Special Effects in Blood Red

3 Reviews

1. 

   lovesickSausage0

   Reply

   After much procrastination over lots of different dyes, it was a toss up over Manic Panic and Special Effects. After reading a lot of reviews and poring over photos, I finally plumped for Special Effects Blood Red and I’m really glad I did. I have very dark brown-not quite black mixed race chemically relaxed hair and I’m always cautious about what I use on it. I love the fact that this dye is vegetable based and contains no ammonia etc. I started with golden blonde highlights, which I’d previously used henna (Lush caca rouge) over a few weeks before, turning my highlights a more auburny shade. My post Special Effects hair colour is now a blazing wine colour (purpley red) with looks amazing under strip/spot lights or in bright sunlight. The hair that isn’t highlighted has a lovely deep dark plum shade to it. I love it, everyone has been commenting on how good it looks. I really want to highlight more of my hair now though, so the colour stands out even more! There’s a decent amount of dye in the bottle – I used half of it on my shoulder length hair. Oh, and I left it on for about 2 hrs, wrapped in cling film – blowing a hot hair dryer over it from time to time to help it sink in, and I rinsed it out using sulphate free shampoo (normal shampoos will strip dye a lot faster) and followed with a deep condition using Davines gorgeous Nounou conditioner for chemically and colour treated hair. The only downside to this dye is the lovely pink tinge it’s left in my shower. I even sprayed the shower with shower cleaner before I got in, to help prevent staining, but it didn’t really help. I’m just hoping that bleach will do the trick!

   Update: 23 June 2010
   Still loving this dye 5 months on, the colour’s lasted ages! I even had my hair chemically relaxed since I first used this dye and it still looked fab. I have just applied the remaining half of my bottle to my hair this afternoon as the colour was starting to fade. However, it still looked pretty cool the browny reddy shade it had faded to. Oh and I found an effective way of removing the dye from the shower etc is using a cream cleaner as opposed to a spray or bleach – works a treat 🙂

2. 

   tautPudding9

   Reply

   Special Effects is, by far, my favorite veggie hair dye. No unnatural haircolors last forever, especially not reds, but as they go, Special Effects is the best. I used Manic Panic Vampire Red for a long time, but Manic Panic pretty much sucks, this is a comparable color(though a touch deeper, it turns out prettier, actually), a deep, cool toned red. I usually use it on my unbleached medium/dark brown hair (occasionally bleaching certain sections of my hair, depending on the effect I’m going for) and it turns up a very very deep red that shows up very vibrant in the sun, and a muted burgundy indoors. I love it.
   Some tips on using Special Effects: Do not follow the directions and leave it in 15 minutes or whatever ridiculous time they suggest, leave it in as long as you possibly can, for me that usually ends up being an hour or two, but if you have time, leave it longer. the longer the better, especially if you can wrap it in plastic or something to keep it from drying. Also, even after rinsing out, there will still be a bit of dye in your hair for at least 2 or 3 days, you’ll have some colorful suds in the shower and definitely some bleeding, so be careful, wearing darker clothing for a couple days, and you’ll be fine. And, of course, all the typical color preservation rules apply, use a gentle shampoo, shampoo as little as possible, etc.

3. 

   crummyMandrill0

   Reply

   I really love Special Effects haircolor, and this one is beautiful. At this point I have used Nuclear Red, Blood Red, Cupcake Pink, Pimpin Purple, Blue Haired Freak and Blue Mayhem. I agree with the reviewer below, this isn’t a primary or fire engine red, however I think it’s better. Very much a beet or berry red. It’s dark enough that it would probably show up as a beautiful tint over unbleached dark hair – however I bleached my hair first when I used it (I’m a natural dark brunette with slight auburn/red tone), and it’s pretty dramatic. I’ve found that Special Effects is by far the best “unnatural” looking haircolor. The cream isn’t runny, thick but not too thick, spreads well and the color is incredibly bold. Manic Panic barely lasted me a week before completely washing out, Beyond the Zone’s Color Jamz hardly even showed up for me. Plus Special Effects has a much larger selection of colors – I believe they actually have 6 different shades of red! They also last the longest – mine has never lasted 6 weeks (looking good, anyways) but it will look nice and bright for 2 or 3, sometimes longer. Mine never seems to fade out evenly, but still looks cool somehow – I tend to redye once a month, only rebleaching if I need to touch up roots (every other time or so) or if I’m changing color. I believe it actually conditions your hair a tad too, it’s definitely not harsh. After killing my hair with bleach my hair felt pretty good after shampooing it out and conditioning. With Blood Red, my color faded out first on top – my layers underneath were still bright (though closer to magenta or fuschia) long after the top faded to a light red. Only strange because with Blue Haired Freak and Blue Mayhem (my current color) the color keeps longer closer to my roots and on the top, and everything underneath faded first. 🙂

   Some advice: before coloring, wash your hair and don’t use conditioner, the conditioner will make the color not stick or sink in and stain. (which is basically what this kind of color does) Use on dry hair – some of these unnatural semi-permanent dyes have instructions to wash and not dry your hair, though I believe this bottle says to use on dry hair. Using on wet hair is just messier and the color doesn’t take as well. USE GLOVES to shampoo your hair afterwards, not just while dyeing! Even after you’ve rinsed the color out, shampooing your hair creates some pretty colorful bubbles, and I have stained my hands before. 🙁 The suds will be pretty bright for a week or two, but I haven’t had a problem with them staining my skin after the first wash. That’s the other thing – this stuff does stain sinks and tubs pretty badly, even the shampoo suds. I’ve found that a bleach cleaner (I use SoftScrub with bleach) gets it out. 🙂 My last word of advice – don’t get this at Hot Topic. Not an issue with the actual product – it’s the exact same everywhere, but it’s way overpriced at $15. You can find it cheaper (and usually a larger selection of colors) on websites like Amphigory or GoodGoth – 9 or 10 bucks plus shipping, worth it especially if you’re buying multiple bottles. I have very thick hair, about chin length, lots of layers, and I use most of a bottle with each coloring. I have rebought and will continue to use Special Effects for as long as I have a job that will allow it. 🙂