Help an idiot with hair dye.

[bluespitfire]

I've never dyed my hair at home before but I'm going to start.
Trouble is I don't have the first clue what colour to go for and I can't work it out.

I want it to be my natural colour which is light brown/dark blonde, I'm going for an ashy colour.
I have a few grey hairs but not many, I want it to cover those.

Why would I buy one without ammonia? Have those dyes got other nasty stuff in instead?
I don't understand the numbering system.

Does anyone have a brand they can recommend?

I have no first hand experience of myself cause I use any old thing, but I know nice n easy have a no ammonia range and they have a wide range of the kind of colour you're after. my mam has really fine hair abs she swears by nice n easy as all the others make her hair feel like straw

For years I have used L'oreal excellence creme in 8.1 light ash blonde and love the colour it comes out. I think the 7.1 is a dark ash blonde but not 100% sure.

I have to use a pre-lightener for mine as my natural hair is slightly darker otherwise it goes a golden orangey colour.

I don't have any greys to cover but my Mum uses a darker one than I do an it covers her greys well.

HTH

Sorry meant to say I have no idea if it has ammonia in it but it doesn't smell as bad as others which is why I like it!

Ammonia is smelly
The chemical to actually dye the hair PPD is the same though
Get a root brush
I do mine myself and one a year get it done at a salon as a treat plus highlights
Honestly for the time and money I save it is worth it

Just find a colour you like, that's similar to your own - a bit lighter if that's what you want. The numbers are just a way of identifying the colour, so you can buy the same again next time.

Don't worry about amonia/non amonia - I've never bothered to check ingredients!

Nice and Easy always works well for me.

Crash course ahead.....

The numbers denote the shade. Number 7 is dark blonde, number 8 - mid blonde. The higher the number the lighter the shade.

Next is the secondary figure which indicates tone. 7.1 /7.2 is ash, 7.3 would be golden. Anything above a .3 and it gets warmer. 5.3 is chestnut brown for instance. 5.5 auburn brown.

Sometimes you will find a dye with just one number, for example 7. This is a neutral dark blonde.

When you are covering grey hair it needs to be permanant to penetrate the hairshaft because the levels of peroxide in semis are not high enough. If you have a lot of grey you need a neutral or warm colour to add the missing red pigment back into the hair or it will look dishwater and dull. In your case I would go for a level 7 permanant like Loreal Excellence or preference but keep it neutral so you don't get a brassy hue. It will turn out darker than expected initially but after three washes will be much lighter.

Brilliant thank you.

bluespit, I started out by going to a salon's hair colour student night thing
Its all super safe as its organised by a proper colorist, just takes longer as they are a bit crap at appying it

PLUS CHEAP

and it is so interesting hearing them teach it

i would advise buying a shade lighter than how you describe your hair
i am dark brown and bought 118 mid brown

Dezmeenas post is helpful

Sorry DEENUTZ

I went into Boots earlier with DS.
We looked at Nice N Easy colour 6A because I thought that would be a good match but we agreed that it is too dark for me poor DS

So we thought a 7 would be closer to my natural colour.
I will look at Loreal Excellence or Preference.

i agree with the very good advice by the poster earlier on and would get a 7 or 8. if your worried about it going dark try and 8 first. the colour will always be slightly darker than it looks on the box.