Cyndi Lauper was known for her bright orange locks. Another notable example within 70s-80s rock music has to be Kurt Cobains pinkish-red, an early male example of going past the natural shade spectrum. The Cure had heavy black hair to reflect the aesthetic of their post-punk/gothic rock music as well as members of synth pop band Depeche Mode. This obviously wasn’t the norm Bowie was a unique act, and eventually more and more of the ‘unique’ bands started incorporating hair dye in their looks. He had taken inspiration from a female model in a magazine and decided he’d emulate the spiky red look to transform into Ziggy Stardust. It was only in the 60s where it truly became open and was no longer a “Is she or isn’t she?” deal.Īlong with this change of mindset, we soon started to see male icons dyeing their hair too, with David Bowie being an early example. Following this, hair dye became commonplace amongst women despite being slightly taboo. This was before even Marilyn Monroe became the icon she is today. Achieved through using a toxic mixture including Ammonia and Clorox bleach, which despite bringing her fame, played a large part in her death at 26. Women bleaching and dyeing their hair in America became quite popular with Jean Harlow being the first blonde bombshell as a platinum blonde in the 1930s.

The beauty practice as we know it however, commercially emerged with L’Oréal and its founder Eugene Schueller in the early 1900s. For years there were many natural uses and examples all over the world leeches, plant extracts… prominent in places like Ancient Rome and Egypt. The intricate details regarding the birth, growth and coming of age of today’s hair dye can be quite tiresome. In addition to us ‘being worth it’, there are many reasons for hair dyeing today and a very rich history to it. Plus, the increasingly more open-minded social climate is abandoning social taboos of past, freeing people to experiment even more.

Being easily available, (mostly) reversible and doable at home, its ever-growing popularity in the scene and amongst the general population comes as no surprise. For generations, hair dye has been a way to boldly emphasize ones character, making a statement before actually: saying, singing, rapping or even screaming a single word.

Image has always been an essential part in music where artists not only self-express through their lyrics and sound, but also through their style and how they present themselves.

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