Dying extremely soft/fine hair

[Mymyi]

I used to be able to add a bit of texture to my hair with demi permanent home dyes but seems they've taken out stuff (ammonia/peroxide?).

Would a balyage do the trick? Is there ammonia/peroxide in that which would expand the hair cuticle? I don't want blonde or lighter hair, just mid brown same as I have now.

Any advice gratefully accepted as I have no idea...just done some googling but still not sure.

L'Oreal Casting Creme contains peroxide. My sister swears by it and it makes her hair look amazing, really thick and glossy. I tried it and it made mine rough and straw like. I'd do a strand test first if considering.

@DonaldWheresMaTweezers Thank you. I might just try that. I think it was a L'oreal one I used to use but not this one.

Has anyone else got experience of this product?

Unless it states otherwise then all permanent hair colorants contain ammonia. The ammonia opens up the hair cuticle and allows the colour to penetrate the hair. Semi permanents don’t contain ammonia as they primarily sit on the surface of the hair and gradually fade off.
Peroxide is what is used to activate the colour and aid the colouring process. All hair colorants require peroxide to work, home and salon, it is merely the strength of the peroxide that varies.
I would image there are kinder, more nourishing ingredients in home dye kits than there used to be, which is why your hair is feeling in better condition and not as texturised after colouring.
Why don’t you just try some styling products if you don’t want a change of colour?

@brisamarina Sorry I'm not understanding completely. The L'Oreal Casting is classified as what? It says demi permanent. Also you speak of ammonia and peroxide but Casting says it doesn't have peroxide, just ammonia.

I've tried all the styling products under the sun :)

It’s a semi permanent colour and therefore does not require ammonia. It will have a low strength peroxide in the kit. There will be 2 parts, 1 will be the colour, the other the peroxide. If it says demi rather than semi then these are still semi permanent colours, they just last a little longer.

@brisamarina Thanks. It actually says it has Ammonia but not peroxide.

I don't know the difference or what I need to expand my hair cuticles.