Red hair at home - New Year & new hair?!

[AutumnShades]

Does anyone colour their hair red, ginger or auburn at home? I'm thinking of switching my mousey brown hair to something brighter but cannot afford the salon.

Any recommendations on red hair dyes that last? My friend has beautiful red hair but she uses henna which scares me.

Any faux redheads out there who can advise?

TIA

Red hair is very difficult to maintain, it fades faster than any other colour. It's also really difficult to apply yourself without a patchy finish so get someone to help. You'd need to use a red tint shampoo to maintain it.

I lighten mine a bit with a nice n easy light auburn colour then get more intensity with superdrug red colour effect shampoo, its the best way I have found.

Bear in mind your mousey roots will look dark grey next to the red when they come through.

I have naturally auburn hair but it has faded with age (50) i colour with Live XXL Mango Twist whiich is very near my natural colour, coppery auburn

This

L'Oreal Feria Mango Intense Copper is a lovely bright ginger, I used it for years & has nothing but compliments. Put it on dry hair rather than wet for a more intense colour, 2 boxes makes sure of good coverage

Garnier Nutriesse fiery red, love it

Thanks for the posts everyone. Did you bleach first or just put it straight on your natural hair?

I went from dark blonde to red and ended up having to dye it every 2 weeks because it faded so fast! The upkeep was phenomenal and it wrecked my hair. Which is sad, as it looked fab!

Oh no!!

What shade are you after?

I've been many, many variations on fake red - I'm naturally very dark. Mine lasts pretty well now (currently copper) but it needs salon dyes (I've used them myself or had it done at a salon). Personally I like Wella colourtouch and Koleston (depends on grey coverage!)

How dark is your hair just now?

I dye my hair copper using Mango Twist. I pre-bleached my dark hair to a light orange and just whacked it over the top. As other posters have said, it needs topping up at least once a month, usually more, with specialist red pigment shampoos in between to look good. Wash your hair less often if you can, use oil on the ends when you do wash to help colour fading from drier hair and be prepared to use quite a bit of dry shampoo.

If you're a mousey brown and looking for a medium to dark copper red then you could get away with not bleaching but obviously it would end up darker than the colour shown on the front of the box.

Mango Twist looks just the colour I was lusting after.

My colour is similar to mango twist, and the pre lighten stage for it was lighter than mousy brown. A fairly awful bright orange, in fact, I'd say you'd want to pre-lighten a bit to get that shade.

Another vote for Light Auburn by Nice n Easy here. I used to dye mine a brighter red but find a more golden/Auburn is more flattering now mid 40s. Love the colour, v easy to use, even hairdressers compliment me on it! I use Olaplex to maintain condition otherwise can go dry and fluffy, as well as the Elvive red treatment shampoo.

Can someone recommend a red pigment shampoo to help prolong the colour? Thanks

Garnier Nutriesse fiery red, love it

Same here! I love a non ginger non mahogany red. I had to laugh though - a patient was going off on one and really trying to upset me basically I was fat (yes), a bitch (very possibly) and had dyed red hair! If he hadn't had mental health issues I would have pretended to be shocked Me? with red hair? who knew? Oh I was also 'sparkly'. I had to think about that one. I believe my Bobbie Brown eyeliner had a bit of sparkle in it. Surely the biggest insult of all!

Use something like mango twist then find a 'la riche directions' temporary dye that is a good colour mat ch, mix it in with a bottle of conditioner and use that every time you wash your hair or as often as needed for a colour top up.

Red faded like crazy but has to grown or bleached out if you decide to change to a completely different colour. The red tint lingers and shines through any other colour.

Is anyone brave enough to post a pic of their hair so I can have an idea of what shade a dye can produce? Red is a huge spectrum!

Mango Twist Live XXL. No ore bleaching or anything as my hair is auburn naturally, i just put this on yo pep it up a bit

Oh dear maybe i should have obscured my face....didnt know how to do it though....be nice now...

I use Clairol Nice and Easy. Definitely don't risk henna. I hennaed my hair and didn't like the results. It took around 2 years to grow it out. 😭

I should add that i had literally just applied it. Colour does last well though. I dont use any colour prolonging shampoo. I do regrowth approx every 6 weeks but my hair grows like a weed