Ion Color Brilliance - Semi-Permanent

I've been using Ion's Demi-Permanent colors for years now, and while perusing the shelves at Sally's the other day, two shades from the Semi-Permanent collection caught my eye instead: Burgundy-Brown and Plum. I bought both as they were on sale, but decided to go with the Burgundy-Brown first, since the Sally's sales associate assured me it was the less bold of the two.

I liked the thick formula but did not like having to apply it to freshly-washed hair. I'm super clumsy and my damp hair made a mess of things. No worries, though. While rinsing the dye out in the shower, I couldn't believe just how soft and silky it made my frizzy hair feel! My hair hasn't felt this soft in ages! The downside was that my hair refused to rinse clear. The color just continued to rinse down the drain.

My hair looked glorious after blow-drying! Super glossy and nourished. But the color is definitely not as noticeable as I had hoped: it seems less like a semi-permanent dye and more like a sheer glaze. I'm certain this won't last very long in my hair, judging by other reviews. Thankfully I only wash my hair once a week, so that will help me get a little longer wear. I'll try the Plum shade next, which I imagine will be a tad more noticeable. Will report back.

I used the gray bottle in "blackest black" as well as fuchsia, magenta and purple(?) tubes.
I used the black mixed with purple and a ton of Pantene Repair and Protect conditioner, which does contain silicone, over my natural but very slightly lifted and porous med-dark brown hair. It came out dark grayish purple, which was really pretty and what I was aiming for. It washed out in 3-4 washes, but I didn't know what to expect since it was so diluted with the "wrong" conditioner.
I used fuschia and magenta mixed 50/50 over light brown/dark blonde bleached hair. I had short, maybe jaw length hair, which is slightly fine and slightly to moderately thick (not sure how thick it is now. Suffice it to say I used to get complaints from hair stylists when I got my hair cut, but I don't anymore. Lol.), and I was slightly short on color with 2 whole tubes. I had to comb through and the recycle the color that combed out in order to get it saturated. It came out a really pretty pinkish, strawberry red, but it faded fast, in 3-4 washes with color safe shampoo. I tried this a second time and added coconut oil to the mix, equal to the amount of color used, to stretch the color, and of course and it faded even faster. :( But the color was very nice!
Fast forwarding to last night, my hair was bleached to a dark blonde and dyed with Manic Panic Infra Red (the one in the pot). This was my favorite color yet, but I got sick of having to keep up my roots and coordinate my outfits with my hair (srsly, I couldn't wear pink or red with at all with that hair color. It looked like I was wearing a meat dress or something.) My husband is also pressuring me to go natural, so when I couldn't stand to look at my roots anymore, I hunted through the cabinet for something to cover the red. I had some Demi permanent 5n & 5g, which I already know turns out dark auburn over red, and this bottle of blackest black from months ago. I decided to try a home remedy color stripper and then use the black because I thought I'd get better coverage and end up with a more neutral tone. The "color stripper," which was just a touch of baking soda, dandruff shampoo, and peroxide developer (I'm allergic to vit c), did remove a bit of the red, but it was still pretty damned red when I went to dye over with the ion stuff. I used the ion as directed, except that I left it for about an hour, and the color came out eggplant. I'm happy with the results, but it's definitely not black or even black with a hint of red. I have some gray hair, and I noticed the gray coverage is excellent. Based on my results, I do expect it to fade quickly, though.
I like this product (the one in the gray bottle), but it's not really a "semi permanent color." It's more a gloss to enhance your hair color. I think I'd really only use it to add tone at the same level as my natural (or color treated) hair in the future. I'd opt for one of the more reputable brands for a true semi permanent color.

My review is for the grey bottle with the purple lid.

I needed a black dye that was non peroxide so I could make my hair darker without permanently messing up all the bleaching I'd done. I have purple hair, but I wanted to turn it into a deep plum.

So I got two bottles of this and mixed it and the test strips came out well. I even loved the color when it was first dyed. But I noticed when applying, it didn't "catch" very well and I had to go over my hair a lot and really work it in. I used almost two bottles,and though I have long hair, there was other dyes in there and it felt like more product than usual.

The biggest bummer was it (almost) completely washed out in one wash. I know temp colors fade fast, but I've been doing them for years and this was exceptionally fast. I got a lot of complements on the color and delayed washing it but it's essentially useless. The only plus is that it does add shine, temporarily.

I also did notice the base color was a brownish purple, not a deep blue or black which seemed ok for what I needed since I mixed it anyway, but it rinses out very brown and isn't very saturated. I'm going to try Adore black and see if that's better as I have used their brights before.

This product was the WORST. NEVER buying it again. Took me two time (4 boxes of dye) to get a decent color. I wanted a purple color and it came out PINK!! Worst product ever used and it faded completely out after one wash!!!!

I have been using this product for over a year, and love it. Now, I haven't gone crazy with the hair color and tried to highlight or give myself low lights. I tend to stay more towards my natural color but better. I have brown hair that has an auburn/red tent to it, so I usually get Light golden mahogany brown or the medium golden mahogany brown, but have tried auburn, one of the shocking red colors and burgendy. I also use the 20 developer with the color. It doesn't damage my hair or "fry" the ends like many other at home colors I have used. Also, the color turns out really pretty and is equal all over. My hair does have a good shine to it after I use this product. It did take me a while to get a system down for coloring my own hair, it can be very messy and you may make mistakes at first, like color your whole ear red brown. My mom has even started letting me color her hair, which she usually uses the same color I do but occasional she will get other colors. This past time she got just a light brown and it didn't really work for her. The color was dark at the ends and light at the roots and didn't cover her gray at all. She usually has good results with this hair color. Fade time depends on the color you get, the more true reds fade faster than the red browns. I can't review the blondes or lighter reds because I haven't used those, but I find the closer you get to your natural color the better the results.

This product didn't work for my hair and I don't know why. Well it barely worked. I only needs a small section colored to blend in with my weave and it got my hair a tad bit darker but it wasn't brown which is the color I bought. It surprised me because when I put it on my hair it was dark so i figured it would take with no problem, nope. So I just mind it with a developer just to see how it comes out, hopefully my hair is brown.

So when I had rich red hair, I really wanted it to shine and I'd used John Freida glaze with much success but it's expensive and I figured Sally's would have something less expensive. So I was recommended the Ion Semi Perm CLEAR and I was told not to use a developer, obv, and I've used it 3 times

and it sucks.
NO difference in my hair's sheen. Again, I bought clear and can't speak for the colored versions but I'd never buy this again for that purpose.

Hello, I absolutely love the this product .... But having an extremely hard time mixing it 😞 any suggestions

Love it! Love it! Love it! I have used this five times now to cover grey hair. Not a lot of grey hair, maybe 10-15 percent. I have med brown hair and I use light warm brown. I wash my hair, blow dry it straight (curly girl here) and apply it straight into my hair from the bottle and rub it in. Then I cover with a plastic cap and a hot towel over top and leave it for 2 hours before rinsing out and conditioning, no shampoo. I used to do low lights with permanent dye but my mum started telling me it was looking too dark for me so I tried this on my roots. I like it better! It's way way easier, takes only five mins to apply and lasts for two weeks before I do it again. I could go longer but I don't want to risk having it all wash out on a busy week night when I am strapped for time so I do it early. I had to redo my roots every 3 weeks using permanent color anyway. I wash with sls free shampoo every other day and condition every day so my hair is getting wet daily. This is fast, easy and I never have white roots sparkling in the fluorescent lights at work! I've never had any staining on towels, tub, counter. I also have excema on my head and neck that has gone away since I started using this which makes me think I might be allergic to something in permanent dye. Sheesh I hope not! Btw I'm still on my first bottle.

so i just used this on my hair
and lets just say it didnt hold on to my hair
only a little bit

the bottle sucks

color was MEH at best...i wana wash it out soon.

i only bought it to see how id look with red hair