Which semi permanent hair dye to buy?

[Linnet]

I haven’t dyed my hair at home since I was a teenager and always get it done at the hairdressers. Now the hairdressers is closed and I’m going to need to dye my hair to get me through but I have no idea what to buy.

I don’t get permanent hair dye done at the hairdressers so I’m looking for recommendations for a semi permanent one that I can use to cover all my grey.

I have looked and found casting creme gloss by L’Oréal which has a colour which looks very close to what I usually get.

Has anyone used this hair dye? Would you recommend it? Or can anyone recommend a hair dye I could use.

Thanks in advance

I’ve used castings and I like it. I have a fair bit of grey and it covers well. I always dye my hair at home but find I have to do it every 4/5 weeks the older I get.

Came on to recommend casting crème gloss - go for it!

How much grey do you have? Semi permanent will cover a few strands of grey.

Castings is great, but I'd go two/three shades lighter than you think as even their mid-browns dye my hair black for the first week.

Good to find this thread as I was thinking of asking something similar. I usually go to the hairdresser for colour on my dark brown hair. I have quite a few grey hairs but not completely grey yet. My hairdresser usually puts on a semi permanent colour on close to my shade, then I have caramel highlights. I had booked for this to be done the week lock down started so it needs doing. I thought putting on a semi permanent colour would be less risky, maybe one you can shampoo in, rather than using a brush. Do you think this would be risky as I still have a lot of highlights visible? Would be grateful for advice - thank you

I use nice and easy. I have dark brown hair but using nice n easy dark brown has turned it black

I have used L'oreal casting crème for years. I had a permanent once, and couldn't stand the obvious line of regrowth, whereas this one doesn't do that. Its often on sale 2 for £12 at boots, Tesco etc.

I have grey, which always decides to be even more obvious where I part my hair . I really have no idea how much grey I have, as I've never let is grow out more than a 1cm or so.

What is your natural colour OP? My natural is dark brown/chestnut. With castings (on me anyways), I've always found the colours come out darker than the box shows. I therefore go for a lighter colour, even several shades. I can use 'light brown' or 'iced brown' and it comes out great, whereas if I used 'dark brown' if would come out really dark, almost black! It does, slowly, wash out though, so even if its initially darker, it will lighten with time.

Thanks for all your replies. My natural hair is a dark blonde/light brown colour, or it was.
At the hairdressers they dye my hair a dark blonde colour, it’s semi permanent and gradually fades/washes/grows out. The roots at my parting are fairly white now but that’s usual as it’s not been done since the start of December. But I’m not going to make it until whenever I can next get to the hairdressers.

There is a dark blonde box of casting creme which in the pictures looks the same shade as my hair when it’s done by the hairdresser. I think light brown would be too dark and blonde would be too light so I think dark blonde might be the best one to go for as it looks most like it does usually.

I’m guessing if it looks really dark I can just wash it loads and it might fade it out a bit? 🤔 I’m on holiday this coming week and quite possibly will still be lockdown for a few weeks after that so I’m hoping if it’s not quite right it might have sorted itself out a bit by the time I have to go back to work.🤞

I love nice n easy

Op id try and just cover the roots not the ends yo preserve your highlights.

I’m not sure if I could get away with just doing the roots. The dye fades out and since it’s not been done since December if I only do the roots the ends will be a completely different colour, so I think I’ll need to take it through to the ends.

Ok but do the roots first then take it down to the ends for a few minutes. The highlighted bits will be more porous.

Ok so I can’t get the L’Oréal casting creme dark blonde anywhere so instead bought nice n easy light golden brown. Hopefully that will look ok and not to dark, fingers crossed. Thanks for all your advice

Isn't nice and easy a permanent colour whereas castings is only semi? I would have gone for a slightly lighter castings colour if dark blonde wasn't available. Best of luck though and let us know how it goes.

It’s a Demi permanent dye and says it washes out in 24 washes. All the other colours were darker, it was this one or a very very blonde one by castings, which I definitely couldn’t get away with. I’ll let you know how it goes, keep your fingers crossed for me 🤞

Ahh, I never knew nice and easy did demi. 24 washes is the same as castings. Might look into them also, esp when I cant find my fav casting colours. I'm sure it will be great x

Sorry didn’t come straight back. My dd’s helped me to dye my hair this week and I can honestly say it was a great success. It looks really nice and shiny and there is no more grey. The colour looks just like it does when it’s first done at the hairdressers, not too dark at all so I’m really pleased. Thanks for all your advice.

nice n easy cheap and simple

I have. Use L’Oréal hair colour for a few years Age perfect range £7.99 or two for £12.00 this product has been made especially for mature hair and is very conditioning covers grey well, I use a blonde shade 9.31, I am very satisfied with this product I have tried others in the past but I always come back to this brand and range.

I just used a L’Oréal castings in Iced Truffle. My roots were light reddish brown with one or two greys & the lengths a mid brown.

I love how rich (and quite deep) the colour has turned out. Only it’s not taken so well on my roots. I’ve yet to find a semi permanent that actually covers my stubborn auburn roots! I don’t want to keep using permanent dye all the time.

Nice and easy,i m a natural dark brunette with grey sprinkles.and have used mahogany semi permanent Nice and easy for years.wouldnt use anything else,no amonia,best hair dye i know people think mine done at salon.

My hairdressers kindly gave me the specialist dye they use - the cost was a quarter of the cost of having it done at the salon and it looks fine with my twelve year old helping! I wonder how many of us are going to be tempted to save money with home grooming from now on...

I use Nice and Easy semi (lasts 20 odd washes). My hair is light brown and I find the Light Golden Brown is too dark. Its hard to find, but Lightest Gold Brown is much better.

I agree with just focusing on the roots. I also recommend leaving it on for longer than the box says. I use Casting, Nice n Easy semi permanent or the new Clairol Natural Instincts semi permanent. They're all much of a muchness really. The Casting has a better range of shades.
I apply to the roots with a brush, leave for about half an hour, then put the rest through to the ends and leave for another 5 mins. That helps to deal with the problem of it coming out darker than you expected that some other posters have mentioned. It looks more natural too as the ends tend to be lighter. Don't worry about a weird line. That doesn't seem to happen with semi-permanent. It all blends in quite nicely.
If in doubt, go for a lighter shade and just focus on your roots.

I usually get my haired coloured at a salon- dark brown with some soft highlights. It was last done in January and now my roots are 2 inches long with a lot of grey coming through. I emailed the salon to see if it would be ok to colour at home or whether it would interfere with the dye they use in the future. They replied that if I was going to use home colour then just use it around the front and the parting/ roots but NOT to use Nice and Easy ( not sure why not, maybe because it’s permanent?) They recommended using a colour spray if I feel I can wait until they open again. I’ve decided to just sit it out and wait as my hair needs to be tied up for work and it doesn’t look as noticeable like this.