Best pink hair dyes for a punkish mane

Not content with solely dominating our interiors, Pepto-Bismol pink has taken on the beauty world, from packaging to haircare.

In particular, there has been a huge surge in interest in rose-hued hair tones, and cool candy shades are popping up all over our FYP page. Credit to Kylie Jenner for the latest celebrity post featuring pink hair to send Gen Z into a frenzy.

But whether you opt for soft pastel peach or bolder and brighter bubblegum, it is more wearable than it may originally appear, especially when you consider the sheer range of colourways that are possible. There is a shade to suit all skin tones and enhance your natural hair colour.

There’s no two ways about it though, pink hair is an edgy style. So if you’re going to do it, do it right. Alex Brownsell, co-founder and creative director at Bleach London explains, “Pink is one of the easiest colours to use as it fades out to a pretty pastel and then back to your original blonde without staining or damaging your hair”.

The colour may have traditional associations with femininity, but when it comes to hair, it takes on a whole new meaning with connotations of the punk movement. Whether rocking some pastel E-girl stripes or a full head of neon fuschia locks, pink locks are guaranteed to turn heads.

But how does one achieve such statement tresses? As a temporary fix, pink is a fun pigment to experiment with. Yet for a long-term switch-up, the colour is hard to nail without the risk of it fading or washing out.

Brownsell offers some advice for going pink:

From blondes to brunettes, stars including Helen Mirren, Kate Hudson and Hailey Bieber have all championed varying shades of pink. Model Kaia Gerber exclaimed via Instagram that “pink is punk” when showing off her faded candy-hued ‘do. But pink isn’t just for the girls. Perhaps even more outlandishly, men have started to join the bright side en masse.

Rapper Machine Gun Kelly is a big fan, regularly rocking a fluorescent pink barnet. The star even titled his 2022 biopic Life in Pink. Jonah Hill, Zayn Malik and Joe Jonas have all joined MGK’s ‘think pink’ club, with the latter doing so in order to raise awareness for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

While pink is often sported by those teetering on the fringes of society or subcultures, the shocking hair colour was surprisingly an upper-class luxury during the 17th and 18th centuries. Pastel pigments for wigs meant the bourgeoise could zhush up their manes with some punchy pink colouring.

Think back to Kirsten Dunst in Sofia Coppola’s 2006 film Marie Antoinette. In one scene, the actress appeared as the iconic French queen with a strawberry-tinted wig. This wasn’t total fiction, as it is said that the extravagant royal would self-colour her hair using natural ingredients such as turmeric and rhubarb to achieve that rose-tinted glow.

So if you’re tempted to try it, here are the best at-home hair dyes to achieve the perfect pink shade.

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