Special Effects (Blue Velvet)

Pros: Nice color, doesn't rub onto my pillow, color came out relatively correctly(see disclaimer)
Cons: Came with no directions, came with no brush or bowl (but I used what manic panic gives us when you buy their bleach)

I don't really have too many complaints when it comes to Special Effects' Blue Velvet hair dye. Perhaps I am just getting better at dying my hair, but the product did a pretty good job. I used the blue to dye over the leftover red from RAW Crimson Red and ended up getting a pretty cool mixture of the two colors. It made a purple in some spots and got me a lot of compliments. The blue took nicely where I needed it to and lasted about a month before I ended up re-dying again (though I could have let it go for longer if I had wanted to). Recently I decided to try and get creative. I used the blue velvet to get the base and back of my head and used my aquamarine (Adore) hair dye to do my roots and the strands of hair in front of my face. The end product was super cool. I had an iridescent mixture and look to my hair and got quite a few compliments on it. Someone even told me that whomever dyed my hair really knew what they were doing (which means my roommate and I are getting better at this!).

In comparison to the other hair dyes I have used, I guess this brand ranks about second. Or is tied for it at least. I really like Adore the most, but I wish they had more color options. I want to go a nice green, but since they do not have that, I plan to try out Punky hair dye next! Special effects is tied with RAW hair dye, since I think they both do a pretty good job and then Manic Panic falls after them. I only like Manic Panic's Lightning Fast Vol. 30 bleach. It's the only bleach I trust.

How I take care of my hair:
- I shampoo my hair once a week (when I start to realize it's greasy and gross) and I use sulfate-free shampoo (L'oreal has one for color-treated hair.)
- I condition my hair every other day (color-treated hair of course)
- I rinse my hair thoroughly every other day (rinse, then condition)
- When I shampoo, I try not to leave it in too long (more color just comes out)
- I don't necessarily use cool water when showering, but I do my best. They're not like extremely warm or hot
- I deep condition every so often (once a week or so)

No, my hair is not falling out or unhealthy.