Adore Semi Permanent Hair Color - Vegan and Cruelty-Free Black Hair Dye - 4 Fl Oz - 121 Jet Black (Pack of 2)

My hair is wavy and down to the middle of my back. I’m naturally brown hair and about 50% gray, I’ve added the before pictures just so you could see how crazy it’s been growing out and pretty much ugly because I haven’t colored it in about 10 weeks. My hair has always been colored on the red side out of a box permanent color.This is the first time I’m using a semi permanent hair color color and first time going with a non-natural standard color. I am trying only the Magenta by itself.I’m putting these notes together as I’m doing the process so I can tell you, I have No Idea how this is going to turn out. 👀Here’s what I did:1.) I mixed the hair color with about a third of white conditioner and mixed it.2.) I added a mixture of shampoo and conditioner below the hairline to try to prevent skin staining. I’m always challenged when it comes to these home jobs.3.) Went into the shower and sat on the floor with the mixed dye and my gloves on. I have long hair, so I leaned over the bowl of mixture, which is rather runny as people have mentioned. Applied mixture to hair carefully while leaning over the bowl to make sure none of the product got on my shower floor.4.) From there, I cleaned the bowl while still in shower by adding water and pouring it directly down the drain to keep it from spreading throughout the shower floor. I did this a few times until it ran kind of pink. I also washed my comb which cleaned up just fine. I placed the rinsed bowl on a dark towel in case pink might show up from any leftover water. Put the bowl in the sink until end of process cleanup.5.) I didn’t use my comb throughout any of the application except to mix the conditioner and the hair color because I couldn’t find my hair dye brush. It worked fine. Cleaned up perfectly.6.) Then, I wrapped my head in plastic wrap as best as I could without really looking at what I was doing. Just enough to keep the drips off my skin and the hair up.7.) Sat on the porch for 45 minutes with a glass of wine and waited. Thoughts running through my head thinking I must be crazy and this is a total home experiment. I am nervous.😬😬8.) Cool rinsed in the shower with without shampoo. Because I use the curly girl method to keep hair from looking too fried, I figure the leave-in conditioner is just fine instead if the suggested shampooing for the moment (today?). I’ll shampoo with my low poo later today just to make sure I don’t leave product wherever I put my head (pillows) later.8.) Went out for dinner with hubby. He likes the color.Update: This color has lasted much longer than I thought it would. I wash my hair about 2x a week with low-poo so that may be why it has lasted so long. My roots have grown out and need touch-up but the color is great. I like color while it softens with washes. Going to try Cajun Spice next. Wonder how that will turn out on top of this Magenta. 🤔July 21 - posted a picture of just Magenta color about a month old. Roots are dark with grays and rest of hair is quite bright magenta1. Just going to go for it with Cajun Spice color right over the old- no conditioner mix and no heat2. Results pic posted - my thoughts…. Drum roll…👀

Crimson is my new favorite red hair color. I've been dying my hair for over 20 years. For a long time, I did my own hair and used Punky Color and Manic Panic dyes. Then, for years, I had my hair professionally colored using mostly Special Effects dyes. I love the staying power of SE, but not the bleeding! Adore dyes have pretty good staying power, but only really bleed the first few times getting the hair wet. Now, I am growing it out and instead of spending $$$ on a pro, just keeping up my ends in color.The formula is pretty liquidy like Special Effects and unlike the gels of Punky Color and Manic Panic. This makes a little harder to apply, but not too bad since I am only really working on my ends. Even though my hair is nearly black, if I apply this dye to my roots I get a purply/burgundy sheen on the black parts.I spent a long time choosing a red color and looking at swatches online. Crimson was my first pick and I was very satisfied with the final result. Recently I also picked up Ruby Red and Raging Red to compare/contrast and also to dye some extensions with highlights and lowlights.Crimson is a deep red with pink undertones, but almost neutral when compared to other reds in the range. All three reds I have tested from Adore have cool undertones, but Raging Red is very very cool - I am hoping that the darkness hides a lot of the coolness. None have the very warm and orange undertones of PC/MP colors like Vermillion Red, Pillarbox Red and Wildfire. (I tend to prefer these warmer shades.)I've been doing my hair so long I forget that many people don't know how to get the most out of semi-permanent color (which actually is MORE permanent than permanent dye for me). Here are some tips:1. Wash before you dye, with a harsh "clarifying" shampoo, or dish soap w/o hand softeners if your hair will tolerate and rinse with warm/hot water. WHY? - this opens up the cuticle where color can be deposited as well as strips out other color and junk.2. Do not condition before you dye. WHY? - this will close/smooth the cuticle and you don't want to do that until after you color.3. Apply dye, wrap in plastic to contain moisture and apply heat and leave on for WAY longer than directions say. WHY? - this helps penetrate more color deeper. You want to keep it wet and activated, bc once it's dry, that's pretty much it. (This only applied to semi-permanent non-developer dyes.)4. Rinse in COLD or lukewarm water. WHY? - to smooth down the cuticle again and keep that color in! If you have ever had a Brazilian Keratin treatment, they do the same think when rinsing it out.5. Condition only after dying. WHY? - to close/smooth down the cuticle and keep the color in.Personally, I don't protect my hairline with Vasaline because it makes more of a mess for me. I just swab off the color with rubbing alcohol.If you bathtub is stained, bleach and AJAX are your friend.I'll update this review when I dye the extensions. I am also going to mix Ruby and Raging and see if the color tuns out sorta like Crimson.