Hair Dye Question

[NikitaJane]

Hi everyone,

So I've been reading around and it seems (very logically) that the general consensus is that hair dye isn't good for the hair, which seems like common sense when talking about dyes that use ammonia and peroxide.

My question is, does this also apply to truly semi permanent dyes such as directions, manic panic, adore etc? I last coloured my hair in June 2016 and I've now got mid back length hair that's pretty much half my natural colour, with old dye on the ends.

I was considering ordering a natural colour semi permanent dye and mixing a bit with my conditioner to mask the difference in colour on the ends of my hair until it grows out fully and I can cut out the old dye.

But I absolutely don't want to damage my hair for the sake of covering up old colour.

What do you guys think would be best?

Thank you in advance :)

[chomsky]

A lot of the members here use Manic Panic from what I've seen. There's a thread here dedicated to colourful longhairs, and they share their techniques and products! I love flicking through there and dreaming of having light enough hair to play with, haha.

Manic Panic with conditioner seems to be the way I've seen a lot of people do it when they want to stretch the dye/make it less intense. That's what I've gathered anyway, not much of a colour person. They wash out and usually leave minimal/zero staining on virgin hair, there might be some on pre-lightened hair, but don't quote me!

I say have fun with it! I loved having bleached ends and playing with all the colours while I cut the bleach off. I wish I knew about these vegetable based dyes at the time!

I'll come back with a link in case you haven't seen it.

Edit: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=125938

Beautiful, healthy, rainbow hair awaits.

[cathair]

Dyes like Manic Panic and Directions have a base that's made of fatty alcohols. Similar to or the same as you would find in some conditioners. They rely on being heavily pigmented and your hair being light enough, or the right tone of colour to stick.

So no, they are not really damaging. They're a lot like conditioner with a metric ton of colour in it :)

Just be really careful of things having developer or peroxide in them. Especially things that say 'no ammonia' on them too. Because that's usually marketing speak for 'I'm full of bleach, but I'm distracting you with the ammonia statement'.

[lapushka]

I have used a semi when I was growing out my color (from mid-ash blonde dye). I dyed it a dark ash blonde then. I saw no lingering discoloration on my natural hair when it faded. The color was Indola (EU brand), and I would recommend that totally if you can get your hands on it. My box came with enough for 2 applications. There were 2 small bottles with a developer in there.

That said, veggie dyes like Manic Panic, La Riche Directions, and such are without developer but usually need pretty light hair to stick to. It also depends on what color you pick out.

Good luck; keep us posted! :D

[NikitaJane]

Thank you all for your responses, I'll be going with the brand 'adore' (since they also are semi permanent and don't require any developer but unlike manic panic, they offer the natural shades I'm looking for) in the shade 'medium brown' mixed with white conditioner in roughly a 1:2 ratio to match my natural hair colour as closely as possible. :)

I'm really happy to hear this won't damage my hair :) I'll let you know how it goes!

[lapushka]

Thank you all for your responses, I'll be going with the brand 'adore' (since they also are semi permanent and don't require any developer but unlike manic panic, they offer the natural shades I'm looking for) in the shade 'medium brown' mixed with white conditioner in roughly a 1:2 ratio to match my natural hair colour as closely as possible. :)

I'm really happy to hear this won't damage my hair :) I'll let you know how it goes!

Oh that's great to hear. I always think of veggie dyes as the bright colored dyes and had no idea that Adore did natural shades (have to remember that one)! Thanks for mentioning that. :)

[ReptilianFeline]

I can't get semi permanent dyes to stick, but I did use ManicPanic as the second step in a two step henna tryout once. ManicPanic will stick to henna for at least one wash, but the henna is red of coures, so the end result won't be as expected. No adverse reaction though.