new thread
I'll be 36 in June and have been going gray since I was 16. I colored my hair off & on throughout my 20's, but then let it go completely gray over the past several years. My natural color is (was) dark brown, and I'm now about 50% - 75% gray. I'm now letting it grow out long, but the longer it gets, the less I like the gray! I just don't like the Arlo Guthrie look!
I recently colored my hair at home using Clairol's Hydrience in Medium Ash Brown... the color is fantastic - very, very natural looking, but it left my hair somewhat dry despite it's claims of being gentle (which all hair colors *claim*, of course!) -I've had better luck with the condition of my hair using Nice 'n Easy in the past, but that particular brand always seems to deposit more red tones than I really want - even if I use an ash shade.
So I'm just wondering what at-home colors do other guys like to use? What kind of results do you get with your favorite brand regarding both the color and condition of your hair? What shampoos do you like best for your colored hair? -What brands of color do you avoid?
(I know there may well be some professional hairstylists who read this and cringe at the thought of at-home haircolor... *Sorry!* - but I cringe at all the $$$ I would have to spend for salon color application - so please, no lectures about how I'm "ruining" my hair, etc. I'm basically very happy with my at-home haircolor. My questions are for users of at-home color to find out what they do and don't like about at-home brands. THANKS!)
Hey... I don't know how well this would work for you, given the amount of grey in your hair, but I use the temporary (level II) colors and they seem to work well. I'm 20, so I don't have to worry about the grey yet, but my mother does the same thing at 44 (although she's not very grey- probably 20% or less). I use Clairol Natural Instincts black, and get a very natural shade of black, and my hair actually feels better after coloring than before- all the tangles slide out and it feels very smooth to the touch. Sure, it's temporary, but it lasts a pretty fair length of time, and you would have to touch up your roots on a regular basis with permanent anyway. As far as conditioner goes, I like the Pantene deep conditioner, and I try to avoid shampoo as much as possible. When I do shampoo, I use Thermasilk, which doesn't seem to dry out my hair too much or fade the color.
My boyfriend just did our hair and we used the Hydrience Black. You are right. Our hair came out so natural looking and it didn't come out artificial looking as (to me) a lot of Black color tends to. Also, I found the texture of my hair to be the same as before I used it. I used some other hair color before (can't remember) and it messed up the texture of my hair and my normal Infusium products didn't work, but with the Hydrience, they work perfectly.
Chaeya
Ive had the same problem before when I got sick and tired of looking like a wannabe redhead when I naturally have raven black hair. are you sure you are rinsing all of the stuff out??? rinsing out hair color is very tricky. the water may look clear when they flow out of your hair but deep within your hair, there may be some or a lot left.
I still go for Hydrience.....and i would never go back to Auburn again. Im sticking with Black or blue black. i think the best shampoo for colored hair is Johnson's baby shampoo. I'm not kidding...it's really gentle. and i think a conditioner that's really rich and thickly creamy will work best for color treated hair. i used Salon Selectives for Damaged hair after i washed my colored hair.
Funny you should say that about the Hydrience colours - I found my hair a bit dry after dying from almost black to mid brown.The colour that came out was also a pleasing brown with very little red.i know that black hair always ends up looking abit red anyway.
However i tried the Natea range in Macadamia brown.The hair feels very shiny and looks it as well,but there is more red in there and it looks fairly obvious that the hair is dyed.