Two questions.
Firstly: I want to touch up my roots.
I have L'Oreal Recital Preference.
Would it be possible to take some of the colourant gel and some of the developer cream, mix it in a bowl, and then save the rest of it for later?
I know the colourant will keep, because I've mixed a bit from one tube and a bit from another before.
But I've always used the whole bottle of developer. If I saved some, would it still work later, or would it deactivate?
And if I could do that, how much would I use? I read another thread on here which I think said you should use about a tablespoon of each.
Secondly: I used to mix two shades - a 4.5, which was a reddish-brown mahogany-type colour and a 5, which was a mid-brown. I used more 5 than 4. I really liked the result.
But they've discontinued the 4.5. So now I mix a 4.15, which is chocolate, a 5.3, which is light brown and a bit of 6.66, which is intense red. It's quite scary, actually.
I've done it once and I was happy with the result after a few washes - about 10, really - so I'm going to tinker with with the amounts.
But would I be better off using a different red which is a 3-ish? It's just that someone told me if you use a higher number on darkish hair (my natural colour's mid-brown with a bit of red) it can look harsh.
Would the lower red be better, or would it be too dark? It looks no more scary than the red I'm using, not that the picture on box means much.
Thanks to anyone who got to the end of that essay. I love mixing colours up - it makes me feel like a cut-price Daniel Galvin 
. But I don't want to mess it up.