My New Hair!

So some quick pics of my new hair colour. As I mentioned last week it didn't really turn out exactly the way I wanted, but in the end I really like it. My theory was, to keep the top pink and create an alternative ombre effect using either lilac or turquoise on the ends (I bought tubs of these colours last year but hadn't used them yet). We settled with lilac (Manic Panic Mystic Heather) and changed our plans to lilac on top, pink on the bottom. We did this, because the pink is such a strong colour and even after 6 weeks, the water still runs pink when showering. If I kept the pink on top, every time I shampooed, it would run into the lilac and stain it pink. I've never used MP dye before though, so wasn't sure quite how long-lasting or strong the colour would be. The pink I use is Special Effects Atomic Pink and as I said, it's really strong, probably the hardest wearing dye you'll ever find! So I had over 6 weeks of root regrowth (dark brown) which we bleached with pre-lightener as normal, plus extended the bleach onto the areas we wanted to cover with lilac. The ombre style is one that is usually really easy to diy, especially if you have really long hair, you can just bleach the ends yourself until you are happy that it's lightened it enough. However given that my hair is shorter and we were keeping the ends rather than the top but still had roots to cover (all over the head), it was hard work for my Mummy! It was really difficult to tell which bits to leave pink and how my hair would look when it was styled normally as opposed to half covered in bleach and piled all over my head! Anyway we did that and when I washed the bleach out, the roots had taken brilliantly (as they always do), but the pink areas hadn't been lightened to pale yellow, there were still patches of pink, albeit paler than usual. I really didn't want to go down the route of bleaching for a second time and because the purple colour was not all that unlike the pink, I decided it would still cover the pale pink areas.
(my hair wasn't styled in these images, I'd just applied makeup, so it was off my face-although I'm sure you get the idea!)
Mystic Heather has a strange consistency. Atomic Pink goes on like paint, thick, bold, deep, almost blood colour, but turns lighter once washed. MH was almost frothy and watery like, even on the brush it started turning a lighter pinky shade and Mum found it really difficult to use as it just sat on top of the hair and didn't really look like it was penetrating. I did my usual panic of thinking I'd go straight into the shower and it would wash out and look exactly as it had 2 hours earlier! However it has taken...sort of. The pink areas (that I wanted lilac) are coloured, shades of violet and lavender. The bleached root areas haven't taken so well though, they've gone an ashy blonde, silvery grey. Usually I wouldn't like this-I'm very pernickety about my hair and don't like it looking 'patchy' or faded, but I kind of like this. It's weird and cool! As for the pink causing a patchy look, it's done the opposite and has created this amazing streaked effect, that we couldn't have achieved if we'd tried! On top, there's all these different purple shades and even some light pink. Then I have the bright pink ends. I didn't think it was too different, it maybe doesn't look it in these images, but when you compare it to my usual pink (below), it's definitely different. My sister didn't notice though and she hasn't seen me for a couple of weeks, but she's not the most observant! I'm not sure if it'll be like my brief encounter with pale pink last year and it'll just fade too quickly for my liking or wash out in a few washes. I really like it though and it's unique-it almost feels like My Little Pony type of hair or those dolls that change hair colour in water or heat! I have noticed though that in every lilac/light purple hair image I've ever seen, it's never the same shade from root to tip, front to back, so I guess these colours just don't apply like the bright pink I'm used to. So what do you think?