Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

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.