Good Dye Young Helps You Get Rock Star Hair at Home

The collaboration just made sense. Hayley Williams (yes, that one) and makeup artist, hairstylist, and colorist extraordinaire Brian J. O’Connor had been working together for years to create Williams’s iconic Paramore-era looks. From the star’s trademark fire-hued strands to her teal-toned crop, each and every style was a creative collaboration between the two.

After countless sessions mixing other brands’ hair colors to achieve their desired effect, the idea dawned on the duo: Instead of compromising by having to mix different formulas, why not create their own? And with that, Good Dye Young was born. The goal was (and is) to create salon-quality products that people can use at home to further their self-expression. 

“We actually started formulating products when we were on tour in the back of the tour bus,” O’Connor, who is also the brand's Chief Innovation Officer, says. “All of the past work Hayley and I have done together has always been and is still used as an inspiration point as we create products together.” From the first glance, the musical influence is apparent—shade names like Blue Ruin, Ex-Girl, and Steal My Sunshine read like a playlist with the coolest track listing at full volume.

Once O’Connor and Williams got into the lab, it was important that the line adhered to a vegan, clean, cruelty-free standard while also delivering the high-impact hues that the duo collaborated on for years. Appropriately, the very first Good Dye Young product was a bright orange tone—named Riot, of course—which was an exact match to the shade Williams rocked during Paramore’s Riot era.

With a full range of products and a rainbow of 24 semi-permanent colors, Good Dye Young is only gaining momentum, recently solidifying a partnership with Sephora. As much as Good Dye Young is a celebrity hair brand, it’s also co-founded by a professional hairstylist, and the brand counts several professional hairstylists and colorists as members of its product development team. “We are uber conscious of what we are putting into our products as well as how they perform on the hair, so it’s important that we have someone who stands behind a chair full time developing and believing in the products we put out there,” O’Connor says. 

Good Dye Young's semi-permanent dye formulas boast nourishing sunflower extract, while more commitment-free options like the I’m Bored Hair Makeup come infused with aloe vera and soy proteins. “It lives in the realm of temporary color, but you get the softness and shine that most temporary products don’t offer,” says O’Connor.

Thanks to innovative formulas, super-saturated hues, and a penchant for establishing trends, this temporary color line has established itself as a permanent figure in the hair realm. Good Dye Young's future is looking as bright as its expansive rainbow of hues, and on the heels of the Darker Daze color range developed for naturally dark hair tones, O’Connor hints that we can expect to see more bold moves from the brand this summer. The good may die young, but Williams and O’Connor's innovative ideas have a long life ahead. 

Keep reading to learn more about the best products in the Good Dye Young lineup.