Post Punk Kitchen Forum

does such a thing exist?

i'm looking for a natural-looking red/auburn semi-permanent hair dye. i do not want permanent. i found herbatint vegetal semi-permanent hair color in "henna red" and was all excited, until i read "PEG 50 tallow amide" in the ingredients list. TALLOW. in HAIR DYE. what the fork.

so, i looked at manic panic hair dye, and their color infra red (top right swatch) sounds like it might fit the bill. my hair is naturally light brown, and i don't plan to bleach it before i dye it. my hair has to look relatively natural-- i'm in nursing school, and our appearance is strictly regulated, so i can't go walking around with ariel-from-the-little-mermaid red hair.

has anyone here dyed their hair "infra red"? how did it turn out?

any advice or product suggestions would be very much appreciated. if i can't find what i'm looking for i've accepted my natural hair color... but it's 2012! you'd think that vegan-friendly semi-permanent red hair dye wouldn't be impossible to find, right?

thanks, PPKers. much love.

I would never recommend Manic Panic hair dye to anyone. I used to dye my hair all of the time for years and have always hated Manic Panic. However, I would recommend looking into Special Effects hair dye and finding one close to the color that you want. If it seems too bold, you can always dilute the color by mixing the dye in a bowl with some conditioner and spreading it through your hair.

I've used quite a few MP dyes, and I think they're pretty great! The SE colors I've used have been fine, too, with the exception of blue shades, which quickly turned a murky green (though that's often the case with blue dyes, whatever the brand). That said, reds fade super-fast, and on un-dyed hair might only show up for a few days. Also, most of the red veggie dyes I've used have rubbed off on my pillows, towels, collars, etc. when wet, so if you tend to sweat at work, you may want to re-consider. I've also used Herbatint, which is vegan and can be found at Whole Foods and other "natural" food stores, and Revlon, which according to this site (http://www.veganbeautyreview.com/2010/1 ... color.html) is cruelty-free. I don't know if the Herbatint is advertised as permanent, but it definitely faded entirely after a couple of months.

Alternately, have you considered henna? I don't have any experience with it myself, but I know other PPKers have posted about it and might be able to advise.

Henna is permanent. Very permanent.

I'm interested in hearing why you hate Manic Panic, Mr. Shankly! Only because I've always loved it.

I do agree with everything else that has been said in this thread.

I'm gonna +1 on the Special Effects recommendation. It really is the best stuff and I've used and adored almost every red they offer. I don't necessarily dislike Manic Panic, but it fades very quickly on my hair, within a week or so, whereas Special Effects stays for around 4-6 weeks.

eta: But I totally understand what you're saying about keeping a conservative look while in nursing school. You could always try out Manic Panic, and if you like the color but want more staying power, look for the equivalent in Special Effects.

Manic Panic dye has never come out the color it's supposed to in my hair, even after bleaching it to almost white. Whatever color I managed to come out with only stuck around for 2 days before it faded in a really not-great way. This was the same for anyone else's hair I dyed with MP and I've never heard anyone say that they like MP before. So I'm really surprised that you like them! The only thing I've really liked by them has been their bleaching kits.

I love Manic Panic! I think it has to do with hair type, because Special Effects sucks for me and costs more money, so I hate them =p

What type of hair do you two have?

Both Manic Panic and Special Effects fade really quickly for me, but Special Effects lasts a bit longer so I prefer it. It's just harder to find, even online, which sucks. Anyway, I use either Manic Panic Vampire Red or Special Effects Blood Red over my naturally brown hair and it comes out a reasonably bright (at first, anyway) sort of auburn. It fades to a more natural, almost orange-y auburn.

Here is a photo of me last week- this is what Vampire Red looks like after maybe two washes.

For what it's worth, I work for the federal government and I've never had an issue with my hair in the two years I've worked there. I meet politicians and other important people pretty often and no one's ever seemed to think that I need to tone it down for that kind of thing.

I used to buy SFX for about $6-$7 a bottle. If I can remember the store, I'll post the link.

I agree that Manic Panic doesn't really come out the color I was expecting, but... I've come to expect that from it. I like that since it's vegetable based it doesn't ruin your hair (as much) so I can just mix some in with my conditioner so it adds a little in every time I wash my hair, making it last longer.

That said, I've never actually used SFX... only MP and Raw Color (which used to be great but has gone to shiitake).

With MP, I always look at their pictures online for each color to see what results other people who have used it in various ways (over blonde, over dark hair, over bleached hair) got.

Isn't Herbatint listed as vegan and cruelty free? The website says they are registered with the Vegan Society, so you might want to double check and make sure the tallow is synthetic.

I always had crappy experiences with Manic Panic too! Special Effects or Raw have worked pretty well for me.

Maybe this depends on hair types or colors? I henna about twice a year, and within a couple of months you can't tell I ever did. (But I have dark brown hair.) I love hennaing my hair; it feels great for a long time after.

i just got this e-mail from the company (i contacted them this weekend):
"Dear [joyfulvegan]

Thank you for your email.

Indeed the Tallow Amine is animal derived and for this reason the Vegetal
colours are not suitable for Vegans/Vegetarians.

All other products (Herbatint hair colours, shampoo and conditioners) are
suitable for Vegans and registered with the UK Vegan Society.

Kind regards

Gentle Beauty
UK Distributors of Herbatint,ColourHerbe, Suncoat and Golden Silk Oil
10 Thornsett Road
London
SW18 4EN
UK
Tel 0203 072 1000
Fax 0203 072 1053
www.gentlebeauty.co.uk
www.herbatint.co.uk - the gentlest permanent hair colour ever - visit
http://www.herbatint.co.uk/herbatint/fe ... .php?id=70
for more info.
www.colourherbe.co.uk
www.camellia-oil.org - our newly launched web resource for Camellia Oil
www.twitter.com/gentlebeauty
Find ALL our products on www.facebook.com"

ugh.