Special Effects Hair Dye
When people create special effects using hair dye, they often use a range of different colors to create the effect. If you're looking for hair dye that is whacky and different, you'll be looking at brands that come in crazy colors, from every spectrum of the rainbow.
Popular brands with rainbow-colored hair dyes include Punky, by Jerome Russell, Manic Panic and (surprise surprise) Special Effects, all of which manufacture their special effect products in the form of semi-permanent hair dyes. Most of the other established, well known names also produce punky colors that could be used to produce special effects, most commonly firey reds and oranges, and usually in the form of permanent hair color.
So let's see what some of the different brands have to offer if it's special effects that you are after.
Manic Panic is one of the most popular "special effects hair dyes they've been described as "the original pioneers of cosmetics for freaks". Manufactured in the USA, the company's aim is to produce the "richest, boldest, brightest" and "punkiest" semi-permanent hair color on the market. They offer two different formulations, Classic and Amplified, both of which are cream-based. There are more than 30 vibrant Manic Panic Classic colors, some of which even glow under black light. There are several electrifying colors, including the purplish Electric Amethyst, bright yellow Electric Banana, Electric Lava, a really funky orange, and Electric Lizard you guessed it, a cool, slimy green; and lots of reds and pinks, from Infra Red to Pretty Flamingo and Fuschia Shock. For the best effects, most colors should be applied to bleached or at least pre-lightened hair. Amplified comes in 13 of the classic colors, but the formula is designed to last 30% longer. Application procedures are the same.
The Californian-based Jerome Russell has been active in the international hair and beauty industry for more than three decades. Their answer to the funky special effects market comes in the form of Jerome Russell Punky Colour, a semi-permanent color cream. Vegetable based, it comes in around two dozen shades of pinks, reds, purple and plum, greens and turquoise blue. For best results, Punky hair dye should be applied to dry hair that has been bleached without conditioning. Once you have dyed your hair, you should condition it with their vegetable-based conditioning cream.
Special Effects offers semi-permanent hair dyes in every color of the rainbow, from Blood Red, Nuclear Red and Virgin Rose, to bright green Limelight, Blue Mayhem, a bright neon blue, and Sonic Green. Several of the colors are UV reactive, specifically Atomic Pink, BAF Yellow, Cherry Bomb, Cupcake Pink, Hi-Octane Orange, Napalm Orange and Nuclear Red. The Special Effects brand also produces a lavender-hued "mixer toner" that neutralizes the yellow in heavily bleached hair. Made in the USA, Special Effects hair dye is available from Internet stores based in various parts of the world as far afield as the United Kingdom and Canada.
Raw Color also produces what can be termed special effect hair dye. Unlike the semi-permanent dyes, most Raw Color is supposedly demi-permanent, which means it should last longer than semi-permanent type but it will wash out over time. However there are also permanent colors in the brand, including a punky purple.
Special Effects and Manic Panic hair dyes are "vegan friendly" meaning that there has been no testing on animals, and no animal products have been used to make them. Many companies carry out tests on animals to make sure that they will not be harmful to humans. Jerome Russell is another "cruelty free" company rather than testing their products on animals, they say they test on employees!