Brown hair dye always has a red shine!! Help!

[Moondust]

I'm a dark brunette and have had greys coming through for years which I dye to cover. I've always used Garnier Nutrisse Dark Brown but there's a red shine when it's first done and then it fades to orange, which just looks awful on me. I'm fed up with it so I did some research and it was suggested that an ash colour would stop that red shine/orange fade. So I've just used a Clairol Nice and Easy Ash Dark Brown but low and behold there is a red shine!!!! Which means that this too will probably fade to orange in 2-3 weeks. Is there a dark brown dye that is just...well...brown?? I really can't afford the cost of a hairdressers trip, upkeep etc so it really needs to be a box dye. Am I looking for the impossible??

I'm a brown box dye user also and I'm sad to say that I've tried multiple and haven't managed to find one yet that doesn't have a red tinge to it!

Always had a red tinge on me, I had lots of blonde covered with a dark brown toner in a salon though and the colour was great and whilst it faded (not too quickly) it never went red! So maybe look for a toner?

I buy one from a website called salon services, its the only one I’ve found with no red tint at all, leaves my hair lovely and shiny too, Igora Diacolour 6.1…anything with a .1 should be fine as it’s an ash base

You’d need to buy peroxide separately though, either 10 or 20 vol

L’Oréal casting semi permanent in darkest brown 300. I used to have the same issue this is a cool dark brown, no warmth. If you want lighter they do have a good number system and explain it on the box, so maybe a 400 would be more appropriate.

Although it’s a semi permanent, it covers my greys completely

These are really helpful suggestions, thank you! I used to like the red tint but over the years my skin tone has changed and the red just doesn't do anything for me, and the orange even less!!

I also use l'oreal casting. I tend to go for 413/415 I think, which are ashy brown. (I think the middle number being 1 means ashy).

First week always seems a bit dark. Then i like it a lot for about 4 weeks before it fades to orange . I'm glad to hear it's not just me with this problem!!

I think the rounded numbers so 300, 400 etc are just neutral, no red, no gold just that basic colour. I have used Olia’s 300 dark brown too and it was good, I just can’t use permanents any more they make my scalp itch.

I'm natural grey these days but had the same problem when I dyed my hair. Someone on a forum recommended Nice and Easy colours that said ash in the colour. I was pretty dark but found most home dyes come up darker than indicated. NnE light ash brown was perfect for me for years with not a hint of red.

Interesting. Maybe I'll try the flat 400 next time and see how it goes.

This does happen to me and I get salon colours. In direct sunlight it looks red.

I use a cool toned shampoo sometimes which neutrisles it down. Just don't use a brown tinted shampoo.

you need to understand how hair pigment and dye works. If you have dark hair you almost 100% will have red undertones. What that means is if you were to start bleaching your natural hair, it would lift from dark brown or black to reddish brown to brassy orange to yellow to white. It is almost impossible to get to platinum white from dark brown/black without fucking your hair as it takes a long time with very harsh chemicals.

so that is hair pigment.

when you dye your hair you use a developer in the product. This is a generally a peroxide product. EVEN IN SEMI PERMANENT COLOUR and obv in prevent colour, this developer will lighten your natural hair. This is because the product’s job is to open the cuticles in your hair shaft to allow the dye colour in.

any time this happens EVEN WITH A SEMI, a little of your natural hair pigment is faded. The difference with a semi is the developer is of a very low concentration so it does it less. But the flip side is the dye is designed to fade so even subtle lifting of your natural colour will result in brassy showing through after some washes and the more times the hair is exposed to the developer the more colorise lifted

This means your natural red undertones are revealed. The dye depending on colour chosen will mask this but over the following weeks as the dye slightly fades (and they all do because your hair shaft is now compromised and porous to some degree) the red and brassy undertones of your hair are revealed so your hair looks brassy. It’s kind of unavoidable. Best thing to do is:
a) use a shampoo designed to help prevent colour loss
b) use a toner between colour treatment. This could be a blue or purple toned shampoo and conditioner. This will re mask the brassy undertones.

I’m a qualified hairdresser:
Use a blue toned conditioner such as Osmo super cool no orange mask about once every 3-4 washes and leave it on for at least 10 mins before rinsing but you can leave it on for an hour if you wanted to. It will leave your hair lovely and shiny with cool tones.
Obviously, you’ll still need to colour your hair regularly to cover the greys.

https://amzn.eu/d/ayzY0My

You need to follow this guide. Pick 1,2 and 7s.

This is all so, so helpful, thank you!! Lots of things to try, thank you :)

I think that the redish tones are what is called "warmth".

In hair dresser lingo, non-red is ash or cool

So you need to look for colours that are ash/cool and warmth free.

If you scroll down to the bottom here Koleston have a colour chart that shows warmth/lack of warmth and once at the bottom you can scroll through left/right for browns.

You will also need to buy some Wella Perfect developer/activator cream to mix with it but you should be able to find a colour that suits you and is not warmth.

https://www.wella.com/professional/en-UK/hair-color/koleston-perfect/koleston-perfect#/?_k=dgcfr6

I'd go to a salon that uses Wella for a colour and get the hair dresser to recommend the best colour for you while they are doing your hair.