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 OctyOck on June 11, 2011 at 2:16pm

I just dyed my hair Vampire Red- Manic Panic, I bleached my hair twice, and its not as dark as it looks in the bottle, in fact its really intense eye popping red. Ive only washed my hair once, so i dont know how long it will last yet

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Permalink Reply by Kobalos on July 11, 2011 at 9:52am

Looks like almost the same shade but a little lighter in some pics than my current Directions - Pillarbox Red.

How's the fading going?

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Permalink Reply by Kobalos on July 11, 2011 at 10:07am

I've left some out of the list, after realising without the exact shade names, the general colour advice might not hold for a particular dye of the same colour.

But thank you for all those ones, it's still good for people to read to get a general idea of what to potentially expect from so some colours in the ranges.

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Permalink Reply by Alexandra Sloan on June 11, 2011 at 9:38pm

Wow you have used a lot of different colors! Holy Crap! I've only been dying my hair for 2 years and I started with the typical Hot Topic stuff, like Raw and Manic panic, and it never worked. Ever. I dyed my hair bright pink and it looked orange. Sadly I can't find pictures. But then I tried Cherry Bomb by Special Effects, and that stuff is awesome! It's my go to Pink, I almost always have it in my hair and it lasts for months. It's the best for the first week or so and then after a few washes it does get lighter, but it still stays really vibrant for a really long time. Other than that I haven't explored to much with color since I love pink so much. The picture I have for my profile pic isn't Cherry Bomb though, that was a profesionals hair dye, I don't know what she used.

So "Cherry Bomb - Pink stays in forever, also even after dying it brown, my hair slowly faded to pink till I bleached it all out."

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Permalink Reply by CorpseQueen on June 13, 2011 at 2:29am

I dyed my hawk like 2 months ago using all my dye leftovers. Little bit of manic panic midnight blue, little bit of punky colors turquoise, spring green, and forest green. The stupid manic panic stained the shit out of my tub and skin for weeks but the color was this epic blue/green. It looked like a peacock ^.^ I think it's a little more green then blue now but the color is still bright. It's starting to fade to a darker spring green looking color. I'm sure is got a few more moths before I'll need to redye it :)

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Permalink Reply by Kobalos on July 11, 2011 at 9:42am

Have had La Riche Directions - Pillarbox Red in for the last month or so. Good colour match, but took longer to settle in...didn't fade much in 1st wash.

(Thanks for the posts above! Will update the list later to include the latest added ones soon.)

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Permalink Reply by Craig Griggs on July 26, 2011 at 3:00pm

Does anyone know if Amplified Hot Hot pink is any good? does it fade quickly?

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Permalink Reply by Kobalos on July 30, 2011 at 8:40pm

I've not heard of that one before... But perhaps if you make a thread titled about it someone will spot it and be able to help more! :D Then I'll add it to the list - or if you decide to try it first, let us know how it goes here too.

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Permalink Reply by Craig Griggs on July 31, 2011 at 5:41am

Sorry, it turned out its Manic Panic but its in their amplified range, i missed the Manic panic bit when i was looking over it, but it's ordered and once its been put to use i'll let everyone know the results.

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Permalink Reply by Sonny on July 26, 2011 at 5:15pm

i used manic panic purple haze two weeks ago. it was a darker purple than i wanted and at this point my hair is hideous.

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Permalink Reply by 22lliou6xj137 on July 26, 2011 at 5:39pm

for white check out manic panic virgin snow

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Permalink Reply by Alextreme on July 27, 2011 at 3:27pm

I know a girl that used Special Effects Napalm orange and it looked intense! very in-your-face for around 3 weeks and even when it fades it still looks nice, I would get it myself but that's just copying.

This is a really helpful thread Kobalos, thankyou very much for making/maintaining this, I think I'm gonna get Punky Colors spring green due to the good feedback & I'll let you know how it goes!