Shop bought Hair Dye?

[pinkchocolates]

Are they all crap?

Yet again mine has left my hair 5 shades darker than the box.

I'm leaving it in less time than the instructions but need it to cover grey.

Can't afford a hairdressers cost as much as I'd love to have it done professionally.

Shop bought hair dyes will never be as good as a salon, they're a tenner and you have no training.

But if you're working on a budget then it's really the only choice.

What colour was your hair before? What colour did you want it to be? And what colour did it come out?

The result you get is going to depend on the type of hair you have, the original colour, any previous colour build up from dyes and how damaged your hair is.

Just buy the ones hairdressers use. If you're not worried about highlights or balayage etc. it works out about the same per dye, although the outlay initially is more as you have to buy a big bottle of developer

Also...ignore what the instructions say about covering your lengths for the last 10 mins. This just layers dye on top of dye and it gets darker and darker.

Just do your roots...

Once every 8 weeks use a gloss instead of a dye.

Use dye 8 weeks later (so once every 16 weeks)

Are you using the dye all over at the same time? If so, use it only on the roots for the stated time and them wet your hair with a little water and emulsify (wash hair but leave the suds in for a few minutes) then wash it out

Yes tbh. Even when they show them on the adverts they never look quite right to me.

Oh I agree just do the roots, if you buy a pack of dye then use scales to measure out like a third (into a bowl so you don’t mix them in the bottles) and you can store the rest and use again - so much more cost effective than the “root cover” dyes which are just the same hair dye in a smaller pack!!!!

anyway just doing the roots will save the colour build up on the lengths. I do the roots every 4/6 weeks with perm colour but I also use a colour conditioner / glaze a few times a month to keep the overall colour balanced. I use the Superdrug temp colours, they are about 2.50 each.

I do my roots leave it on for 20 mins
I then run dye through all the rest of my hair & leave it on for 10 mins
Rinse it all off
Condition

I can't stand sitting in the hairdressers for that long. Mine knows I colour my own hair & it OK with it
I use a slightly different shade each time - darker in winter, lighter in summer

I use Olia coloura

Yes I use L'Oréal. Once or twice I've had it done at a salon and then wonder why the hell k wasted my money.
I think it's best to keep within one or two shades away from your natural colour though, and leave it on for recommended time.

What are the ones hairdressers use and how do you get them?

What do you mean by a gloss?

Also, and sorry for interrupting your thread OP, but what can you do if the due you used is too dark? How can you remove it so you can then use a lighter dye next time? Medium brown didn't seem to be covering my grey roots, so I used a dark brown, but it is a bit dark for me.

Thank you all so much and @humblemeep ask away as that's my issue exactly!

I'm looking for a colour like daisy off Corrie as that was my natural colour.

Thank you as a didn't click as to why my mid- end hair is nearly black! Even though it has 5 mins only at the end and roots have 20.
BUT if I don't do the ends won't the grey start to show up?

I also echo what's the gloss?

Thanks for the names of what you use too. I use clairol and think it's time for a brand change.

@SBHon just ask a hairdresser which ones they use on your hair and then Google. You can get them on Amazon

My hairdresser does my highlights every 4-6 months and then I do the roots in between. She just tells me what to buy. She's a gem tho.

I can't do this, as I haven't been to a hairdresser for colouring in five years 😮

😊

Use a permanent colour so greys don't show through on the ends, and just do the ends every 2-3 colours. Or do root touch up, then use the rest on your ends like you would conditioner- lightly comb through and rinse quite quickly.

I've used l'oreal casting creme gloss for years and have lots of grey. Its a semi, so doesn't leave a harsh re-growth line like a permanent dye does. I always buy several shades lighter though. I'm naturally dark brown, but buy a light brown or a chestnut colour and its fine. The 1 time I used a dark brown- it came out black! 😬

They used to be 2 packs for £12, but recently its 2 for £14. Still alot cheaper than a salon.

Hi OP, I've been dying my greys at home for a decade now as got them really young :(

The only packet dye I trust is Naturtint, which I buy from Amazon or health food shops: https://naturtint.co.uk/

They usually cost £8 ish per box, cover greys brilliantly, and leave hair in great condition - very shiny and soft. This is because they have lots less harsh chemicals than most box dyes.

You absolutely would not get 'greys coming back through' in the dyed lengths - once they are covered they stay covered, in my experience!

I have dark brown hair and I mix up the 3N with the 4G - 3N alone is too dark, 4G alone makes my greys too red - mixed together they look fantastic!

Hopefully you could find a couple that give you your dream hair! Wish you the best of luck.

I dye mine pink, which means I have to dye it blond first and then put the pink on at the moment I am using Garnier Vivid pastel pink which is only available on ebay and the instructions are in Bulgarian but has a nice rose scented conditioner

What's a gloss?

@pinkchocolates I buy a Holland & Barret colour, simply because it doesn't contain PPD {?) which I was reacting to in the hairdressers own dye. This seems ok to me, but in full disclosure I pay the hairdresser to put it on me, as I would otherwise make it patchy as I am not great at applying evenly. Lock down was fun, as you can imagine, and I managed to splatter dye on a new pair of red ankle boots, which I had to dye black to cover....anyhoo, I digress, but the colour might be worth a go? I only get them when they're on a deal, usally buy one, get one half price.

I did a lot of research into why my hair was basically going black...

The shop bought permanent dyes have quite strong developer in them - the developer is what opens up your hair strands to enable it to take on the actual colour.

It's the stuff that damages the hair.

They have to cater for all hair types so that's why they use fairly strong developer - if you have finer hair then it's almost certainly stronger than they would use for your hair type.

This is why the lengths are probably (if like mine) also quite dry and not in great condition.

Every time you put the perm dye through the lengths for those last 10 mins it is opening up the proteins and layering on more dye on top of dye and so getting darker and darker.

That's why the first thing you need to do is ignore the instructions and only use the perm dye on roots. Skip the part where it tells you to put them on the lengths.

If you're using perm dye then it shouldn't lighten enough to see grey coming back through. In fact, the slight lightening will just mean that you have strands of hair that are dark, and other strands that will be lighter (but not grey) and this is a much more natural look than the solid block of one colour that constant perm dye on lengths gives.

And sorry I said gloss...but I meant glaze.

It deposits some semi-perm colour on the hair but doesn't use developer and also makes your hair nice and shiny.

If you alternate between a perm box dye on roots only and a glaze every 8 weeks you're hair will be much healthier and will stop having that over dyed dark look on the lengths.

Actually it is a gloss but the brand name is Glaze!

I tried another, cheaper 'gloss' that looked more like a box dye (possibly Olia or Clairol) this month and it was nowhere near as good.

This really makes your hair feel swishy

Glaze Super Colour Conditioning Gloss 190ml (2-3 Hair Treatments) Award Winning Hair Gloss Treatment & Semi-Permanent Hair Dye. No mix, no mess hair mask colourant - guaranteed results in 10 minutes amzn.eu/d/aZi9aBY