Store-bought hair dye - is it ever okay?

[FuckingHateRats]

In usual times I get my hair trimmed and my roots done every seven weeks. The last week of that period I need to use the spray root product to cover greys.

I'm desperately overdue an appt (as we all are, I know). I'm considering a box dye to tide me over, but also wondering if they're decent, if I could move to doing my own colour and getting a proper cut less often (every ten weeks or so). The saving in cash would be great.

Do you think shop bought hair dye can look good? And if so, what do you recommend? I have very dark brown hair.

Will semi permanent cover greys? 🤔

Yes it does

Won’t last forever but ok for month or two

OP sorry, I misremembered a bit

I looked in the cupboard and I'm using something called S Pro

I remember now. I went to Sally asking for Majirel because I just wanted to dye some greys but not all my hair. They gave me a cheaper option which is this S Pro stuff.

It's a tube of colour and a bottle of developer lotion so yes, I have to mix two together. I would imagine it would last about a year if done once or twice a month so works out cheaper than buying a box of stuff that has to be mixed in one go and then thrown out.

Someone here can probably direct you to the right products on Amazon? I didn't keep the boxes and the tubes only have this info.

@Newgirls

Yes it does

Won’t last forever but ok for month or two

I was my hair daily so semi goes within a fortnight on me.

@FuckingHateRats

You must do a patch test 24 hours before

Do blonde box colours work ok too? I'm blonde & really tempted with a blonde dye, though my regrowth is a few inches now and natural colour is a dark mousy colour

I use these by John Frieda:

www.feelunique.com/p/John-Frieda-Defy-Grey-Brunette-Blending-Shampoo-250ml?curr=GBP&gclid=Cj0KCQiAmfmABhCHARIsACwPRAAf4pg3UimQWjxOt997GeKlHnTmBenyWNXYFLVvXYh9t-wvKu_zdIAaArVvEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

It’s not permanent and I use it every other wash or so. It sort of blends greys and deepens brunette colour and it looks completely natural. Might want worth a try if you just want to add depth and richness and cover a few greys.

@JackieeWeaver, I'm the same as you. So tempted but also too scared! I haven't dyed my own hair for about 20years.

I've been very strict with myself doing a patch test even if I've used the same hair dye tonnes of times before. This is because I'd really don't fancy a trip to a&e during the pandemic.

Whoops meant to say I'm just waiting for my first e salon order.

I tried a semi permanent at start of lockdown. My grey roots weren't properly covered. It was like someone had just put a coloured filter over them iyswim

Beware! Semi permanent doesn't cover greys if you have a lot of them.

I use the John Frida home colour and I'm really pleased with it.

@JackieeWeaver Trying to lighten your hair at home isn't recommended. Same with going from light to dark. If you're just touching up your existing colour, you can't go too far wrong. But a drastic change usually ends in tears.

Brad mondo does loads of vids on YouTube about coloring and did a test using the same hair one box the other pro stuff. The pro dye performed a lot better and price worked out cheaper too

Thanks for the tips on home dye, I've just spent (a relative) fortune on wella koleston and a mixing set off amazon. I've done semi perm before and it looks great for maybe a week and then the grey starts to come through as I wash it a lot. I haven't bothered in ages because it doesn't last long enough.

When my roots come through do you just do the roots? Is there a technique to just getting the dye on the relevant bit?

@Horsemad

Will semi permanent cover greys? 🤔

Yes, it will. I used it for years and greys only show once your hair grows. Leave it on for longer than the recommended time though.

I just did mine for the first time ever today with the help of DS1. I used a Josh Wood mid blonde and it came out a bit darker than I expected but quite pleased with my first attempt. I would have struggled on my own though as mine is too long to do myself at the back. The grey is covered perfectly.

@mustbe3 so the shade I use is a 1:1 ratio yep, but you can use this pdf to double check:

https://www.wella.com/professional/m/master/PDF/Products/KolestonnPerfectFacttSheet.pdf

Sorry I don't have experience with greys, but the Wella blog has some information on the best lines to use... if you scroll down to "Choosing A Grey Coverage Product"

blog.wella.com/gb/how-to-cover-gray-hair#paragraph-2

Hope that helps. As I said I'm not a hairdresser, but I definitely notice the difference between the two. It's mainly the difference in shine. A pp mentioned the Brad Mondo comparison and I definitely agree, professional colour makes the hair look healthier while box dye looks dull and lifeless in comparison.

Might be worth asking your usual hairdresser, I know they aren't working right now but may be able to tell you what they use on your own hair, particularly if they are the salon owner and are fairly active on Facebook.
I know of one local hairdresser who is offering clients a delivery service of salon colours to your door and another who offers advice on the salons page.
Funnily enough I have a few hairdressers on fb despite cutting and colouring my hair myself for several years 😂

The reason I asked was because quite often my hairdresser has trouble getting my greys (whites 🙄) to take the colour and that's with permanent colour, so I'm not convinced a semi permanent would work on my hair. 🤨

[quote nevernotagain]@mustbe3 so the shade I use is a 1:1 ratio yep, but you can use this pdf to double check:

[[https://www.wella.com/professional/m/]]master/PDF/Products/KolestonnPerfectFacttSheet.pdf

Sorry I don't have experience with greys, but the Wella blog has some information on the best lines to use... if you scroll down to "Choosing A Grey Coverage Product"

blog.wella.com/gb/how-to-cover-gray-hair#paragraph-2

Hope that helps. As I said I'm not a hairdresser, but I definitely notice the difference between the two. It's mainly the difference in shine. A pp mentioned the Brad Mondo comparison and I definitely agree, professional colour makes the hair look healthier while box dye looks dull and lifeless in comparison. [/quote]
@nevernotagain
Thank you so much for this. It so helpful

I've used it to choose my could and have ordered my dye so I can get colouring this weekend.

Hopefully this will be the end of expensive trips to the salon for me!
thanks again!

@Mumski45

I just did mine for the first time ever today with the help of DS1. I used a Josh Wood mid blonde and it came out a bit darker than I expected but quite pleased with my first attempt. I would have struggled on my own though as mine is too long to do myself at the back. The grey is covered perfectly.

Can I ask what you thought of the josh wood? Are you blonde or dark, what shade did you go for? Sorry for all the questions but I’m really tempted!