Colour Dye Recommendations

Please post your colour dye make & variety and your experience with it so far!

Updated: 10th February 2014
(I'll be maintaining this long term and adding in more of everyone's advice to the first post - any corrections, please let us know. Thanks to everyone's help!)

Reds:

Special Effects - Nuclear Red

sXedevitchka: "only lasted one wash in cold water...[but]...most awesome, most bright color I've ever used"

Snowflake Love: "no problems faded real nice"

Punky Colors - Poppy Red

Alexis: "Rub[s] off on anything it touches...turn[s]...pink after 10 washes or so"

Punky Colors - Flame

CorpseQueen: "nice red/orange, fades more to orange...very long lasting...hard time getting out!"

L'Oreal Colour Rays - Red

Sonic Architect: "permanent, very vibrant and required no bleach at all"

L'Oreal Excellence HiColor - Red

Jenni Dunfee: "really pleased...regular permanent dye...it doesn't really fade"

L'Oreal - Red Brown

nicole: "fades quick"

L'Oreal Excellence HiColor - Magenta

Jenni Dunfee: "really pleased...regular permanent dye...doesn't really fade"

L'Oreal Colour Rays - Red

Snowflake Love: "LONGEST lasting red I ever had and its definitely bright"

Beyond the Zone - Candy Apple

CorpseQueen: "nice shade of red, fades fairly quickly to a lovely pink...lasts a month or two"

nicole: "works amazing"

Manic Panic - Vampire Red

OctyOck: "not as dark as it looks in the bottle...really intense eye popping red"

Colorsilk - Red Brown

nicole: "fades quick"

La Riche Directions - Pillarbox Red

Kobalos: "good colour match, but took longer to settle in...didn't fade much in 1st wash...is lasting forever! :)"

Pinks:

Punky Colors - Rose Red

Toxic: "rub[s] off on walls...only did it bad night after...after 2 or 3 washes it stopped"

Special Effects - Atomic Pink

Cassy: "lasted over nine months"
LenaBean: "stayed in...even after dyeing it brown and then bleaching back to blonde!"

Special Effects - Cherry Bomb

Alexandra Sloan: "awesome!...lasts for months...best for the first week...after a few washes it does get lighter, but still stays really vibrant"

Color Fiend - Pink

Sonic Architect: "took but I needed to touch up every few days"

Splat - Pink

Emily Beth: "vibrant...will last about 2 months & fades into cool peach BUT destroys my hair if I try to maintain boldness of pink"

Manic Panic - Candy Pink

Jenni Dunfee: "pretty decent...reapply after about 3 weeks...because it starts to look too orange"

Manic Panic - Hot Hot Pink

Pamparius the Sailor Man: "This is very pink and fades extremely slowly."

Beyond the Zone - Pink

nicole: "works amazing"

Fudgebox Paintbox - Pink Moon

Raspberry Razorblade: "it came out really bright and lasted ages!"

Schwarzkopf Live Color XXL - Raspberry Rebel

Mali DeLan - "It's extremely vibrant and it fades in sort of a pleasant sunset-looking pink."

Greens:

Adore - Forest Green

Emily Beth: "lasts a really long time AND doesnt fry your hair"

Punky Colors - Spring Green

CorpseQueen: "Amazing shade and it lasts a long time"
Protagonist: "Its the tops."
Kaarina Rotten Crotch: "is fucking amazing"

Alexis: "has stayed in my hair for months"

Punky Colors - Forest Green

CorpseQueen: "Super great...lasted a few months...leaving hair tinted light green"

Special Effects - Iguana Green

LenaBean: "absolutely the best color I have EVER had"
Sonic Architect: "needed touched up about every week or so"

Special Effects - Limelight

lil Lauren: "DON'T get tho bc it wont stay in that long bc its such a lite color"
Khaos: "if your hair holds color well...touch it up after a few weeks...well worth it"
Hangman XIII: "no money for bleach...looks good"

Electric Lizard - Forest Green

CorpseQueen: "didn't take AT ALL didnt even tint her hair"

Manic Panic - Electric Lizard

Sonic Architect: "did not take at all"

N'Rage - Green

ZachWilson: "outlasted manic panic and splat. Without redying form the first 2."

SplaT - Neon Green

ZachWilson: "lasted about 1 week without fading from blonde"

Directions - Spring Green

Lotte: "didn't take at all...looked completely washed out already"

Kobalos: "Left it in over night to take...washes out quite easily. Bright vibrant colour"

Fudge Paintbox - Green Envy

Raspberry Razorblade: "was pretty average and came out way more yellowy."

Blues:

Stargazer - Coral Blue

Kobalos: "Needs bleached hair...24hrs to dye in, with enough, makes alright colour...1/2 strength after few washes"

Directions - Alantic Blue

Antikia: "didn't last for very long"

Manic Panic - Shocking Blue

mike-o-psycho: "fades too fast about a week & it is almost greyish" (from swimming)

Manic Panic - After Midnight Blue

Sonic Architect: "stayed really well"
Jenni Dunfee: "did the best in my hair....would last me about 4-6 weeks before...needing touched up"
Alexis: "really dark navy almost blue....washes out in 2-3 weeks & slowly turned...green after that."

Color Field - Blue

Sonic Architect: "two weeks or so and still looking decent"

N'Rage Mix and Go - Blue

Jenni Dunfee: "looked horrible and spotty and grey...Made me leary of bleach and dye in one"

Turquoise:

Manic Panic - Turquoise

Jenni Dunfee: "probably my favorite...faded pretty fast [daily wash]"

Alexis: "did not turn out at all on my natural dirty blonde hair."

Punk Colors - Turquoise

CorpseQueen: "AMAZING COLOR & long lasting, fades to nice light blue after few months"

Purple:

RAW - Purple

Sonic Architect: "washed out in a day"

Manic Panic - Purple

Jenni Dunfee: "only lasted about a week...but it turned such an ugly color"

Manic Panic - Ultra Violet

Alexis: "nice and darkish for a few days, but eventually turned my hair grey"
LenaBean: "turned my hair navy blue for three weeks. It was icky!"

Schwarzkopf Live Color XXL - Cyber Purple (permanent)

Lotte: "darker purple...more subtle and not so 'eccentric' and extremely vibrant colour"

Schwarzkopf Live Color XXL - Mystic Violet (permanent)

"more on the pink side...more subtle"

Punky Colors - Plum

Alexis: "its dark and last forever. It also smells really good."

Punky Colors - Violet

Snowflake Love: "so far lasting really nice. The ends of my hair are fading to a bleach white/purple look"

Ion Brights - Purple

braids: "color can vary depending on how much you use"

Yellow:

Punky Color - Bright Yellow:

Alexis: "Lasted quite a while on...bleached hair....re-dyed...before ever needing to touch it up"

Colorsilk - Blonde

nicole: "always comes out copper or orange/yellow"

Orange:

L'Oreal Excellence HiColor - Copper

Jenni Dunfee: "really pleased...regular permanent dye...faded a little during the summer/swimming"

Punky Colors - Flame

CorpseQueen: "nice red/orange, fades more to orange...very long lasting...hard time getting out!"

Special Effects Napalm Orange

Steve: "when first dyed its a borderline red but fades to the definition of orange. Think crayon colors."

Special Effects High Octane Orange

Nahtch: "more red than orange...Its now been about a month, now its much more orange"

White:

Manic Panic Virgin Snow

Alexis: "[On]...super dark brown- black hair...40 vol bleach...is supppper light and as close to white as"

Black:

Nice & Easy - Natural Black

Jennifer Rose: "decent permanent, stays colorfast & doesn't fade to ugly gray/green shades"

Manic Panic - Raven

Alexis: "washed out in a week"

General Brand Advice:

http://www.mohawksrock.com/forum/topics/what-hair-dyes-work-best-for-u

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Raspberry Razorblade on September 17, 2012 at 7:01pm

http://www.fudgehair.co.uk/paintbox/fudge-paintbox-extreme-colours.htm This is their uk website, don't know how the prices stack up against what you already have over there :)

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Permalink Reply by Kobalos on September 18, 2012 at 9:01am

Thank you very much! Will take a look at what's on offer there. :)

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Permalink Reply by CorpseQueen on March 19, 2013 at 7:52pm

While it looks great on you, I have used fudge paintbox (blue and green) in the past.. I really didn't like it. Left my hair so greasy feeling and flat for weeks. The colors were not too bad.. almost metallic in a weird way but they didnt last long.

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Permalink Reply by Julie D. Saunders on March 16, 2013 at 1:27pm

If you want to go to a salon and get your hair colored ask for Elumen. Or you can get a Hairstylist friend to buy it for you. I'm not sure if it's only a Canadian brand or not, but it's what I use in my hair whenever I put bright colors in. I use them at my school. And each on stays in for months. I used every color on my friend before Christmas and it faded a little but it's still super bright. Even after dying it all over light brown.

It comes in:

VV (Violet)
Pk (Pink)
GK (Orange)
RR (Red)
YY (Yellow)
BB (Blue)
Gn (Green)
Tq (Turquoise).

The one on the right has the BB-VV-Pk fade. The one on the left has RR-GK-YY fade.

They work the same way Manic Panic or Splat does.

This is a link to the site: You may have to translate it, it's German.
http://elumen.goldwell.com/de-DE/auswahl_kreative_farbmischungen_vi...

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Permalink Reply by CorpseQueen on May 2, 2013 at 2:33am

I recently ordered henna dye for the first time, Ill be trying it out as soon as it gets here!

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Permalink Reply by Kobalos on May 8, 2013 at 6:37am

Hope it arrives soon now! :D Good luck!

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Permalink Reply by CorpseQueen on May 9, 2013 at 2:43am

I have it in now! And I got a bit on my cheek and didn't get it off fast enough lol. So I have a yellow spot on my cheek that won't come off :/ Hopefully it takes pretty good. I read it can take a few times to get the proper color as Henna hates chemically treated hair. Will have a full report over the next few weeks I'm sure!

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Permalink Reply by CorpseQueen on May 13, 2013 at 5:24am

So, so far I have only done one application and despite having my hair bleached with faded color the henna took really well. Which surprised me as I read people had to do it many times before the color took well. The biggest downside to henna is that it smells like barnyard. VERY strong and earthy and it makes your hair smell that way for a day or two despite washing with shampoo and conditioner. I even rubbed magazine perfume samples in my hair to try and get rid of the scent lol.

My biggest disappointment was that the color barely took to my roots (very dark brown). The whole reason I tried out henna was because I am avoiding bleaching my hair for a few more months and I read that henna dyes well over dark hair. But other then that it worked well and I might try another application tomorrow.

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Permalink Reply by Nahtch on May 3, 2013 at 4:23pm

Heres what Special Effects High Octane orange looks like in my hair.... more red than orange

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Permalink Reply by CorpseQueen on May 4, 2013 at 8:42pm

Looks really good!

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Permalink Reply by Kobalos on May 8, 2013 at 6:36am

Certainly striking anyway. Will be interesting though to see if it fades to orange or pink(my red has faded to pink). Perhaps it's the flash, but it looks like it might have a bit of an orange base tint to it? Give us an update after the first wash or two?