Why Manic Panic?
Playing with hair dye is super fun, but ensuring you’re doing it safely is really important. The Manic Panic ingredients used within each formula are 100% vegan and cruelty-free; these have been carefully chosen and sourced by our awesome founders, Tish and Snooky! Our Haircare products are also free from nasty chemicals you can find in regular drugstore products such as parabens and sulphates. So, you can guarantee a safe and fair formula for both humans and animals but wouldn’t a nourished and healthy-looking result also be extremely beneficial and appreciated? Not only are the Manic Panic colour formulas kind to our hair, but they are also fortified with 98% conditioner to guarantee a soft and salon-worthy finish.
We do still highly recommend performing both a patch and strand test on the recipient of the colour. If you’re not sure how to do either of these tests check out our FAQ’s where you can find detailed instructions on how to carry these out.
Our colours are designed to give vibrant results to a pre-lightened/bleached base; however, we understand that the idea of bleaching the hair of your child is very much out of the picture for many parents. Lucky for you our catalogue is filled with some brilliantly vibrant hair dyes ready to provide soft hues and subtle highlights to a medium brown or lighter natural base.
It is important to note that the darker the natural base the deeper and less visible the colour will appear.
Check out our list of colours that could give a natural base a subtle hue of colour, especially noticeable under sunlight:
Venus Envy
Enchanted Forest
After Midnight
Shocking Blue
Rockabilly Blue
Violet Night
Deep Purple Dream
Plum Passion
Purple Haze
Fuchsia Shock
Vampire Red
Infra Red
Vampire’s Kiss
Rock ‘N’ Roll Red
Raven
Finally, Manic Panic is great for a temporary change. Our colours are not designed to make a permanent change to your hair colour. The colour longevity of these semi-permanent hair dyes can range from 2 to 8+ weeks depending on the range and colour you choose: Classic Colours, Amplified and Creamtones. Learn all about our different ranges on our FAQ’s page for an in-depth explanation of them all. You have the choice of choosing just how pigmented and therefore how long you would like your colour to last.
How do I keep my colour looking bright right through the holidays?
These semi-permanent dyes are designed to eventually wash from your hair but each can differ in the amount of time this takes due to the amount of pigmentation in each, for example, our hair dye pastel shades contain the least amount of pigmentation to ensure they provide that soft and subtle tone rather than a deep, vibrant hue but only last 2 – 4 weeks depending on maintenance.
If you are looking for long-lasting hair colour, we’ve got some great top tips to keep yours going!
Water temperature
The temperature that you wash your hair in makes a huge difference when it comes to how long your colour lasts. When hot/warm water is applied to coloured hair, especially semi-permanent it penetrates the hair's cuticle which then releases the colour. The dye will begin to run and won’t last for the desired amount of time. Cold water on the other hand is great! Cold water actually closes the hair's cuticle which helps to lock in hair colour for longer.
How often you wash
Each time you wash your hair the colour will weaken slightly, however, it less with cold water. We genuinely recommend washing your hair a maximum of once or twice a week as this will give your hair its best chance of lasting. Dry shampoo is your best friend when it comes to coloured hair!
Your chosen products
The products you choose to cleanse your hair with are very important if you are looking for long-lasting colours. We highly recommend using a professional shampoo that has been specially designed for coloured hair; these will often not contain any sulphates or parabens. Colour-safe shampoo and conditioner can make all the difference when keeping hair colour vibrant for longer! Another great thing about your conditioner, it locks your colour in. Shampoo opens the cuticle of your hair so ensure each time you wash you are using conditioner to keep that cuticle closed after each wash.
Heat
This time of year the sun is out and so are we! However, the heat of any kind really isn’t great for dyed hair. Whether it’s spending too much time in the sun or using heated styling tools, these will all contribute to the fading of your colour. If the plan is to go out for the day in the sun, try wearing a hat to keep the hair and cuticle protected from any direct penetration from the heat as well as using UV protection products. Also, try other ways of styling the hair, rollers are a great option for producing beautiful mermaid waves or you can at least turn your tools down to a lower setting and always remember your hair heat protection!
The pool
The summer holidays can mean trips abroad often and with those usually comes a pool! Now we know the urge to run and jump in a pool as soon as you touch down at your holiday destination is hard to avoid, but before you do try sticking a swimming cap on or stick to keeping your hair above water with it tied up. The chemicals within pools such as strong chlorine will, unfortunately, strip the colour from the hair leaving it fairly faded.
Some great advice from one of our experts @verityclarkehair
“Another tip that isn’t on there is if you’re going to swim, soak your hair in fresh water first & don’t wring it out. If the hair is already saturated with fresh water, it won’t absorb as much chlorinated/salt water.”
Treat your hair
If you treat your hair kindly you’ll see the benefits! Using a deep conditioner once or twice a month can really improve the quality of your hair which then in turn holds the colour much better.
In a rush to get rid of the colour before the summer is up?
If you find your colour is still holding onto your strands but the summer is up and you’d like to return to your natural colour, there are a few ways you can help to get your colour fading faster.
What you need to be doing, is a lot of what we have recommended you don’t do if you want your colour to last. The most effective way of getting rid of your colour is to wash it regularly in hot water! The hot water is going to open your cuticle and let that dye run out gradually but we do highly recommend using old towels, bed linen and clothes during this process as the colour can bleed which could stain certain fabrics and furniture.
Try using a clarifying shampoo such as Prepare To Dye from Manic Panic every other wash. This will help to break down the pigmentation and thoroughly cleanse the hair of colour.
How do you feel about taking the Manic Panic hair journey with your colour this summer? We’re always here to help you along the way if you need us! You can either email our customer services or drop us a message via social media. Don’t forget to tag us in any of your amazing Manic Panic hair pictures on Instagram @manicpanic_uk, we can’t wait to see you!