisture from the hair and it's very acidic.
DeleteI'm going to dye the ends of my hair purple. It is brown but not dark brown. If i use the dip dye method, how long will the color stay in
ReplyDeleteI can't guarantee anything. It will be different for everyone. There is a trend though that the longer you leave the koolaid in your hair, the harder it is to get it out. Like, if you try to get it out of your hair within the first few months, you should get it out just fine, but if you leave it in longer you might have trouble getting it out. As far as letting it fade naturally, it could stay in months if you do that.
DeleteShould we wash our hair before we dye it?
ReplyDeleteYea, it would be better to wash it first.
DeleteHi I will try u surit work
ReplyDeletewhat does black cherry and cherry mixed look like?? plz tell meee!! :D lol
ReplyDeleteI haven't tried it but if I had to guess, I'd say it would look like a candy apple red color.
DeleteIf i use black cherry, cherry and grape will it come out maroon on strawberry blonde hair?
ReplyDeleteI can't just tell you that, because there is no way of knowing. I know how to get koolaid out of my own hair but that doesn't mean it works for everybody. You just have to dye a small part and check if you can get it out or not.
DeleteHi, my daughters want to do this. They all have thick red hair. Any suggestions for what flavor to use? They are hoping for blue, green, or purple streaks. Thanks, this website is awesome!
ReplyDeleteBlue would likely show up as purple or auburn, depending on the shade of red it could be more brownish. Green would probably show up very brown. Purple would probably show up as auburn also. If you mix black cherry and pink lemonade, you'll get a darker red color.
Deleteso I want to dye my hair today and I have dirty blonde hair and im hoping to put sky blue (mixed berry) in my hair and I have tried several different ways and they haven't worked for me . do u have any tips??
ReplyDeleteHave you tried the way in this post? That's how I always do it. If you tried with conditioner, it might be that you didn't leave it in long enough. If you've tried everything, I'd say maybe you can't dye your hair with koolaid? I don't know why it wouldn't work. Koolaid tends to stain everything it gets on.
DeleteI want to dye my hair pink. Currently, it's really pale blonde. I went to get kool-aid, but the store only had cherry and some blue flavor, so I grabbed Country Pink Lemonade powder instead. Does anyone have any idea if that will have a similar effect? They're both by Kraft, so I figured the Country stuff would have the same amount of artificial color as kool-aid, but I'm not sure? If anyone has any tips or anything, I'd really appreciate it!
ReplyDeleteThe only difference I can think of is that the stuff you picked up probably has sugar in it. I don't know how hard it is to get sugar out of hair, but it's probably hard lol. It will probably still dye your hair though I can't know because I'm not looking at the ingredients list.
DeleteIt does have sugar in it, but I looked it up and all you have to do to get sugar out of your hair is wash it. But that raises another question, will the dye come out of my hair in one wash? I read somewhere that damaged hair sucks in more color for longer, and my hair is definitely damaged. So if I leave my hair gross and sticky for a day or two, and then wash it, will the color come right out? (Basing your answer off your experience with kool-aid of course, because right now there's no telling if Country Time will be the same)
DeleteFor me, it always faded quite a bit on the first wash but it never came completely out and it was still noticeable. It depends on the color. It's different for each color. Some colors are stronger than others. Leaving your hair sticky for a couple days will likely cause a lot of tangles. Try not to comb through your hair even after washing it. Deep condition your hair too and best of luck.
DeleteI really want to dye my tips before school starts, and my hair is blonde, but would green be a good color for my type of hair? Or would you be able to recommend some other color? Thanks ;D
ReplyDeleteGreen would probably make your hair like grass green. Sometimes blue turns into an aqua greenish color depending on how much yellow/gold you have in your hair. Doing a test on a chunk of hair can help you figure out which color you like better.
Deletei have dirty blonde hair and want to kool aid dip dye it blue. will it stay?? how long should i do it
ReplyDeleteI do it for 30 minutes.. I can't say if it will stay or not. My guess is yes. For some strange reason, koolaid is not the same in everyone's hair. Some people can't get it to stay for long and others can't get it out unless they cut their hair, so it goes from one extreme to the other.
DeleteHey I was just wondering, I really wanted to do this but it never actually dyes it. I did everything I could think of but nothing works.
ReplyDeleteYeah there are some rare people that can't get koolaid to dye their hair. Not much you can really do about that except buy actual hair dye like Manic Panic or something.
DeleteHas anyone bleached their hair? I have dark brown hair and I was wondering how it might look bleach dip dyed... And where might I find the stuff for chalking your hair?
ReplyDeleteHair chalk can be found at art supply stores.. Well, there are some made specifically for hair, but you can buy regular pastel chalk if you want at an art store. As far as bleaching goes, maybe someone can answer that for you.... I'd try the chalk first :)
DeleteOh and you commented at 11:11 :)
Deletemy daughters tips were died 3 weeks ago with "Splat". The colour has since faded alot and she would like it to now be purple rather than the red that turned out somewhat pink with the splat. Seeing as how her hair was previously bleached, if I use the Kool aid, how will it turn out?
ReplyDeleteI hadn't actually heard of Splat until reading this comment. I have no idea how it would work out. Can only guess. The best thing is to test it out on a small area first just to make sure.
DeleteWhat is the best vibrant color for auburn hair?
ReplyDeleteAny shade of red will be bright.
DeleteSo, I have auburn hair and want it to be an UBER bright red. Any suggestions?
ReplyDeleteProbably mix two different reds together and use them.
DeleteHow soon after coloring can you shampoo your hair? Does the shampoo drastically shorten the life of the color?
ReplyDeleteI shampoo my hair every day. Shampooing does fade the color a bit.
DeleteI have dark almost-brown hair. I have used the mixed berry Kool-aid to dye my hair the slow way and it actually showed up really well. It was almost a bright teal color. My sister has almost the same hair color as me but she used purple and it didn't show up at all.
ReplyDeleteResults definitely vary.
Deletel had blonde hair, then dyed it about Medium brown, Some Washed Out, but some is still in there. l first did black cherry tips and it turned out great but my school Said 1 need to blend it. l Started to run low on my first Mix. Is it going to come out the same if I Add 2 more cherry packets? Or will it be different tint?
ReplyDeleteIf I had to guess, I'd say the color would be stronger with more packets but I've never used more than one packet per color before so I don't know for sure.
DeleteDoes black cherry And Cherry mix As the Same? In medium blonde -brown hair
ReplyDeleteI would say no. Black cherry is more pinkish and Cherry is more reddish.
ReplyDeleteResults definitely vary.
ReplyDeleteHow long does this last?
ReplyDeleteFor me? About a month. But it can last anywhere from 1 wash to eternity (apparently). I've never had a problem with getting it out of my hair, and I've also never had a problem with it not lasting long enough.
ReplyDeleteDoes your hair have to be wet or dry when you dip dye it?
DeleteI leave it dry and just the part that is getting dyed becomes wet :)
DeleteI want to dye my hair and I have blackish-brown hair. I havnt done it yet because people said you can shampoo after you dye it. Is that true? Also I'm trying to dye it red. Which red should I use?
ReplyDeleteI assume you meant to say people are telling you that you 'can't' shampoo your hair after you dye it.
DeleteWhen I shampoo the first time, it fades a lot so I dye my hair while it's clean so that I don't have to shampoo til the next day. You can still shampoo, it will just fade considerably or at least that's how it goes with me. It's different for everyone. Cherry or Watermelon Cherry is really strong, if you want a strong color.