Adding color to your hair can be a fun way to spice up your daily look or update your style, especially in bright and pastel hues that aren’t found in natural hair. It can be fun and cost-effective to purchase dye and style your hair yourself, and you should definitely explore the options available to you. Whether you just want to add a dash of highlighting or full-on dye every hair on your head, finding the right brand of hair dye is critical for achieving the look you want.
Most hair dyes available for regular purchase in non-traditional colors are either semi or demi-permanent, meaning that the color typically lasts for a few weeks or months before fading depending on how often you wash your hair. Some dyes fade even quicker. While quickly fading color can be ideal for when you only want to have the color for a quick season or if you’re just experimenting, having a dye that fades too quickly can just be frustrating and a drain on your wallet.
You should also be conscious of the ingredients in the dye. Many dyes contain harmful chemicals that may not only be damaging for your hair, but toxic to breathe in while applying. Even if they aren’t toxic, you should be also be aware of how these products are made and tested. No one wants to find out that their favorite hair dye is tested on poor animals in a lab.
With all these factors to take into account, making the right choice in hair dye can sometimes seem to be an overwhelming one. Fortunately, we’re here to do part of the work for you. In this review of Arctic Fox Hair Dye, we will go over the pros, cons, pricing, and availability of the brand so that you can make an informed decision of whether or not Arctic Fox is a choice that is right for you.
Arctic Fox Hair Dye was founded by model Kristen Leanne, whose team worked on developing the formula for the dye for over two years with the aim of creating the best semi-permanent hair dye available. Leanne is a huge fan of exotic and bright hair colors and is known for her vibrant and colorful hair.
Leanne is a devoted animal lover (hence the product name). The Arctic Fox team does not test any of their products on animals, and each is 100% vegan. Along this line of animal loving, 15% of Arctic Fox’s profits are donated to organizations that work to end animal cruelty.
Arctic Fox Hair Dye contains none of the harsh chemicals that many other dyes contain, so you don’t have to worry about damaging your hair and can focus on having fun with the color. While the dye will fade, Arctic Fox prides itself on fading slower than most brands available on the market, claiming that the dye will hold for 40 washes before it is entirely gone.
The Arctic Fox formula is also designed to fade gracefully. Ever tried adding a fun purple or zany blue to your hair, and wound up with dull grey streaks a few weeks later? It is this that the Arctic Fox team has worked specifically to avoid. Their dyes are designed to fade gradually within the same color spectrum as the original color. So, instead of winding up with that unwanted grey color, your purples, blues, and other colors will fade naturally into lighter shades of the original color that are still appealing to the eye. This natural lightening of color also makes their dyes ideal for using diluters to create natural and pretty pastels.
Additionally, Arctic Fox Hair Dye is formulated to condition your hair as you use it, so there’s no need to worry about the dye drying out your hair like other dyes might. Arctic Fox also prides itself on providing dyes that don’t bleed as much as most products or stain the sinks and whatever else you are using to aid you in your dying process. And that’s not even the best part of using this dye: it smells amazing. The Arctic Fox team set out to make a dye that not only yields great results, but also is enjoyable to use, and they succeeded. It’s honestly shocking how many reviews of the product specifically mention the scent and praise it as a selling point.
The Arctic Fox dyes are very bright and vibrant at full strength. The dye comes in over 18 fun colors with unique names to match: Poison, Neverland, Cosmic Sunshine, Girls Night, Virgin Pink, and Phantom Green, to name a few.
They also offer a product called Arctic Mist Diluter. This diluter product is made specifically to be added and mixed in with other Arctic Fox dyes. The diluter does exactly what it sounds like: it dilutes the dye, leaving you with a lighter, pastel version of the dye to add to your hair.
Most products are available in both 4 oz and 8 oz bottles, so be sure to get enough dye depending on how much hair you have and how much of it you plan on dying.
Arctic Fox also offers a variety of accessories to aid in the dying process. These include brushes for easy dye-application, as well as a color-coded collection of cups to put the dyes in and distinguish them. These colored cups are ideal for professional stylists or those at home who want to be adventurous and try dying their hair with multiple colors.
Arctic Fox Hair Dyes aren’t generally too pricey, at least not compared to what you might pay at the salon. You can typically find a 4 oz bottle for at most $12.99, though you might be able to find some bargain deals for just a little over $9 online or in stores. As for the 8 oz bottles, these tend to range between $16.99-$17.99.
If you’re going to be using a lot of dye, or you plan on getting more than one use out of the bottle, it may be advisable to purchase the 8 oz bottle, as this will be cheaper in the long run. That said, if it’s your first time using the dye and you just want to try it out and experiment a little, the 4 oz bottle is a good way to go!
You can find Arctic Fox Hair Dye both online and in stores. On the Arctic Fox website, you can find all their accessories and colors and purchase them in individual bottles or in a “Professional Case” of 24, ideal if you are a stylist and would like to have the entire stock on hand. Unfortunately, you have to create an account in order to even view the products on their website, so if you don’t want another account registered to your email that’s something to take into consideration.
You can also find most of Arctic Fox’s colors online and in stores at Sally Beauty, with the full spectrum of products available on Amazon and at Hot Topic. While Amazon may be your best bet for finding consistently good pricing, Hot Topic is known to have good sales on the dye, offering those $9 bottles previously mentioned. With the accessibility to the products both in stores and online, you should have no trouble getting your hands on these dyes.
As for the accessories, you can find some of these readily accessible, such as the applicator brushes. When it comes to other accessories like the colored cups, however, you may have to register for an account with Arctic Fox’s website in order to view and purchase them.
Due to the charitable nature of the company, the public perception of Arctic Fox Hair Dye is pretty positive as a company in and of itself. Users love the veganism of the products and feel good that in purchasing these dyes they are also supporting animal charities.
The opinions about the dye itself, however, vary. There are two qualities that everyone seems to positively agree on: the colors and the smell, as mentioned earlier. Users love the large selection of colors available to them, and the majority enjoy how they look immediately after application. Where the disagreement comes in, then, is the duration of the dye and whether or not they uphold their promoted graceful fade.
Many buyers of the dye state that the dye lasts just as long as they expected to, fading naturally into colors that they also love. There is a smaller but vocal faction of other users, though, who claim that the dye continues to bleed more and wash out quicker than promised. Some of these reviews also complain of the colors changing an abnormal amount as they fade compared to what’s advertised.
Nevertheless, the advocates of this product are many. Those that love the Arctic Fox dyes defend them against any negative reviews, citing unrealistic expectations for semi-permanent dye as well as how treated hair may make colors react differently.
So, how does Arctic Fox Hair Dye compare to other semi-permanent dyes available on the market for the casual user and hair enthusiast? Many compare the product directly to Manic Panic, a brand that offers hair dye in addition to other hair products and cosmetics. Manic Panic offers an astounding 41 colors of dye, making Arctic Fox’s large collection seem far less impressive. Jars of the dye are available for around $13.99 per 4 oz, so it is a bit pricier than you’ll typically find Arctic Fox for. Just like Arctic Fox, Manic Panic products are completely vegan.
The complaints with Manic Panic seem to be the same with Arctic Fox: that it washes out too quickly, though this varies from person to person. The Manic Panic team also specifically states that, for those with dark hair, the dye should be preferably applied to treated and lightened hair. While this is generally a universal rule for applying color to dark hair, Arctic Fox doesn’t specifically require treated hair and users say that the dye is usually visible in natural hair.
The colors available with Manic Panic seem to be overall darker and more pronounced in nature, rather than the brighter and exotic colors of Arctic Fox. Because of this, you may find the deciding factor between these two dyes for yourself to be simply which has the color that most catches your eye.
All in all, both products have their advocates, so it may just be up to your own preference on which is the better dye, and which seems to work best for your hair type.
Both Arctic Fox and Manic Panic have received a more positive reception than fellow fun-colored DIY hair dye L’Oréal Colorista. Colorista seems to have the opposite problem of these two brands: it sometimes lasts too long, users who wanted a temporary look complaining that it works more like permanent dye, or sometimes just doesn’t work at all.
What’s our verdict, then, on Arctic Fox Hair Dye? We love the mission behind the company. The relatively cheap price combined with the knowledge that a portion of the profits goes to charity makes the willingness to purchase this dye grow even greater. The fact that the charities support the welfare of animals? Even better.
The nature of the dye to fade within its color spectrum is another huge plus for these products, so that you can let your hair fade worry-free. All in all, this seems to be a good product to check out and have a little fun with, so long as you are aware that it is semi-permanent dye.
So, get out there and have fun! Go a little crazy with Arctic Fox’s wide selection of bright and upbeat hair colors to jazz up your look for a few weeks and feel good about yourself for supporting a charity in the process.