IF YOU ARE anything like me then you have been dying your hair for as long as you can remember. I first started dying my hair red in 3rd year and I haven’t seen my natural hair colour in 8 long years.

With it being festival season, I figured that bright purple hair was the easiest way to go. I’m talking Cadbury purple here. Because I’d been dying my hair red for so long, I knew that any attempt to self bleach would result in me having no hair so I went and got it professionally bleached and coloured.

It turned out fantastic but unfortunately it faded out really quickly. It was all my own fault as I basically washed it too often and forgot to use the right shampoo. So I needed a top up colour that wouldn’t break the bank. I appear to have found the Holy Grail in Arctic Fox.

Arctic Fox was a brand I’d never heard of but came recommended by a friend. It’s a vegan and cruelty free brand and the dye itself is semi permanent so if you don’t like it, it’ll wash out really quickly. An 8 ounce bottle (236ml) will set you back $13 and shipping is $10 so the whole thing costs about $24 which is around €20.

The package arrived within 2 days which I was not expecting and I was surprised by the size of the bottle too. For someone with short hair, an 8 bottle will let you dye your hair twice which puts the cost down to €10 a go which is a steal.

Before the dye was applied.

Although it’s not really important, I cannot emphasis enough how GOOD this dye smells because there’s no ammonia in it. The strength of the colour is really noticeable too. Those of us who have spent too much time dying their hair know that the colour on the bottle isn’t always what you get so I didn’t expect much.

The dye packet doesn’t come with protective gloves so you will have to get them yourself. Alternatively you can do what I do and use plastic bags. Yes it’s messy but it goes on pretty well. You’re also putting the dye onto wet hair so it doesn’t stick to your head as much and doesn’t stain as badly either which is a bonus. Please ignore how stupid I look in the photos.

The instructions are simple; shampoo hair and apply the dye, leave for 30 mins or longer (I left it on for an hour) and add heat to enhance results before washing out. The result? Pretty darn good I have to say.

The colour is vibrant and shiny and my hair feels really soft too. The colour can last up to 40 washes with the right treatment too. A purple or silver shampoo is recommended in order to keep the colour for as long as possible.

Arctic Fox have a wide range of colours too which you can see here.

Happy hair colouring!