Bigen Hair Dye

[Aprill]

Since about the age of 14 or 15 I have been changing the color of my hair.  Red, blonde, black, brown, highlights, you name it, it was that color.  I had previously used Bigen dye back in 2006 or so.  My experience back then was not bad, but it was not good either.  So technically it was not my first time around the block with this dye. ‘Out of sight, out of mind’ kind of thing you know?  I was given the opportunity to review it again, and that’s when it all made sense.

Bigen is ammonia free (but it’s not) and peroxide free which is great because you  know not to expect any odors


from using the dye.  Bigen’s line of dyes are only good if you are looking to darken your hair.  I used Oriental Black (# 59) PLEASE PATCH TEST FOR ALLERGIES.  I read review after review where women of all colors complained that they were swollen and broke out after using.  If you don’t test to see if you are allergic, you have no way of knowing whether or not you are.  You put your health at risk by skipping this important step. Also make sure you perform a strand test.

Included in the kit is dye powder, gloves, a little plastic bowl to mix the dye and directions. Yes that’s it. You are going to need alot more than this:

• Towel (duh)
• Neutralizing shampoo
• Deep Conditioner or a reconstructive conditioner

You take the bowl, dump the powder in, fill it with water to the line and mix.  The mixture smells really good and it has a consistency like gel, but there was one problem. There was not enough dye!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was looking like hmm…this is not going to work, but there’s no turning back so….? I put it in anyway.  With the amount of hair I have, It covered the front, sides,  back and 50% of the middle. Which left the rest of my hair out of luck. WOW. SMH. I allowed the dye to stay in for 10 minutes, I remembered from using it in 2006 that any longer would fry my hair.  I rinsed it and here’s the important part:

If you have textured hair (is that what I want to call it?) get your neutralizers and wash once or twice to reduce the Ph level.  If you don’t, it will continue to cook your hair. I can explain why.  Ammonium hydroxide (though they say there is none in the dye, it is) is added to adjust the pH levels of the dye. Just because the levels in the dye are right does not mean it will be when you put it in your hair.

Next, you need a very good deep conditioner, or a reconstructive conditioner.   When you apply this dye in glyceryl stearate pulls all the moisture out of your hair.  PEG-6 is supposed to put that moisture back in. But with the addition of sodium laureth sulfate, which is nothing more than a harsh detergent, it strips the hair of oils to make the dye easier to glide on the hair.  But there’s not enough PEG-6 to re-moisturize the hair.  So after you have washed twice with a neutralizer, deep condition. The #1 complaint that I read on Folica.com from African American women in particular, was that it fried their hair. That’s why.

Here is my hair color before (dark brown):



After dyeing, washing, and conditioning


:

And I rolled it (you might still see brown, I think we know why):



And one week after dyeing:



My only complaint is the amount of dye.  For $4.99, you only get one box. For my length of hair, I needed 2 boxes.  That’s almost 10 bucks not including tax.  I can purchase one box of another color for $6.99 and it cover my whole head. The choice is yours.

This dye is available for $4.99 at most beauty supply stores.

I was given this product to review for free. My thoughts on this product were not biased based upon the fact that it was free.

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