Manic Panic Living in Color: A Rebellious Guide to Hair Color and Life

When I heard that Tish and Snooky of Manic Panic fame were writing a book I could not wait to get my hands on it! Living in the East Village in the late 70s/80s and managing a punk band I was right in the middle of their world. And when I say their world, I mean it. Everyone who was anyone knew Tish and Snooky. Although I had been in Manic Panic tons of times and we had some of the same friends I never had the nerve to introduce myself to them. After all they were The High Priestesses of Punk! So I couldn’t wait to hear about their world from the inside. The book did not disappoint. It was like chatting with an old friend over a beer. The names, the places were all brought back in a rush.The addition of the hair color tips is perfect. I love (and totally agree with) their strong belief that you should be you, whatever that is. The description of their mom who helped to instill those feelings reminds me so much of my mom. And if you want to have purple/pink/green/ orange or some mixture of colored hair. Do it! And in the book you will find detailed ways to make that happen.If you couldn’t tell yet, I loved the book. If you were there, if you were/are a punk rocker, a musician, a hair colorist, a fashionista, a drag queen, just curious, or any combination of any of these, you will find something that speaks to you in this book. I wish I had introduced myself to Tish and Snooky back in the day. Now I see how resourceful, creative and cool they really were, and still are.

A fun, fascinating, funny, and thoroughly enjoyable read ( sprinkled throughout the book many great quotes). I breezed though Living in Color in one afternoon. The format has alternating chapters switching between the historical decades (beginning in the 70's and up to the 2010's) during which Tish and Snooky emerged as true influencers in the world of punk rock, and chapters devoted to the art of hair coloring. They impacted punk as much as punk impacted them.In many ways their story is parallel to that of Ben & Jerry's, as detailed in the Chico Lager's book The Inside Scoop. A couple of people find a way to follow their passions and overcome roadblocks, finally creating an enterprise that fills a void in the world of retail that is dominated mega-companies. Their determination to continue to move forward, regardless of what others might say or do to stop them, comes through in this book.

I LOVED this book!! Being a Manic Panic user for some of the colors already, it made me want to go out and try the rest!! I had known that the founders, Tish and Snooky, came from a punk rock background and reading in more detail about that plus seeing all the cool pics in old school tones, made it that more special. I never knew of the poor roots they had come from or generosity in causes. So inspirational to young and old alike. Bravo and thank you Tish and Snooky! Thanks for living up to your iconic title of the OGs ( original goddesses) of crazy and COOL colored hair! Keep up the good work and rock on!!!

This book is an extension of the whole Manic Panic philosophy. Two sisters set out to bring a little more color into what was once a drab world. They live their lives with energy and optimism and manage to grow a successful business and a performing career and have fun doing it!

Love this book! A walk down memory lane for me. Snooky and Tish are Mavericks and this book is a glimpse into their wonderful and yes colorful ride!!I purchased three, one to keep and two to share!Grab this keep sake you won’t be let down.

Colorful book! The Rise of East Village’s Tish & Snooky’s Manic Panic. Great history of the business & Culture of Hair Color. Fun read with tips on hair coloring & style. Lot’s of celebrity pics. Great for holiday gifting.

The book description makes it sound like this is a DIY book, and given that it's Manic Panic, you'd totally THINK it was a DIY book. But it's NOT. It's half history book, half "here's a photo of something a stylist did using manic panic, it's cool" without any hints on how to do it. The full extent of the DIY stuff is like 1 page of "how to apply Manic Panic" and one page of aftercare How Tos. Probably over a quarter of the pictures are just vintage photos of the Manic Panic founders and the punk scene in the 80s. And the whole thing is designed to look like an old-timey zine in a way that makes it kinda hard to read--and I don't know if it's supposed to be part of that zine aesthetic, or the weird-feeling paper they printed it on, but the pictures aren't great quality either.If you want a retro book on the history of Manic Panic with some nice dye jobs to look at, this is a good book. But if you want something that will tell you how to dye your hair, like, at all? Don't bother.

I'm a bald little old Jewish guy... and I love this book ostensibly about hair color. But it's more. This great book catches the spirit of of New York in the 80s... when the city was at its best. Sure there are hair color tips and how to match color to personality... somethings I'll never use. But the pictures and the spirit of that great time in New York is as infused in this book as the hair color is infused in each -do! The band pictures and the stories of old East Village will bring that time to life for the youngsters who buy the book to learn how to color their own hair. History in a bottle of hair dye. Yeah!