Vibrant funky dye (Special Effects USA Hair Dye)

Member Name: pruecheese

Product:	Special Effects USA Hair Dye
Date:	16/03/09 (113 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very bright colours, pink lasts long

Disadvantages: Blue seems to fade fast, purple wasn't very vibrant

I've been using Special Effects dye for the last five years - it's become so much of my personality that even my boss in my office job encouraged me to re dye my hair after taking a break and going back to natural! I order it online for about £8 a bottle, and the bottle lasts me quite a few applications.

I've found Special Effects to be the best dye I've used. I use atomic pink and it has great colour and staying power, on bleached hair or even without bleaching. I only dye the bottom half of my hair (so I'm not constantly touching up roots) but it gets plenty of comments and everyone loves it. As an example of how well it lasts, I dyed it last for my work's Christmas party, smack in the middle of December. Now, in the middle of March, I've still been getting comments and questions asking if I've just redyed it, as the pink is still so vibrant!

I dye my own hair after my mum refused to help me anymore (something to do with the bright pink hands and sink she ended up with..oops!) and find it easy enough to apply. It is a little messy to wash off in my current house, as I no longer have the giant sink I used to use, so wash it off in the shower, but so far I've yet to dye the shower pink (the shower head was tinted for a little while, but washed off after a little while). It leaves my hair feeling soft and sleek afterwards too, I've yet to have any problems with it being dried out from being dyed for years (the only time I had issues was when I dyed back to natural with another kind/brand of dye!).
One thing to consider is transfer of the dye after applying though. Bath and shower water will be a lovely bright shade of pink (or whatever colour you go for) the first few washes, and then paler as time goes on. Also be prepared for dyed collars on your clothes, dyed pillow cases, and dyed towels from drying your hair. I've yet to have anything permanently dyed, it all washes out on a 30 degrees wash, but do be careful if you're using someone else's bed linen or towelling!

I've also tried fishbowl blue and one of the purple colours (I forget which) which I wasn't quite so impressed with, but these weren't used on bleached hair so that may get a better result. The purple wasn't as vibrant as I hoped, and while the blue was lovely and bright, the results didn't last as long as I hoped. I'd definately be happy trying other colours though as I've heard plenty of good reviews on Special Effects.

Summary: If you want a funky new hairdo, I'd recommend Special Effects