Zuvi ColorBox tries to be a hair dye printer but fails to deliver results better than regular dye products
San Francisco: I tested the Zuvi ColorBox hair dye printer to see if it could make coloring hair easier. The machine promises to let you print custom colors without buying many bottles of hair dye. At first, I thought it might work for people who dye extensions, change hair streaks often, or have kids who love dip-dying their hair tips. The dye smells nice, and you can save extra dye in the container they give you. But if you want soft pastel colors, it’s cheaper to just mix regular hair dye with conditioner yourself.
The machine didn’t work well. Even if they fixed problems later—like adding black color, using better color mixing, making home bleaching easier, or stopping the confusing computer stuff—you still end up with a machine that needs special cartridges. If the company closes down, the machine becomes useless. I looked at many other reviews online, and nobody got better results than they could have gotten for less money at a store. Regular semipermanent hair dyes come in hundreds of colors, and you can mix them together. A store worker can help you choose the right colors. Color mixing is easy when you start with small amounts of dye and conditioner.
The cheap starting price isn’t really a deal. Fixing mistakes from bad at-home coloring costs a lot of money. The refill cartridges cost about $22 each, which is the same as buying supplies from a store. The machine idea seems good for reducing waste, but you don’t need a machine to mix small amounts of dye. The Zuvi ColorBox just makes coloring hair harder instead of easier.