Hair dye at home?

[ShootTheMoon]

I'm at home with a new baby and fancy colouring my hair with a warm chestnut or red colour for a bit of a change. My hair is jaw length and a warm brown with a few greys, and o haven't coloured it in a decade or so.

Are there any temporary dyes which will last for a bit then fade without growing out? Or should I really get it done in a salon?

I know nothing about hair dye these days but would like something glossy and fairly natural looking to cheer me up . I don't really have time to do skin tests at a salon etc and I know I won't keep up to it so I don't want to ruin my natural hair!

I do temp dyes all the time. Garnier is ok , but like Sparks better. Great selection of colors.

Thank you amarmai, I'll take a look.

try casting, it is demi-permanant, 24 washes, go lighter than you think you need!

Read the boxes, they'll tell you if they're 6, 12 or 24 washes

If you don't like it, wash it with vosene and it will be gone in a couple of washes

If you're just wanting to add a little colour, try colour effects from superdrug it will add warmth and tone without the drastic change using semi/permanent colour can bring

Thank you - and for the Vosene tip!

You're welcome. Just make sure you use plenty of conditioner afterwards, it can strip all the goodness out of your hair and leave it very dry

Yes be careful the colour will almost always come out darker than the picture on the box.

Thank you slim and kidding. I might try the super drug thing first, I can always use a proper dye later.

My hair goes through crazy post-natal stuff anyway, it's probably going to start falling out soon!

Update: I bought the colour effects (red mahogany I think) and left it on for ten minutes, but it has hardly made a difference. I think that's a sign that I want something more dramatic, so I'll look out for a 12 or 24 wash colour, I think

I usually use the Nice and Easy semi permanent ones. They last about 24 washes and fade nicely rather than having obvious regrowth.

However, they only do fairly standard colours, nothing too dramatic. So when I fancied something with a bit of red, I tried a Castings one (first time for quite a few years). It was terrible. The colour was fine, but it took about 6 washes before it stopped coming out onto the towel. And it definitely didn't fade nicely - had very obvious root regrowth.

So a couple of weeks ago I went back to Nice and Easy in boring classic darkest brown and I'm much happier!

Thanks rattle! I thought the same about nice and easy!

First at home colouring (permanent) in 20 years... Just painting in the greys. I go to rinse it out and...the hot water is broken. It's now been in my hair for over an hour. I'm waiting for DH to come home and beat the hot water system into submission. Hair becoming itchy. WWYD? Water is really too cold for me to get under a cold shower.

The constant fading and coming out for numerous washes is pretty standard with stronger reds TBH. I colour my hair with salon dyes (and have also had it done at the hairdresser several times) and I'm always still running red for weeks after.

It also fades like crazy - I dye my hair about every 4 -6 weeks and only wash it maybe every 3rd day.

Blackswan can you half boil the kettle, or full boil and mix with cold? I'd get it out quickly before it burns your scalp!

Oh god Blackswan, I have deja-vu. The exact same thing happened to me this time last year, ended up having to get a new boiler. Wound up driving across town to my mums with a shower cap on my head so I could get the dye off. Could you go to a neighbours maybe?