Going back to box dye

[NormalNans]

My hair is greying but currently highlighted. It costs over £100 every two months and takes four hours which is time and money that I’m struggling to justify.

How hard is it to go back to box dye?

I am in the same situation

Sorry I don't have a helpful answer for you but I would love to go back to box dye. I'm too scared.
I just cannot believe how much the cost of hair dressing has increased over the past 10/15 years!

I got mine whole head coloured at hair dressers to return it to a solid colour then after that I used a semi permanent box a few times then went permanent colour

I use the same brown colour every 10 weeks and it looks fine.

I'm only 28 but have had grey hairs coming through at my roots for about 8 years that start to show up every 4 weeks ish (maybe a bit less)! I can't afford, justify or have the time/patience to sit for hours and hours in the hairdressers anymore this often so always box dye my hair now. I use the nice n easy one, never had any problems. I've boxed dyed it auburn which everyone always complimented it on but recently went back to dark brown for a change and a box dye easily covered it. There are so many options and shades to chose from. I will say always get a shade down from what you actually want i.e if you want medium brown get a light brown as they always go a lot darker than what they're meant to in my experience.

Meant to add that I also put a box dye over previous highlights that I had done at the hairdressers and it covered really well, didn't look patchy at all like I worried about.

I also went to thehairdressersandhad a full head of colour on after having Ombre. I did this so I cannowuse a box dye again myself. I now dye it a golden auburn colour and have had people complement the colour including hairdressers lol Can not justify salon prices.

I’ve always found that brown box dyes work really well (my favourite is Garnier Olia). But for blonde I prefer the hairdresser. I’ve been dying it brown myself for a few years now, and my hairdresser compliments me on it

I did this. I’d had highlights for thirty years and it was a pain to maintain them during lockdown.

I put a dark brown hair dye all over and it was very patchy and turned a shade of khaki. I panicked as it was awful. Two days later I did it again with a semi permanent dark brown with slight red tones and it was fine and all the patchiness was gone.

I use a semipermanent regularly and it’s completely fine.

I use a cheap box dye to do my roots every 3 wks. I've used medium & most recently dark brown from the pound shop & theyve been absolutely fine. If it looks too dark once done then shampoo afterwards with vosene to get rid of excess colour as advised by my hairdresser.

Wow, Thankyou all for your posts. My hair grows very quickly so I think I’d need to dye regularly but will get the hairdresser to do it first time!
now to decide what colour 😂

I highly recommend the John Frieda foam, so easy to use

Great thread! I've been considering this recently as my grey roots come through so quickly. I'm currently having highlights & I do like being a lighter colour but really need them doing every 6 weeks to keep on top of them which I can't afford. Wondering if a very light brown/dark blonde box dye would work...

OP, it’s worth considering any colleges that you have nearby that have hairdressing courses as they will probably have a salon open to the public at certain times so that the students can get the experience for their course. It’ll be more expensive than a box dye but it’ll be just like going to the hairdresser.

Thanks @Niftythrifter I tried this for beauty treatments and massage but they only wanted people at certain time if the year when they were learning particular techniques- is it different for hair?

I’m thinking about this too as the greys are mounting up. Will a semi permanent box dye work on dark brown hair? I’ve never dyed my hair before.

I went back to box dye after years of having it done at the hairdressers. It just became too expensive. I don’t have tons of grey but I do have some, especially around my parting. I use castings semi permanent in an iced chocolate and I’m very happy with the result.

It lasts around six weeks before it needs doing again.

I regularly get people saying how nice my hair is and asking what salon I use - I buy the most basic box dye (poly tint, £1.99 a packet as I have stubbord greys and it's the only thing that covers them).

I just can't justify trips to a hairdressers, struggling to heat my home as it is.

I use a Schwarzkopf dark one and find it great, prefer doing that to taking ages of time sitting around at the hairdressers. It does stain things though, have to be careful with pillows for first couple of days after.

@NormalNans It depends on the levels of the students I think. The students that are at the higher level and have been there the previous year would probably be ready soonish in to the academic year. I would ring up the local colleges and find out. You’d only have to use a box dye in the summer this way.