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.

This routine has been a game changer for me...

Just waiting for my sad almost black frazzled bits to grow out

Some permanent dyes do cover grey more. My hairdresser when the salon changed brands had to try to match my colour. She did some test swatches and one of the permanent dyes had absolutely no grey coverage and the other covered completely. So go for a box dye that specifically states that it will cover grey.

Just going darker does not mean more coverage. When your hair greys, going back to your original colour can look really harsh. Aim for a shade a couple of shades lighter and just do the roots. People find it hard to believe that I originally had near black hair and assume that I was always blonde. (Doing that kind of stripping from really dark dye to blonde is a job for salon as a double process bleach is not something that an amateur should be mucking about with.) I'd just gradually switch to a slightly lighter shader and buy a tint brush for applying the stuff to the roots.

I assume you're not using a semi permanent because that has limited grey coverage.

I use the john frieda foaming permanent.
it makes coverage a lot easier and the colour tends to match the box 🙂

Mine always comes out much darker than shown on the box!

I tried and tried to find an answer to this - I did the not dyeing the lengths thing, only dyeing the roots every two months (even though my bright silver regrowth came in after five days) and using root spray in the meantime, using lighter coloured dye... Nothing worked. My hair is quite fine, although there's lots of it, so what a PP said about the strength of the developer could be the reason why my hair always looked so uneven and was in awful condition no matter what I did.

Anyway in the end I just gave up and am now a year into growing the dye out and my grey in. It's a bit multicoloured right now but it's getting there and the regrowth is in absolutely stunning condition - I've dyed my hair for 35 years and thought it was curly. Nope, it was the dye making it frizzy - it's actually silky and straight!

I buy a big bottle of 20 volume peroxide for £4, tubes of Maxima colour for £3...and mix them up...instructions inside the box, if grey is resistant then brush on the peroxide first and leave for 20 mins then add the mixed up colour....i can get about 4 colours from each tube....find a hair supply shop, not Sally...they are expensive and add on the vat etc...i havent been to hair dressers for any colour for years now, only a cut.

You need to use professional dye. Buy a developer and the colour by the brand you want. Then you mix it how you want.

I’ve been bright red, jet black, purple and normal brown. Frankly I don’t trust hair dressed to colour my hair the one time I went in for red it was barely a tinge.

so for say red I did 9% developer and majicontrast rouge. Purple 9% and tenora ultra violet dye 50/50 mix.

Oh pinkchocolates... This is perfect advise from Mojo for using homedye. But if you can, step away from it... 😃

I fell down this rabbit hole when I was just 17 and after a lifetime of homedye I've "embraced the grey" 🤣 and (after growing it out since early spring) I had all my old brown colour cut off 4 weeks ago and I love my new short summer look. Can't wait for it to grow through as the year progresses and it's in tip top condition!!

The developer does open your hair cuticle so that it can take the colour but it has nothing to do with how dark or light the colour goes. If you are going darker or the same tone use a low developer. How low depends on your hair texture and the amount of grey. Thicker courser hair needs a stronger developer to open up the cuticle. Stronger developers can also be used for lightening the natural hair while depositing colour.

My hair is quite fine with a few strands of grey so I use 1.9% developer if I am going darker. If you're using the same shade only do the roots and as a PP said once they're done add a bit of water and emulsify the colour into the mids and ends.

Do you ever use the clear gloss?

I have brassy blonde grown out highlights and I want to dye it back to a glossy dark brown. I KNOW it'll turn black though. Even with a light brown dye rather than a dark brown dye.

I won't be going to the salon because their dyes fade very quickly.

Glaze is brilliant, I did that a few months ago! Cannot wait to have glossy swishy hair instead of burnt ends and purple shampoo bottles everywhere.

Oh thank you all, some EXCELLENT advice I really appreciate it and have screenshot it all to look back on.

The one I use is

Clairol
Natural Instincts No Ammonia No Parabens Semi-Permanent Hair Dye 6 Light Brown

Sorry hadn't finished.

Op my dye is no ammonia so I think is gentle but has done similar to yours.

I really appreciate the help as I was also struggling as I don't have money at the moment for the hairdresser and never asked what they used brand but I'll definitely do this in the future.

Thank you very much.

I use Garnier Nutrisse - find the colour lasts longer than other brands I've tried. Go slightly lighter than your natural colour.
On the advice of a hairdresser friend I stopped putting any colour on the lengths which stops the too dark build-up as you are effectively overdying lengths of hair which have been recieved dye many times before. You don't ever get grey showing on previously dyed hair - grey hair only begins at the root growth. And I've also started halving a bottle so it lasts 2 dyes (use a measuring scale set to volume to halve the volumes shown on the pack and mix in a washed out old bottle, or you can buy cheap sets of bowl/brush for the purpose.

You have to go way lighter than you think. I'm brown as brown can be and use box colours described as dark blonde. The colour lighter than that would probably be fine too. (A hairdresser/colourist did once tell me on colour charts I'm considered dark blonde. My hair is undoubtedly brown, I've never been described as anything close to blonde any other time but maybe that's how the hair dying world works).

I had to stop using permanent hair colour as I developed a sensitive scalp. But I used to use clairol and found that it is particularly bad for colour build up. I used a dark brown but ended up with black hair over time. My mum used a medium brown and again ended up with very dark brown over time. It took me ages to strip/grow/ cut that colour out as my hair was down to my waist.

I now use L’Oréal casting crème as it’s a semi permanent and doesn’t irritate my scalp. And as the colour fades it’s easy to switch colours.

Used to use medium brown and noticed my grey areas Would fade into a caramel blonde so looked like natural sun lightened highlights but I wanted the highlighted look all the time so the shade I use now blends in my roots and keeps the current grey dark blonde without affecting my brown.

Most box dyes advise to go a shade or two lighter than you think you’ll need.

If you use a semi permanent dye does it cover the greys and how long does it last? Which are the best ones?

What should I do if my hair is darker than I want it and darker than my natural brown?

I've been reading through the thread, but just getting confused now 😬 Normally I do my roots about every six weeks, but medium brown isn't really doing the job and dark brown is too brown. I'd like to do a semi permanent one, but none of the colours seem like normal medium to dark brown 🤷‍♀️

Me too, brown hair but nearest colour match is Ash Blonde!

I saw somewhere it helps to know if you're a warm or cool shade too.