Going red+orange Manic Panic?

[MidnightMoon]

So, here's the thing. A couple of years ago I used to dye my hair red, not a dark red but like a natural redhead. I quit because I decided I wanted longer hair and my poor hair couldn't handle all the bleaching and grow too long at the same times, my ends got dry, etc.
However, my bf has commented a couple of times how he liked my hair better then than now (and I've wanted to go back to that colour again, as it is quite rare and a lot of people thought it was natural). My natural hair is dark brown and I put Vampire Red manic panic on it, so the ends which were once lighter are a quite bright red and it gets darker towards the roots.
I've been considering dyeing ir red again (I always used box dyes from the supermarket), but I'd like to make sure it stays orange and doesn't go a bit blonde like the last time, so I was wondering if using orange manic panic mixed in my conditioner would be a good idea.
I wouldn't be doing a complete dye or something, just mix some with my conditioner each time I was, which is once a week.
Since box dyes include bleach the hair would be light enough for it to make effect.
Do you think it would help the colour stay more orange?

[sabrinaclrke]

I use electric lava on my hennaed hair to give it more of an orange effect. It is bright red and fades into a beautiful orange that stains my hair. You should try that instead of vampire, it is more natural looking. I always use conditioner in my manic panic because it stretches longer and makes little to no difference in th e color. if you add the remaining mp to your conditioner it will make the color last much longer.

[MidnightMoon]

I use electric lava on my hennaed hair to give it more of an orange effect. It is bright red and fades into a beautiful orange that stains my hair. You should try that instead of vampire, it is more natural looking. I always use conditioner in my manic panic because it stretches longer and makes little to no difference in th e color. if you add the remaining mp to your conditioner it will make the color last much longer.

Thanks for replying. Yes, if I dye red I'd use the orange one, I use vampire red now because my hair is really dark and it's of the few ones which show up.
I'd like it to give the hair a bit of orange so it doesn't fade into a kind of blonde, since I want a natural looking red, not the one I have now and I've noticed most redheads have this orange colour.

[ladylovecraft]

I use special effects blood red over my henna'd hair, and plan to add some chunks of napalm orange to the mix to get a more 'autumn' look. I have a few drops of SE in my conditioner to help prevent fade, so I'm sure this would work : )

[MidnightMoon]

You have a lovely colour. :)

[Firefox7275]

So, here's the thing. A couple of years ago I used to dye my hair red, not a dark red but like a natural redhead. I quit because I decided I wanted longer hair and my poor hair couldn't handle all the bleaching and grow too long at the same times, my ends got dry, etc.
However, my bf has commented a couple of times how he liked my hair better then than now (and I've wanted to go back to that colour again, as it is quite rare and a lot of people thought it was natural). My natural hair is dark brown and I put Vampire Red manic panic on it, so the ends which were once lighter are a quite bright red and it gets darker towards the roots.
I've been considering dyeing ir red again (I always used box dyes from the supermarket), but I'd like to make sure it stays orange and doesn't go a bit blonde like the last time, so I was wondering if using orange manic panic mixed in my conditioner would be a good idea.
I wouldn't be doing a complete dye or something, just mix some with my conditioner each time I was, which is once a week.
Since box dyes include bleach the hair would be light enough for it to make effect.
Do you think it would help the colour stay more orange?

I've never understood the dye in conditioner concept, it just sounds really messy like you would be constantly staining your skin again. Some people leave high pigment semi permanent dyes on anything up to overnight to get a strong or longlasting colour. I do two to four hours with a similar product to Manic Panic (La Riche Directions) and my colour is still rich/ bright after two to four months - if it was not for my roots I would only need to colour the lengths maybe every six months.

For reference I conditioner only wash in cool water two to three times a week, use a leave in conditioner rather than a wash out, coconut oil soaks on dry hair which may help seal in the colour.

[MidnightMoon]

Firefox7275 I think I might have to quit the shampoo, then, and the hot water showers, as I've always washed with water varying from warm to very hot and shampoo actively :p
I've tried mixing conditioner with manic panic only once but it didn't stain my hands or neck, maybe because it was like 2/3 conditioner and 1/3 manic panic? I don't know but it wasn't like manic panic alone.
What I'd be trying to avoid is getting too orange hair and having to spend even more time applying it regularly on top of the lightening/box dye.

[fairview]

Red is red. It is a primary color. No colors can be mixed to create red. Orange is equal parts of red and yellow, both primary colors. If you are applying orange over red you will have a mixture of 1 part red (your hair color) and 1 part red and 1 part yellow (orange that you are adding) so you will have 2 parts red and one part yellow. This combination will produce a range of tones from warm mahogany on the if it is closer to red and warm copper blonde if it leans to the yellow side of orange.

I don't know anything about the colors you are using or how the 2 different colors plus the conditioner will respond to each other but if one of my guests had red hair and requested it to be orange, I would use the appropriate yellow/orange color (1 part yellow, 1 part red, 1 part yellow and 1 part red from the hair) for the desired level or just simply yellow to create the orange from the red contributing pigment of the hair. Bottom line, you can't get to or create orange without yellow also. If you hair turns too 'yellow' the solution would be to tone it with a violet toner which neutralizes yellow. Too intense violet or left on too long the resulting color will lean to the red side of orange.

The reason it turns blonde is due to one or both of the colors are not fading on tone because of an excess of direct pigment that attaches to the outside of the hair shaft versus indirect pigment which makes it way under the cuticle. A quality red is a particularly difficult color to achieve even with more expensive salon quality brands. When asked to create a dependable red I only will guarantee the results if the guest will allow me to lift the hair to level 5 where the dominant pigment is red and then enhance it with the color. I have yet to see a good brand in red or red/red that creates a dependable red without first lifting it to level 5.

[rut.de.leu]

I dye my whole length with Manic Panic which takes about 2.5 jars.
I then have half a jar left over which I use on my roots a few weeks later and wind up with a bit less than half a jar. That's what I use to mix with a bunch of conditioner as a gloss to refresh my red on my f/m ii/iii waist-length hair. I leave it in for a while, like while I'm doing other shower things, and then rinse. It doesn't stain my skin this way, though I do use gloves as I know it'd stain my hands.

You could probably get away with using a lot less for your gloss; I'm trying to keep my hair very pigmented, and you're trying to keep a specific tone during fade-out if I'm reading correctly.

Before you use the first conventional dye (the kind with developer) to get your hair red, after clarifying coat your hair in coconut oil and let it sit for an hour. It'll prevent damage from the developer and can even dye uptake.