The review below is one that I did a few years ago...
After MANY long months of reflection and self-debate, I FINALLY got a haircut. In fact, my hair is now shorter than it's been since I was 3 years old (27 years ago, you do the math). My color plan was to stop messing with Manic Panic-ed streaks, and go for one wild shock of unnatural color throughout my entire head -- with just a smidge of blue-black locks on the top.
I know a lot of you are interested in either having or maintaining a goth or punk flair to your hair, so thought I'd share my experience with you. My usual Manic Panic gel color, "Fuschia Shock," has been discontinued in gel formula. I still have 2 bottles left, but it's no secret that I've been exploring other options! I stopped at the drugstore after getting a fantastic bob haircut, in search of some dye and a lightener. (I usually use Clairol Frost & Glow, which is usually reasonably priced at $9-$12, works easily and well.) As I perused the aisles, I noticed a product called Splat Haircolor in "Luscious Raspberries" which consisted of a lightening kit and a bottle of semipermanent color. The whole kit cost $9.99, so I decided to give it a whirl.
My experience with Splat was mixed. The squeeze bottle of lightener was a pain in the ass, because the liquid/powder mixture didn't seem to mix together very well initially. I had to cut off the tip of the bottle when it got jammed with solution, and the solution was VERY thick. My new hair was short, but there didn't seem to be nearly enough lightening solution for my whole head as planned (either that, or the solution was just too dense to spread evenly); I wound up with some very uneven streaks throughout my head. Granted, this could be chalked up to "operator error," as I still hadn't gotten used to managing my new length yet. The "Luscious Raspberries" color was not unappealing, a pretty pinkish-red. (I wound up mixing the very last of my current bottle of Manic Panic into it, though.) The dye didn't seem to take too long to absorb, but it was EXTREMELY drippy and messy, unlike Manic Panic which pretty much stays where you put it. I had "Luscious Raspberries" colored streaks running down my face, my neck, and all over the tips of my ears. YUCK!
The color cleaned up reasonably well, only requiring a bit of bleach and minimal scrubbing. Unfortunately, my experience is that the easier clean-up is, the less time the dye tends to stay in the hair. It's been 4 days now, and I'm still getting pink dye on the bristles of my hairbrush, and pink puddles when I step out of the shower.
Pros: Cheap; nice vivid color; easy clean-up; kit comes with everything you need.
Cons: Extremely messy; easy directions to follow, but harder to actually handle; dye seems to fade quickly.
Overall rating: C+ (I've seen better, I've seen worse; this stuff's not too bad if it's your only option.)
