brunette home hair dye - recommendations please

[cheekychopsmum]

I usually get my brown hair dyed at my hairdressers (Andrew Collinge)when I have it cut, every 8 weeks. I just go for mid chocolate brown so I don't get any regrowth and it covers the grey hairs appearing on my crown.

The problem is it is getting too expensive for me as the grey is starting to increase I really need the roots doing more often. I tend to spend 5 out of the 8 weeks between dyes with specks of grey peaking through, which I am begining to think defeats the object.

Therefore I am thinking of home dyeing my roots every couple of weeks. What do you think? Can anyone recommend a realistic med/dark brown shade/make that doesn't have a red or orange tinge to it? I just want a natural brown which isn't too dark. In the past when I have dyed it myself it has either been very dark, or had a orange or red tinge to it when the light hits it.

Help, I am at the stage where I need to get a cut and colour and need to decide whether it's at the hairdressers or at home!

If you're very scared of any red then you could go for ash brown. Or pre pigment the grey with some tint then put your tint over that?
I'd do a strand test first. How long is your hair? Can you snip a bit from the back? Then wrap sellotape round an end and mix a little tint.

You may be best off buying 2 shades and mixing them? A natural and chocolate brown. There are so many to choose from now. I only use professional ones so can't really comment on boots/superdrug etc.. but have heard good stuff about garnier.

Hair length is just below shoulder. Mixing dyes sounds a bit technical!

I've been using Clairol Nice n easy 118, natural medium brown for about 5 years. it's sounds like it's the sort of shade you're after, not too dark

My hairdresser explained that if you go for the whole numbers rather than something with an a,b or c after it it's more likely to be a pure colour. if that makes sense?

The bonus of clairol is that they do root touch up packs which save you doing your whole head

another 118 fan

and are he touch up packs ok? Do they work easily enouh?

i do the whole head
seriously i hate the " dyed hair" look. i want it not to look fake at all. have dark brown hair. this looks lighter than id go for but is perfect.
i tarried with teh 120 and it was witchy,

118 is the bizniz

I think you maybe on to something about the 118 (with the addition of a letter) I think that is what I must have used before and got and underlying tinge. So maybe I need to try the straight 118. Thanks

How often do you do your whole head? I too hate the dyed look and want it to look like my natural hair

hardly ever

er... i last did it last term iirc. am not very grey - is a new thing.
you would never notice.
use a colour shampoo - the andrew collinge one ( strangely! ) seemed better than aveda

even my mum didnt notice

Sounds like you've found the right shade then

Lots of fans of 118!

Don't know how often I do it, normally when I look in the mirror and think fuck me I'm not leaving the house looking like this!

I have a bob with a heavy fringe though so it's not too noticeable until it's really noticeable. I'm very grey btw, nearly 100% at the front and it covers them really well. I use aussie colour shampoo and conditioner and it doesn't fade, I tried paul mitchell a couple of months ago and my hair condition and colour deteriorated fairly quickly.

Good luck!

Thanks I'll give it a go. I use Keratese colour shampoo and conditioner and they're great on coloured hair and last forever

Another 118 fan, it is dark the first day but 'settles' after a couple of washes.

I hate that orange glow, took me years to find a product to get rid of it. I use Aveda Black Malva shampoo and conditioner, they are purple and neutralise the orange in brown dye.

I hope we get before and after pics cheekychopsmum

Well, I 'm hoping not to be able to notice the difference!!

Ok well update us at the very least

botanics ( boots) bitter chocolate does the job for me.

cheap but alot better than some more expensive ones i have tried. I have about 50% grey in my roots now, which is a pain in the butt.

DON@T go for anything with red in it, as it can make your grey bits go very bright.

I just home-dyed brunette for the first time. Anything with red or orange tones doesn't suit me at all. I used Excell 10 natural brown, which has worked really well. I haven't got any grey yet, so I can't speak for its grey coverage.

I used that excel 10 one t'other week and was v impressed. There was a couple of quid off it in boots as well