the best hair dye you ve ever tried?

It depends how long you are looking for it to last, and what shade you intend to go. My favs will always be Special Effects followed by Adore.

I really like Directions & Adore & specifically Stargazer Magenta, other Stargazers that I've tried haven't stuck to my hair very well.

Special Effects is the long-lasting for me, but that's not necessarily always a good thing as I like to change my hair colour often.

I find Directions to be the best for its range of colours.

For me it's not brand it's specific colors in a brand,
Manic panic hot hot pink, after midnight blue
Speacial effects atomic pink and blue velvet, devilish
Adore mocha and dark chocolate
Fudge raspberry beret,
Punky alpine green

I look for the longest lasting and highest color payoff, so my favorite brands are Punky Colour, Adore, and Special Effects.  SFX is last only because the other two are so much more cost effective.

I find SFX to be best lasting, but Adore is not all that far behind and almost half the price. I tend to go for Adore but some SFX pigments are so strong you can dilute them a long way to keep it cost effective (Deep Purple, Blue Mayhem and Hot Lava were all like that for me).  Directions is a similar to Adore price and quality of colour, but the rub off drives me mad.

I started out with Crazy Colour and Stargazer many years ago, then i discovered Directions in 1988. It was so superior in terms of longevity and coverage that I was a loyal customer for many years. It was only since the recent formula changes that I am no longer loyal to the brand and started looking for better alternatives. I will always love Rose Red though, it is such a versatile dye that looks great over any base. I still buy Alpine green (now they have changed it back) and also Atlantic Blue and Flo Glow.
I love Adore for its range of natural colours, plus great coverage and longevity at a bargain price.
I love SFX for being so deeply pigmented, especially Virgin Rose, Blue Velvet and Deep Purple. They make amazing pastels that last for many weeks, or even months.
The best reds i have used recently were Ion Colour Flash. We bought them just because they were on offer, one of each shade and mixed them 50/50. They covered an uneven base perfectly,  faded from a deep blood red to a gorgeous vibrant red in a couple of washes, then stayed at that intensity for the next 4 months without a top up. Then we used a colour remover and all the red was gone.
So for me that is the perfect dye, really long lasting but also really easy to remove when required.

I really like Adore because it doesn't bleed and mess up my ombre. Adore also lasts a long time. Sparks Orange Crush is the best (or maybe the worst) orange dye I have tried because it barely fades and will. not. come. out. ever. I can't get the orange crush part of my hair to fade past a bright creamsicle orange and I haven't put this color on my hair since May or June last year. Everything I have dyed over it has eventually faded out.

I used to love manic panic back in the 90's when it was a gel formula that came in a white bottle which was shaped like the current SFX bottles.  But since they changed over to the tubs of cream formula, I really don't get on with it, which is a shame, because I have such fond memories of that brand from my youth!  And some of their colours are fab, but it just doesn't last for me anymore.  My current favourites are SFX & Adore - I love the intensity and longevity of SFX, and Adore isn't far behind.  If it wasn't for SFX not making a blue/black colour, I probably wouldn't include Adore, but I love the Adore blue/black and tend to top it up with a little SFX blue for a more blue shade.  Both SFX and Adore have minimal ruboff for me (when I say minimal, I mean in comparison to other brands - I always get a lot of ruboff with any brand, regardless of whether it's diluted or not, whether I vinegar rinse or not, etc. I think it's just my hair!) and both last a long time, although SFX more so than Adore.