At-Home Hair Color

[Just Kate]

Anyone go from salon hair color to doing it yourself at home? My hair is a dirty blonde/light brown color (natural is just a touch darker). I also have gray. I normally do my own roots at home but the gray coming in is looking worse and I don’t think a root touch up will help. I have a client meeting (yes, in the middle of a pandemic🙄) at the end of the month and due to trying to save money because of my dh’s job loss, I’m looking for alternatives. Any suggestions??

[matrips]

What about just doing a temporary hair color?  Clairol Natural Instincts? I can’t remember if that’s the name but it washes out within 6 weeks; it is NOT permanent hair color.  It costs about $8 and will take about 30 minutes.

[DinCO]

I’ve been using Revlon Color Silk hair color during the pandemic and have been very pleased with the results.

ETA: I think it is about $4.00 and covers the greys nicely!

Edited October 14, 2020 by DinCO
Adding in price info

[MercyA]

I had never colored my own hair before COVID. Here's what I've tried so far and the results:

John Frieda Precision Foam Color: This is a mousse color and is easy to apply for a beginner. The color and gray coverage was good and looked natural. However, no matter what I did, I always ended up with a few white hairs by my temples and the sides of my face. I covered them with root color, but it was annoying. Wonderful conditioner included.

L'Oreal Excellence Creme: A little runny, but still pretty easy to apply. Good, reliable gray coverage. I'd probably stick with this one, but it smells strongly of ammonia. The smell washes out, but it almost makes my eyes water by the time it's ready to rinse! My sister uses this for her blonde hair (she is a natural brunette) and likes it. Love the conditioner that comes with this.

Revlon Total Color, Clean and Vegan: I like what they were trying to do with this, but no. Wouldn't come out of the bottle smoothly. I continually had to shake it. It made a mess in the shower. Worst of all, it dried out my hair horribly. The included conditioner was hard to get out of the bottle. It smelled much better than the others, but I wouldn't recommend it at all.

Most people need a permanent color for good gray coverage. After you have a certain percentage of grey in your hair, semi-permanent just doesn't cover well enough.

I've heard great things about eSalon, but I prefer a cheaper product. That way I can refresh as often as I want without guilt. 🙂 

ETA: I think most of the time when hair color looks unnatural, it's because women try to go too dark. My natural hair is medium brown and I just want to cover the grays. I use a light brown color and it works nicely.

Edited October 14, 2020 by MercyA

[MercyA]

31 minutes ago, Ordinary Shoes said:

I agree with this. I did my hair Sunday night and it does not look quite right. It's too dark. I left it on a bit too long because it was a bit too reddish the last time I did it. I've never had this problem with my stylist. 

 

Ah, I'm sorry. I know you can buy hair color removers if you are really unhappy with it.

Thank you for the reminder to watch my time more carefully. Sometimes I wait too long, too, and I forget that does make the color darker! 

[HS Mom in NC]

Stopped coloring my hair in January.  Before then I colored it at home every 3-4 weeks for 30 years.  I've used most store brands at one point or another. About 3 or 4 years ago I switched to eSalon at home color. It's the best I've ever used.

[Just Kate]

I think I may look into eSalon! I’d never heard of it before this thread. Thanks so much!!

[Scarlett]

I have never heard of ESalon either.  Cool.

i went 4 months without coloring my hair when the Pandemic first started.  Now I am back to going every 6-8 weeks.  I skip the drying and styling since I heard that makes it easier to spread the virus.  That is my favorite part too...oh well.  She braids it wet for me and I just go home. 
 

My roots  start to show at about three weeks and I use the L’Oreal Magic root cover up if I have occasion to care, which is not much.  Dh cares though, so I try to be mindful. 

[Alicia64]

I love talking hair!

I use L'Oréal Paris Superior Preference Permanent Hair Color  -- but I'm more brunette than you are. Go lighter than you'd assume you'd need.

I think you're really safe using L'Oreal Excellence. And it's just $9 a bottle.

I highly recommend this TV anchor from Houston who goes into super helpful info. on her make up, hair, skin, bras -- you name it. She's about 51 years old: Dominique Sasche.

Here's her link: How to Color Your Hair at Home.

She's helped me so much navigate the billions of products that are out there.

W.

 

 

[Paige]

I just colored my hair. It turned out pretty well. I ordered a salon brand and developer and did it myself. I know that can be sketchy, but it's always been fine. I couldn't find the brand I usually use so I went with a new one. My hair is long but very fine so I can get 2 uses out of one tube, so I think it's not really much more expensive than a box. I think next time I'll measure by weight for better accuracy when I mix it up. When I used to use boxes my hair would always be really dry but the salon ones leave it soft and shiny. 

[marbel]

10 hours ago, Homeschool Mom in AZ said:

Stopped coloring my hair in January.  Before then I colored it at home every 3-4 weeks for 30 years.  I've used most store brands at one point or another. About 3 or 4 years ago I switched to eSalon at home color. It's the best I've ever used.

This is just about me.  I'd colored my hair at home for years and years, switching around between Colorsilk, L'Oreal Excellence, and L'Oreal Preference.

Never did try eSalon.

Not helpful to OP, but I had been thinking about stopping because it was becoming a pain to me to manage the roots. When we went into lockdown, I let my gray (white, really) grow out. But I am 64, it's OK to be gray now LOL.  

(In case someone bristles at that last sentence:  It's OK to be gray at any age; I am a firm believer in hair-color freedom. For me, it felt like time to quit.)

[sassenach]

14 hours ago, matrips said:

What about just doing a temporary hair color?  Clairol Natural Instincts? I can’t remember if that’s the name but it washes out within 6 weeks; it is NOT permanent hair color.  It costs about $8 and will take about 30 minutes.

I use natural instincts because semi permanent looks less dramatic at the root line as it grows out. I hate getting that skunk line that comes with permanent. Semi doesn’t completely wash out so you end up with an ombré look at the roots. I’ve used natural instincts for at least 8 years. It’s good stuff. 

[MercyA]

37 minutes ago, sassenach said:

I use natural instincts because semi permanent looks less dramatic at the root line as it grows out. I hate getting that skunk line that comes with permanent. Semi doesn’t completely wash out so you end up with an ombré look at the roots. I’ve used natural instincts for at least 8 years. It’s good stuff. 

Do you have any gray? How is the coverage? I'd for sure prefer semi-perm if I could get away with it....