Stargazer Rouge 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.

From someone who always struggled with finding bright red dye I’m surprised this actually worked amazing, if you want the bright red fire look then this is the one for you

Ok so I bought the teal dye months ago, I decided then to not use it. I used their shocking pink which was effective but god don't get it on anything or you're screwed. My white bathroom cabinet now has pink stains that despite moving fast, immediately stained. Anyway, hair did turn pink (on faded orangey darker blonde bleached hair), didn't last too long but not expecting much from a pink and especially on my faded bleached hair tbh.Then recently I buy Azure Blue, and I get my hair bleached bright blonde. Azure blue sure looks teal out the bottle and had me alarmed as the colour is nothing like teal in the swatches. Hairdresser puts it on, we wait ages just to be safe. Wash out. My hair is now a very pale teal green. Not blue, not even vivid teal either. Just like a green that's faded after 10 washes on blonde hair. Was not happy at all, did get a refund.I ended up using the teal I bought months ago seeing as I was halfway there thanks to that "blue" dye.What a regret. Yes my hair is now vibrantly teal but my god the staining on my skin........I washed my hair thoroughly, I put vaseline on my skin prior to dying and I scrubbed 2 times VERY hard to get it off my skin, to no success. My skin ends up extremely irritated due to the dye being on my skin no matter what. I end up breaking out in a rash all over my chest, my neck and my face. My skin hasn't felt so bad since I had a full blown allergic reaction to permanent dye years ago. To be clear, I'm not allergic to semis like Stargazer, and many similar brands, nor am I to bleach.Finally I go for another shower and I get mostly clean. My skin calms down over some days. I think okay it's finally over. But I'm noticing my neck looks discoloured again. It's hard to tell as I'm very fair and the dye happens to match my veins perfectly, so I try to give benefit of the doubt.But TODAY I have woken up from an unfortunately sweaty sleep and there is dye all over my neck and in my nails. This is after about 5 showers...Now my skin is itching again and I'm going to have to get in a shower yet again.I can't bear this, it's so uncomfortable and it's ridiculous that despite many washes, many shampooings etc, it's STILL staining everything.I think I may be done with Stargazer, too unpredictable and I look an absolute fool with my neck suddenly turning teal all the time. Thank god I'm alone in the flat most of the time but I would be so embarrassed if I caught myself in daylight with this neck.I don't recommend it because you have no idea what you're going to get. I didn't have any issues with their red or pink dyes. They didn't furiously stain my skin, they did not make me break into a rash. The blue I ordered wasn't blue at all and the teal is staining me constantly no matter what I do. And now my skin is sore and incredibly itchy.I would have given 2 stars for the fact that yes sometimes it's successful but the negatives far outweigh the good.

If you want your hair to be PINK, there is no other hair dye for the job. I've tried various other brands, and nothing is as bright and gorgeous as the Stargazer Magenta. It takes really well, even to hair that isn't bleach-blonde.On top of bleach-blonde hair, it fades out to a pleasant strawberry blonde (after a couple of months, washing hair every other day in hot water).I cannot recommend this hair dye enough!