Customer Reviews

DEEP PURPLE SPECIAL EFFECTS/HAIR

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I purchased this product towards the end of 2009, after a short stint of dyeing my hair blue. The blue tended to fade to green, which wasn't my desire, so I decided to switch to purple.

I'd read many good things about the staying power of Special Effects. I had used Manic Panic for the blue and wasn't thrilled with its fadibility, so I decided to give it a shot. Since it's not available in any store I'm aware of around here, I ordered it from Amazon.

My hair had already been processed by the time I used the dye. Note that this is extremely important: if your hair hasn't had any kind of processing - no previous dyeing or bleaching - your hair will not hold onto this color well. That's the nature of vegetable dyes like this. They are color-depositing, basically like a stain. Previous processing makes your hair porous, ie opens up the hair shaft to allow the color to sink deeply into the hair. Unprocessed hair will have a closed hair shaft, which means the color may coat the hair, but won't last as long because the color will be easily washed away.

Another thing to be aware of: this color will STAIN. Everything. It'll stain anything it touches, including clothes, the sink, the shower, the tub, the floor - you get the picture. If you're lucky, you may be able to lift the stain(s) somewhat with a product containing bleach. My shower curtain liner still has a faint purple tinge to it that will probably never be removed. There goes my chances of hosting a presidential sleepover. Anyway... my point is, be very careful. If you *really* don't want to risk staining, line everything with newspapers and/or plastic bags, and wear clothes you don't mind getting stained. I have special "coloring shirts" just for this purpose.

Finally: WEAR GLOVES. Remember the staining bit? That goes for your skin as well. Your hands will turn purple if you try to use this without gloves, and it'll last for a while. You may also want to put some nail polish on your fingernails too - it'll save your nails from developing purple streaks. A lot of people suggest petroleum jelly around your hairline and on your ears, which is a good idea. I have extremely oily skin, so that's not necessary for me. I do sometimes use petroleum jelly on my ears, though.

Before you apply the dye, you'll want to wash your hair and *not* apply conditioner. This, again, helps make your hair as porous as possible. A good clarifying shampoo or anti-dandruff shampoo works really well for this purpose. Using a blow-dryer to dry your hair after shampoo will, again, help to open up the hair shaft.

You may want to wrap your hair in plastic wrap, a plastic bag or a shower cap after you dye, to help hold in heat and help the color penetrate more. Leave the dye in as long as you like - 15 to 30 minutes like the package says, or longer if you desire. The nice thing about veggie dyes is that they actually improve your hair's condition, and the longer you leave it in, not only the deeper does the color get, but also the better it will condition your hair.

The very first time I used this dye, I was thrilled with the results. The *best* results are probably found with bleaching your hair first, but I had just dyed my hair normally (with a reddish brown dye, I think) previous to using this, and the results were gorgeous - a very deep, almost black purple. In the sunlight you could *really* see the purple, but even in normal indoor lighting it was pretty obvious.

One word of warning: if you are not absolutely certain you want purple hair - and will want it for a LONG time - do NOT use this dye! My purple lasted a very, very long time. We're talking months! I think it started fading maybe 5 months after I first used it. I didn't baby my hair in any way - I washed it daily, didn't always use conditioner, etc. Fortunately I loved my purple and was very happy it lasted so long. The main reason I gave it up was because I got tired of the work required to touch up my roots. I had to use a dye first, *then* use the Special Effects on top.

All in all, this is an amazing dye with fantastic staying power. If you want your hair purple for a long, long time, this is the dye for you! Just prepare your hair properly and you will have wonderful results.

I've tried just about every brand of hair dye on the American market. Most of them fade very quickly, but not Special Effects. It was easy to apply, and required very little processing time. Just put it on and let it sit for 10 minutes! The resulting color was very bold, and lasted for over a month before I noticed any color fade. Make sure you use LOTS of petroleum jelly along your hair line, and gloves. Rinse it AWAY from your face, because it stains very quickly. I also recommend using old towels to dry your hair with, at least for the first few shampoos, because it will continue to bleed when it's washed.

Length:: 1:37 Mins

This is a video I made explaining my likes and dislikes about Deep Purple. The products in my hair right now are Special Effects Deep Purple and Fishbowl as well as Punky Colour Apple Green.

I have tried many brands of semi permanent color, but this is by FAR the best. It has been a month since I put it on my hair, and it has barely faded at all. Also, this seller was extremely fast with shipping, and I will definitely buy more from them in the future!

I have tried a few hair dyes and this is my favorite. It works best if you bleach your hair first and leave it on a lil bit longer than the directions say. You definitely have to wear clothes you don care about an cover up as much as possible cuz it will stain almost instantly. The colors are always good and usually fade slow, washing your hair with cold water will help the color stay longer.

Deep Purple Special Effects - the color was great - but the color was EVERYWHERE. for weeks after I colored my purple streak my hair bled purple. My fingernails were purple, my comb was purple, the back of my ear was purple. I'd absentmindedly run my hand back through my hair and come away with purple fingernails. The color is impossible to clean off of surfaces or out of towels if you accidentally splash or splatter (which I knew going in, so that doesn't play into this review)

I went back to Manic Panic after using the SE...while it may not last as long, at least I have normal colored nails now.

This is the third time I have "tried" to dye my hair purple and this is the one that finally stuck....to everything! It's extreemly messy. I will admit my hair looks great with the deep purple. BUT oh my god did it make my hair greasy!! I don't know if that is the price I can pay for good looking purple hair. I've only washed it twice so far so hopefully the greasy feel will go away. fyi...it will even stain your hands when you are styling your hair, I can't even blow dry without purplely stained hands...be prepared for the mess :) Overall I gave it three stars because of all the trouble.

The color is great and it is very dark, like i wanted, i have also had it for almost a month and it is barley starting to fade. I did bleach my hair first and the parts that were the whitest were the darkest and some of the yellowy parts stayed brighter. I did read some of the other comments before buying and they mentioned that is was a little messy (which is a big understatement) and did stain a lot. It does stain the tub pretty bad but after a few washes you can hardly tell and i was able to get it off my closes (it says it it permanent on fabrics) with soak in Oxiclean, but it got every where. None of the other reviews mentioned how everything your hair wet or dry touches turns purple; all my pillows and covers have purple, the phones i use at work are purple, the head rest in my car is purple, my cell phone is died, all my shirts had purple on them, i would wake up and parts of my face where my hair was touching was purple, my hands still turn purple every time i style my hair and even my white cat was a little purple from snuggling me. I could under stand the first few days especially if my hair was wet for it to spread to other things but even dry a month later it is just as bad. It would have had five stars if it didnt get EVERYWHERE!!!

I love this color, it came out dark but I think it's because dyed it over my faded purple dye. It looks great though and its been a month and it hasn't faded very much at all! :-)

I have tried MANY of Special Effects brand's various shades of hair dye and I think I'd have to say that this one is by far the strongest. I recommend being very careful with it, however, and bearing in mind that it takes some time to stop rubbing off onto things. That's the only con I would apply to it. It will stain EVERYTHING and ANYTHING that it touches, it seems, which is a side-effect of how strong the dye is. For me, it was absolutely worth it as we have cleaning products that were able to remove it from the sink, walls, etc. where I may have accidentally splashed purple water or what have you. Our cleaning products are natural, BTW, nothing insanely strong or anything. That all being said, I am extremely pleased with the color and resilience of this dye. For many years now I have bleached my hair and dyed it wonderful, bright colors and frequently. However, once I became pregnant, I was determined to abstain from all unnatural chemicals - including hair dye - while pregnant and into breast feeding and so on in order to minimize exposure for my child. My hair, unfortunately, was already chemically treated and I knew that it would only look worse over time so I decided to try and use this dye to color it in the hopes that it would last throughout pregnancy - perhaps even somewhat permanently...? Well, my wish was granted! Oh boy, was it ever. I only had to use it one time and even after rinsing and shampooing it THREE TIMES in a row immediately after rinsing, the water was still rinsing purple and it had not faded in the least. It's been many weeks now since I dyed it and it has hardly begun to fade at all. It's still very dark and looks awesome. I'm very confident that it will not be fading to any kind of undesirable color anytime in the near future which is exactly what I'd hoped for. :) As a plus, it looks great with my natural brown hair which is growing in - another thing I was hoping for. I highly recommend this color to anyone who wants a dark, truly deep purple that will last a very long time and especially if you do not want to lighten or otherwise chemically treat your hair first. After many years of experience dying hair with various products as well as various shades of this particular brand, I can say with confidence that this color will come out loud and clear on hair that is not chemically treated first. Naturally black hair will attain a very dark purple sheen to it but any other shade of hair color ought to come out full on dark eggplant purple. My natural color is a fairly dark brown. However, I cannot promise that it will last quite as long on hair which is not chemically treated in any way prior to using it as my natural roots have faded back to brown by now. The rest of my hair had been dyed a natural shade of reddish-brown and that portion of my hair is still entirely a quite dark shade of purple. I would say that the color is identical in my hair to the circle in this small photo provided.

To re-cap:

Pros - Works like a dream! Lasts seemingly forever on previously chemically treated hair, will cover any color, although will most likely only tint actual black hair, and initially shows up just as well on hair which is not previously chemically treated. I believe that it will NOT fade to any undesirable shades! Possibly ever. Haha.

Cons - Part of my face was stained purple the next day but Dr. Bronner's soap removed most of it immediately and the rest, which was hardly noticeable, disappeared within a day or two. My pillow case, which began as white, and my towel, which began as light purple, are still tinted purple. :P (Everything else which came into contact with it and was stained has been cleaned successfully) It might be a little bit rough on your hair, depending on your hair type and how damaged it is to begin with, but the texture improves over time while the color remains. My hair feels fine now. :) No other cons here!