Stargazer Magenta Semi Permanent Hair Dye

I have used Stargazer colours on and off for a long time. Initially when I was younger they were the only unusual colours that you could buy in my very staid and traditional Bucks town and so we all bought these. The colour range was not as impressive as it is now though. Before we managed to get our mitts on Stargazer colours, we used to use electric blue and green mascara to dye the sides of our cropped heads (a bunch of us had mohicans). Additional colour could be added by growing dreads and weaving in bits of bright wool or ribbons but we were limited as to how freaky we could look. At the time I used to wear a mohawk with long dreads at the back and big spikes on top, a tie dyed wedding dress and army boots. To be honest my clothes taste is still pretty tragic but I have toned down a bit since I have got older, mainly because I have a small child and cannot be bothered with the faff of a high maintenance look. I do though still LOVE having stupidly coloured hair and I enjoy the psychedelic tramp look.I am coming up to 44 and I have lots of white hair starting to come through. Unfortunately it is not enough that I can apply Stargazer neat, I still have to bleach parts of it. My hair is very long and I am loathe to trash it any more than I already have by bleaching it all so I tend to do chunks and streaks of bleaching which means my hair is usually multi-toned. Stargazer is very effective on light or bleached hair.THE PRODUCT:Stargazer semi-permanent colour comes in a plastic tube in a cardboard box. It contains full instructions and some gloves. There are a range of truly wonderful and vibrant colours available to buy from lime green to bright red, violet to pale pink, but the ones that I have used most are the bright reds, violet, magenta and cobalt blue. I did at one point use all three colours in stripes all over my head. It looked far better than it sounds honestly....This dye is gloopy and slightly thicker than it used to be when I were a lass. This is a good thing because dyeing your hair a stupid colour will also mean you end up dyeing your skin , ears and bath so be sure that you *really* like the shade that you choose. You get 75 ml in the bottle which is JUST enough to cover my hair (focal bleached bits and a tone to the rest which is dark) but really if you have long hair I suggest that you buy two boxes.The bottle has a little silver foil seal which you remove and then replace the pointed lid. It has a special tip than you snip off with scissors and then you apply it. Sounds easy? It is. Technically. But no matter how hard you try you will make a mess.This is a semi-permanent colour and is a stain rather than a dye really. The reds and magenta tend to last a long time but the violets and blue hues are high maintenance and fade fast. A weekly top up is needed to keep the blue tones looking good. I use a residue free shampoo and something gentle like Dr Bronner's to try to make it last longer.There is no real smell to the product because it is a stain. There is no peroxide or ammonia either but then you would probably have bleached the life out of your hair beforehand if you really want your hair to stand out.There is no conditioner in the box but I use coconut oil and it seems to seal it in very effectively.You WILL need the gloves. You will need bleach to rescue your bath. At least a few old towels will be needed too and do not forget the floor... this stuff does drip.HOW TO USE IT:The box contains good and clear instructions on how to use this. I use it like this:I wash my hair with a residue free shampoo - there is no point coating the hair shaft with vitamin whatever with b6 and x, y and z if it stops the dye from staining your hair. Use a good shampoo, different to your usual one to strip your hair of products and build up. I use Lush solid shampoo (Seanik), Dr Bronner's or a Weleda body/hair wash. Do not condition your hair... again this coats the shaft. Then towel dry your hair and prepare yourself for a huge mess.If you have long hair you can section it but I find that my hair knots when I do this so I just start at the crown and work it through. If you have a parting then try to part your hair differently because this stains your scalp for a bit and you will look like a) a plonker or b) like you have a rare and fluorescent skin disease. Work it through your hair by massaging it in. Sigh as you see the tips of your ears changing colour. I usually shove a plastic bag on my head with my hair piled up under it and then leave it to do its magic.At this point you will survey your bathroom with a sinking heart. There will be blobs of colour everywhere. This is the time to bleach the bath especially if you have an enamel one. It will NOT come out of a bathroom carpet ( does anyone really still have those?) so you will be glad of the old towel that you stuck under your feet. You did remember that didn't you? Oh....MESS MINIMISING:Baby wipes are good for getting excess stain from your forehead, hairline, shoulders, ears and everywhere else that this damn stuff has sploshed. Milk helps too funnily enough. But no matter how hard you try, you will still look somewhat stained in places that really should not be that colour naturally. It does fade though... (eventually)...The box says to leave the dye on for 15-30 minutes but I usually leave it on for an hour. It is a stain remember not a proper dye. The box states that this will not cover white/grey hair but it does with me.EFFICIENCY:I have had some mad hair colours thanks to Stargazer dyes, bright blood red, cobalt, violet, magenta, bright pink.... and they really are very very bright. The bleaching makes the colour vibrant and having bright stripes in amongst darker tones of the same colour is eye-catching. The dyes vary in terms of how long that they last, as I said the blues/ purples are the shortest lived, and the reds/pinks tend to last much longer. I have managed to get the red to last 8 weeks with one top up but that was being careful and washing my hair very gently etc. The colour can be patchy if you do not massage it in enough so be careful to do that.After using Stargazer I rinse until the water is clear and then condition it. When dry my hair is shiny and soft as usual. This dye will leave a colour on your pillow, especially if you are hot so I use dark pillowcases most of the time to avoid this. I top up the colour as and when I can be bothered. If you are more fussy than me then I would do it weekly for the purple/blue/green shades and fortnightly for the reds/pinks etc but you would not have to do a full dye job, just a top up.The dye is high maintenance but so is having silly hair. Despite this (and the mess) I love the stuff and I enjoy having bright and unreasonably loud hair. I hope that eventually I go entirely white so that I no longer have to use bleach. I fully intend to be a pensioner rocking a Harley Davidson and stupid hair.DETAILS:* Stargazer dyes contain 70ml* For good results then bleach hair or pre-lighten.* Blondes do not need to bleach...* Gives a slight tint to unbleached hair but not enough.* Many are vegetarian, some are vegan* Can be mixed together with other Stargazer colours to create a unique tone.* Box contains instructions and pair of disposable gloves.* Use two boxes for v long or v thick hair.* Dyes will last up to 12 months once opened with no adverse side-effects (if securely closed after each use)INGREDIENTS:Full of junk pretty much.... all of the colours listed below are not in every dye, it depends on the colour that you choose.Aqua, Cetarly Alcohol, Distearoylethyl Hydroxyethylmonium Methosulfate (and) Cetearyl Alcohol, Ceteareth-20, Citric Acid, Methylparaben, Butylene Glycol, Clyceryl Stearate, +/- Basic Brown 17, Basic Brown 16, Basic Red 76, Basic Yellow 57, Acid Violet 43, Basic Green 4, Basic Red 46, Basic Orange 2, Basic Violet 4, Basic Violet 14, Basic Blue 7, Basic Blue 9, Basic Violet 2, HC Yellow 4, HC Yellow 2, HC Yellow 1, HC Red 1, HC Red 3, Acid Red 8, Acid Green 1, Inci 12251, Inci 12250, Inci 12719, Inci 60730, Inci 42000, Inci 110825, Inci 11270, Inci 42600, Inci 42510, Inci 42595, Inci 52015, Inci 42520, HC Yellow 4, HC Yellow 2, HC Orange 1, HC Red 1, HC Red 3, Inci 10020.

Edit:I ended up buying this dye again and I've gotten better at washing it out without making a mess, I've tried loads more pinks and this one is the best 100% it holds significantly longer than any other dyeEnd of edit:This dye is pretty good for the price I won't lie HOWEVER there are a couple things to take note ofThe dye itself smells like someone burped into it before it was sent, it's like rotton breath its not very pleasant. Thought it was the ammonia smell but apparently that isn't in this dye so who knows what that isThe dye is a bit darker than I wanted it to be as well, I wanted like a neon pink and I knew I was pushing my luck with this anyways. I did mix it with a tiny bit of Adore pink dye but it still came out like this. The first pic of my dyed hair is right after it was done, it was darker in personThird of all, this dye bleeds loads which other people also said. My blue bath mat is still pink in the middle and it's been weeks. It still bleeds out a fair bit of dye as well but at least my whole back isn't stained anymore!In the 2 pics of my hair after it was dyed, the second one is after 5 of 6 washes? So it's held up incredibly well honestly. I'm quick with washing my hair and I use bed hair colour protective shampoo & conditionerI do wash my hair with warm/ hot water thoIf you want this sorta colour then I definitely recommend this, if you have multiple colours in your hair like I do, I wouldn't recommend it unless you are SO CAREFUL to not let it bleed over. I'm probably gonna use the rest of this on my boyfriends hair. I won't use it on mine again just cause of the mess it made the first time

BLACK HAIR DYEshorter review (long below):it has a really strong red undertone.the bleached orange bits in my hair has turned red, my before light brown roots are green tinted and the rest of my hair (that hasn’t been bleached) is red in the sunlight. stained my walls red (that’s my fault for getting it on the walls)long review:i have boxed dyed my hair black for almost two years now (with permanent dye) and it always has a blue undertone. this dye has a strong red undertone, my roots are green tinted (they was light brown before being dyed). i have orange stripes in my hair that i wanted to cover temporarily. they turned red. after applying the dye and leaving it on for about 20 mins i rinsed it off (i rinse with every dye and not wash the hair straight after dying). the colour rinsed out bring red but blue was all over my hands, even after using gloves. my face neck and hands go blue after my hair touches it. i’ve just washed it out so we will see how it goes. the black bits are red undertoned and a little bit purple.when i was rinsing it came out bright red than blue when i was washing it came out bright blue than red. me personally i’ll pass next time.

Great colour and lasted much longer than the previous dye I had used. The shape of the nozzle of the bottle made it easy to use also.