Wigs, weaves, blowouts, highlights, lowlights, perms, ombrés; the amount of torture possible to bestow upon a scalp these days is nearly limitless but the fads of most recent have paved way for an entirely new level of torment.

Unnatural color based dye jobs coat the covers of magazines and manage to regularly fill up the Instagram popular page. And while the pictures of bright pink hair or a soft light purple are eye catching and may spark an interest in viewers to try something similar, what they do not see is the endless process it takes for an average gal to get to that shade of hair and how quickly that bright, fresh dye job is going to fade to a splotchy mess.

Perhaps having something to do with the ever changing technicolor wigs of social media and reality star Kylie Jenner, the fad appeared to have reached its peak over the summer. However, what the young girls looking at pictures of Jenner’s long, brightly colored wigs don’t realize is that unless you have hundreds of dollars to spend on top-of-the-line wigs, you’ll have to destroy your natural hair with chemicals to achieve the same color. I know this from first hand experience. Seriously, you will destroy your hair.

According to the American Cancer Society, oxidative hair dyes, also known as permanent hair dyes that are needed to achieve any drastic change in hair color, cause lasting chemical changes in the hair shaft. The process begins when the ammonia in the hair dye breaks through your hair cuticles, according to cosmetic chemist Ni’Kita Wilson. Next the peroxide strips away the current color, and last, the new color begins to take hold. These are frightening words to hear as a person who’s been roasting their hair with copious amounts of bleach and permanent dyes for over a year now.

My hair dye journey began the very beginning of my summer of junior year, days after completing sophomore year spring finals. The grey hair trend was just coming on the scene and I wanted a change. I had already cut my previously long brown hair to shoulder length but quickly decided that a bigger change was needed. It’s hard to say exactly when or why I decided on grey but I always knew that it would not be an easily achieved color (especially considering the fact that my hair is naturally dark brown.)

An excruciating eight hour process was the price I paid for my change from dark to the lightest of light. Multiple rounds of bleaching. A mishap in the process leaving my hair temporarily bright blue. Numerous toners. The venture seemed hopeless, endless and, based on the amount of chemicals I had used on my hair in one day, I felt it quite possible I would end the day hairless.

They don’t tell you that the road to an exotic, bright hair color calls for legions of bleach, and while going into the process I was aware of the fact that I was going to need bleaching, I was not aware of was the fact that I would need three, yes three, full rounds of bleach to get me to the right shade of white/blonde for my hairstylist to put grey over. Unless your hair is naturally white you’re going to inevitably need bleach on your road to bright pink or pastel blue, and as we all know, bleach isn’t good.

Repeated bleaching permanently raises the cuticle scales and causes rapid and ongoing loss of moisture, according to Philip Kingsley information board on scalp and hair health.

Based solely on personal experience I would say if you have a good hairdresser that you trust, an entire day of your life that you are willing to doing nothing but sit in a chair staring in a mirror, then go for it.

But if you actually care about your hair and are concerned for its well being then I’d say better not. I know, I know, the girls on Instagram and Tumblr pull it off so well and get so many likes because of it. But before you make a rash decision to follow in their footsteps, consider the time you’ll have to waste, the money you’ll have to put in and most importantly, the fact that it will probably not look good.