9 Best Olive Green Hair Dyes
Green hair colour is a trend that doesn’t seem to slow down.
We’re not surprised. Green hair colour is unique, makes you stand out, and looks great on all skin tones.
With celebs like Kim K., Nicki Minaj, and Kylie Jenner rocking green hair on the red carpet, and lots of influencers following suit.
It’s no wonder so many people want to try that look for themselves.
Thankfully, there are many green hair dyes to choose from. You don’t need to go to a salon to get the green hair of your dreams.
You can choose from a wide range of green shades, and with permanent and temporary options, you can play around with the green tresses trend to your heart’s content.
One of the biggest trends for green hair this year is the shade olive green.
While past seasons favored bright neon greens, this year there’s a move towards more subtle, earthy tones.
Olive green is a colour that looks great with both warm and cool skin tones.
It adds a level of edginess and earthiness to your look.
If you’ve been contemplating going olive green, you have many dyes to choose from to get the colour you want.
So what are the best olive green hair dyes on the market?
The best ones contain conditioning ingredients to keep your hair healthy and shiny while giving you the most accurate olive green tone with the right balance of green and yellow.
In this post, we’ll share our top picks for olive-green hair dye so you can achieve that trendy look at home!
Buyer’s Guide: How To Choose Olive Green Hair Dye
When shopping for the perfect olive green hair dye, there are a few things to consider:
The Right Shade
Colours are often subjective, at least in the hair dye world.
What the manufacturer labels as “olive green” isn’t always what you think of as olive green.
Not to mention, there are lots of stunning olive green hair dyes on the market that don’t have the words “olive green” anywhere on the label.
When picking the right shade for your hair dye, it’s best to rely on your eyes, even if the colour has a different title.
Olive green is a dark yellow-green colour.
It has warm undertones and can range from light to dark, with a slightly brownish tone.
Picture a green olive and go from there.
Colours that are too vivid and neon are not something we’d describe as olive green.
In this guide, we’ve pulled together some of the best green dyes with an earthy olive-green tone.
Nourishing Ingredients
If you’re not naturally blonde and want to dye your hair olive green, you will likely need to pre-lighten your hair before applying the dye; otherwise, the colour will not show up very well.
Pre-lightening your hair involves using bleach, which can be damaging to the hair.
So, it’s essential to choose colours that have nourishing ingredients.
Even if you’re not pre-lightening your hair, it helps to go with a dye that keeps your hair moisturised and smooth.
Look for dyes that contain ingredients like keratin, argan oil, and coconut oil.
If possible, avoid dyes that contain ammonia, as that can damage the hair.
Another thing to keep in mind is that temporary dyes are typically less harmful to the hair than permanent dyes, which brings us to our next point.
Temporary, Semi-Permanent, Permanent
Depending on your goals, you should decide whether to use a temporary, semi-permanent, or permanent olive green hair dye.
Here are the main differences:
- Temporary dye coats the outside of your hair shaft with pigment. Because it sits on the surface of the hair, it usually washes off quickly after a week or two.
It does not damage the hair at all because it doesn’t penetrate the hair shaft; however, it may not be the perfect option if you want your colour to last beyond a few weeks.
- Semi-permanent dyes last 6-8 weeks. It’s a less invasive way to colour your hair than permanent dyes.
Semi-permanent dyes don’t contain ammonia or bleach, so they’re less damaging.
- Permanent dyes can stay in your hair for months and don’t usually wash out.
They can fade over time, but the only way to remove them is to cut your hair or use a chemical colour remover.
They can damage your hair because they contain some harsh chemicals that lift the cuticles of your hair to deposit pigment inside your hair shaft.
No one type of hair dye is best.
It depends on your current hair condition, whether you bleached it before, and how long you want your green colour to last.
Another thing to consider is that if this is your first time going green, you might want to opt for a less permanent option to ensure you are happy with how it looks.
And if your hair is already significantly damaged, you might want to avoid permanent dyes until your hair has had a chance to recover.
In our list, we will mostly include semi-permanent or permanent options, since those are the most popular on the market and offer good olive green options.
Best Olive Green Hair Dyes
Here are our top picks for the best olive green hair dyes you can use to get the perfect color:
| Rank | Product | Key Features | Where to Buy |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Manic Panic - Deep Forest Green | Colour-depositing conditioner; deep forest green that fades to olive | View on Amazon |
| 2. | ARCTIC FOX - Phantom Green | Semi-permanent medium to dark olive green that conditions your hair | View on Amazon |
| 3. | Adore - Green Apple | Bright semi-permanent green; no ammonia, peroxide or alcohol | View on Amazon |
| 4. | Punky Colour - Spring Green | Semi-permanent bright olive green that lasts 35 washes | View on Amazon |
| 5. | Manic Panic - Green Envy | Emerald semi-permanent that dries down olive; mixable, 4-6 weeks | View on Amazon |
| 6. | Punky Colour - Alpine Green | Darker of Punky’s two greens; conditioning semi-permanent | View on Amazon |
| 7. | Unicorn Hair - Jello | Semi-permanent deep olive dye that smells like cupcakes | View on Amazon |
| 8. | Lunar Tides - Juniper | Muted mossy green with a grey undertone; dense pigment | View on Amazon |
| 9. | L'Oreal Paris Hair Color Colorista - Lime Green | Semi-permanent light olive green dye for light hair | View on Amazon |
1. Manic Panic – Deep Forest Green
This one is a conditioner rather than a dye, which makes it the gentlest way into olive green. You shampoo, leave it on damp hair for a few minutes, then rinse.
The colour is a deep forest green rather than a neon, so on pre-lightened hair it reads olive as soon as it starts to fade. Shea butter and quinoa protein are in the base, so hair does not come out as squeaky as it does after a straight direct dye.
Use it between full colour sessions to top the tone back up, or on its own if all you want is a tint.
2. ARCTIC FOX – Phantom Green
This Arctic Fox semi-permanent dye is perfect for those looking to achieve a medium-dark olive green colour with minimal damage.
We love that all Arctic Fox dyes are vegan and cruelty-free.
They also smell incredible and contain zero harsh chemicals.
To get the most accurate olive green shade, start with medium-blonde hair.
The yellow tones in your hair, when mixed with this dye, result in the perfect shade of olive.
If you start with dark blonde or even light brown hair, you’ll get a stunning dark olive green result.
This colour will wash out after about 8 weeks, but you can reapply it as many times as you want to keep it vibrant, since each application won’t damage your locks.
3. Adore – Green Apple
Adore has been the cheap salon standby for years, and Green Apple is its brightest green. No ammonia, no peroxide, no alcohol, which is why it turns up in so many first-time colour kits.
It is semi-permanent, so it needs light hair underneath to show up properly. On level 8 or lighter it goes vivid. On darker hair you get a green sheen in sunlight and not much else.
Expect around 20 washes before it softens and goes olive on you, which on this page is not a complaint.
4. Punky Colour – Spring Green
This semi-permanent colour promises to last up to 35 washes.
This makes it one of the longest-lasting semi-permanent options on the market.
The real longevity depends on how often you wash your hair, but users agree that this colour stays put better than many other brands.
The Spring Green colour is a bit on the vibrant side, but if your hair already has yellow-brown tones, you’ll end up with a perfect olive green shade.
What we love most about this dye is that it contains a keratin complex to strengthen and condition your hair.
So not only do you get a beautiful colour, but you will also get smoother and shinier hair as a result.
As with all semi-permanent colours, there is no strong smell or harsh chemicals, so you don’t have to worry about damaging your hair.
5. Manic Panic – Green Envy
Green Envy is the classic Manic Panic green, an emerald that dries down closer to olive than the swatch suggests.
It is vegan, ammonia-free and mixable, so you can cut it with white toner to soften it or with a blue to push it towards teal. Four to six weeks is the honest lifespan.
Wear gloves. This one stains everything it touches, including the bath.
6. Punky Colour – Alpine Green
Alpine Green is the darker of Punky’s two greens and the closer match if olive is what you are actually after. It is a conditioning semi-permanent, gentle enough to redo often.
Punky claims up to 35 washes. That is optimistic, but it does hold longer than most direct dyes you can buy off a shelf.
On unbleached medium-brown hair it will not show. Lighten first, or accept a tint.
7. Unicorn Hair – Jello
Another great semi-permanent option, this Unicorn Hair in Jello smells like cupcakes and delivers vibrant results while conditioning and hydrating your hair.
The colour comes out as a perfect olive green if you start with medium- to dark-blonde hair, as it blends with your warm tone, resulting in the right shade.
The formula also contains conditioning ingredients like fatty acids and vitamins that help to moisturise your hair and boost shine.
Enhanced with a citrus vanilla scent, this dye is a pleasure to apply and leaves your locks smelling delicious afterwards.
This hair colour will gradually fade with every wash, so it’s hard to say how long it’ll last. On average, users report it lasts 5–6 weeks.
8. Lunar Tides – Juniper
Juniper is the most genuinely olive shade on this page: a muted, mossy green with a grey undertone, so it skips the neon phase most greens go through on the way out.
Lunar Tides is vegan and cruelty-free, and the pigment is dense enough that a little goes a long way. Mix it into conditioner if you want it sheerer.
It does need a pale base. On anything darker than level 9 the grey in it just muddies.
9. L’Oreal Paris Hair Colour Colorista – Lime Green
Unlike the L’Oréal Colorista dye we discussed above, this one is designed specifically for light blonde hair.
Don’t let the “Lime Green” label scare you – the colour comes out looking like a beautiful olive rather than an acid green you might be imagining.
Designed with subdued vibrancy, this dye makes it possible for light blondes to rock colours like green without them looking too neon bright.
The result – a beautiful light olive green colour that blends in nicely and doesn’t scream “look at me!”
Much like other Colorista dyes, this one contains no harsh chemicals or toxic ingredients.
It will wash out after 4–6 weeks, depending on how often you wash your hair, but it’s a great way to try out the olive green trend without a long commitment.
Related Articles
Can You Use Purple Shampoo On Green Hair?
What Will Happen If You Put Red Dye Over Green Hair?
