We all love to change our hair colour. We’ve all seen the ads on TV of people with bright red hair or a pastel violet and thought, ‘I could pull that off.’ Yet getting it done by a professional can be time consuming and expensive, even more so if you have black or brown hair. Typically we all go for the D.I.Y hair dye adventure. For some, this involves bleaching. For many of us, watching a girl have a breakdown and then fail at dying their hair because the T-18 didn’t tone the brassy red bits. Or the blue colour is too bright. Shall always be funny and will always encourage us down the same path.
However, knowing what hair dye brand to use is always confusing. Plus, not everyone wants a permanent change to their hair. Today I’m giving you the top brands to use for Semi-Permanent colour at home!
Manic Panic
If you’ve ever watched a hair dying video on YouTube (which will inevitably fail), then you’ve heard of the brand manic panic. It is the bread and butter of hair dye videos. The brand started in 1977 by Tish and Snooki is known for bright neon rainbow colours and colours that work under UV lights. The range of colours is dynamic and has both semi-permanent and permanent formulas to suit everyone’s needs. On top of that, the brand is vegan and cruelty-free and just like Arctic Fox put 15% of net profits to a charity every month. It is one of the most well known and trusted brands out there.
Arctic Fox
Arctic fox was created in 2014 by Youtuber Kristen Leanne. The formula is vegan, cruelty-free and semi-permanent (meaning it will get lighter after every hair wash) and comes in a plethora of shades. My favourite being Aquamarine. The hair dye can be mixed and matched, and with the arctic mist diluter, you can get a bunch more tones and colours to add to your hair.
For example, if you have dark hair like mine and want a lovely deep purple colour, you can mix Violet Dream and Purple rain, and it turns your hair into a deep rich royal purple with red undertones. Plus, I like the fact colours such as Wrath and Aquamarine can be used on dark coloured hair without bleaching. It won’t be as bright, but you can see it more than other brands. It is pretty impressive, given how difficult it can be for dark-haired people to get a different hair colour without bleaching.
Yes, the shipping can get expensive and maybe you’d like something more permanent. Yet, the fact you get good quality, tons of colours and part of your money goes to helping an animal charity makes it worth it.
XMONDO Hair
You may recognise this to be the brand of hairstylist and YouTuber Brad Mondo. In 2020 the stylist added to his hair care line with XMONDO COLOUR. The range comes in seven colours like the rainbow. They are cruelty-free, paraben-free, gluten-free, vegan, and because Brad Mondo makes it, hairdresser tested. So you can be assured of the quality. Granted, it’s not a permanent hair colour, but you can mix and match the seven colours available. Plus, the range is made to heal your hair, unlike other brands.
It may not work on dark hair, unlike Manic panic or Arctic Fox (which is typical within hair dye but still annoying). Yet, The fact XMONDO COLOUR goes the extra mile and makes it gluten-free still makes it worthwhile.
Good Dye Young
The emo’s and punks in our readership have just got excited because I’m talking about the hair dye brand created by Paramore lead singer Haley Williams. The Good Dye Young is semi-permanent, cruelty- free and vegan. There are many shades from Metalheads (which will give you early Paramore vibes.) To Lighter Daze, perfect for those who like the pastel tones in their life.
The only problem you might have is that these tones aren’t for brown or black hair. To the point, you won't even be able to tint the hair, like Arctic Fox or Manic Panic can. So for the dark-haired people, stay away from this one unless you want to lighten your hair. However, the range of colours is fantastic and pushes the boundaries of what hair dye can do! Also, its packaging is sustainable. A bonus if you want to help the environment. It earned its place on my list.
Bleach London
This one is a semi-permanent solution for the United Kingdom. Bleach London provides a multitude of constantly evolving colours, and considering the price of other brands on the list, this one is pretty cheap. Plus, the packaging is recyclable and reusable—a bonus for sustainability.
My problem lies with the fact that internationally; It is challenging to buy. (Although it has started selling to the United States). My other problem is that customer service can be tricky to communicate with, and sometimes you don’t get your order because they don’t send a valid tracking number. However, suppose you are okay to bet on having an okay delivery or prepared to hassle customer service. In that case, the colours Bleach London give you are unique, and the sustainability is good.
I hope this list helps you find a good quality, semi-permanent hair dye for your next colour change or refresh. Never forget to do a patch test!
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