What's the best, easiest home hair color product?

[Biyanna]

I hate coloring my hair myself. I like to go to the beauty school. Coloring cost less than what a salon would charge. Mine only cost 22.00 I get a great coloring, the student gets a much needed hair color credit to graduate and it is all supervised by an instructor. The price of being a woman!

 

[musicfan]

I have to put another vote in for L'Oreal Castings if you are going the semipermanent route. It is VERY easy, VERY longlasting and looks great. I'm a natural auburn with a fair amount of grey coming in. Unlike the Nice 'n Easy, which was a rinse and faded in about two shampoos, the Castings lasts about two and a half or three months in my hair, which is resistant to taking color -- especially the grey hair! I was amazed because I shampoo every day and the color just lasts and lasts. I'm too chicken to do a permanent color yet, so the Castings works great.

 

[Steffi]

L'oreal Feria or L'oreal Open products have my vote. If you pick a good shade for yourself, you can get very natural-looking & long-lasting results

 

[annemariec]

I started greying early too Zurgswife. My mother has told me to just let it go, it's too much trouble --- but I'm not ready for grey hair!

Carrieberry I know exactly what you mean about pre-lightened hair fading quickly after coloring it darker. And the blonde becoming brassy with sunlight or special shampoo.

I had quite a bit of my hair cut off to a chin length bob, with a little bit of a bang. It's a nice spring cut, but mainly I did it to cut out the blonde. Went back to the salon a few weeks later and added some layers to get more cut out. It looks kinda like a dirty blonde now. It has more body too. All that processing really takes it out of your hair! Don't know what I'll do once more of the medium brown starts really showing through the roots and all. (I've tried red highlights and blonde highlights) --- For now, I'll probably stay with the lighter color highlights. It's been highlighted so heavily it's had an almost all over color effect. Luckily, it's blended to look dirty blonde. Don't know long that will last though. So I'm just planning ahead for the next step, researching the products to try at home.

DH helped out the last time I tried it at home. It was so funny. I was surprised that he just jumped right in there! No complaints! I was lucky. It's no fun doing it by yourself. I have a hard time seeing the color changing.

Anyways, I'm averaging about $100 a month on highlighting (That's without a haircut!). $1200 a year --- Now that would be a good chunk of change for a Disney vacation!

Well, thanks again for all of your responses. It will help me to make a more informed decision.

Annemarie

 

[Muushka]

OK, I prefer L'oreal . But my budget tip is:

I have little less than shoulder length hair. I find that I can split the product in half and get 2 colorings out of 1 box! How cheap am I????

 

[funnygarcia]

Has anyone tried for the free hair color? I luckily got the herbal essence one (try a few minutes after /before the hr more likely to get one) AND snagged the Garnier Lumia one (click on Haven't colored-- would like to try, answer the questions for the site to find your color- when they find your color it says " order free sample" underneath it) this one is not always open for some reason ... It 's worth the time to try to get this freebie instead of shelling out the cash for some - plus you get to try a new shade before anyone else!
I used the half the pkg trick too- the other half went for DH who wanted a little bit of color - lots of grey on him lol- and he's younger than me ! (28/31)

 

[Gillian]

The Garnier freebie is working tonight. It hasn't worked for me before, in lots of tries. I got the herbal essenses one at 6 am a few days ago! Now I just have to be brave enough to try them. I only have 1 gray hair & I just pulled it out

Here is a link to the rewards board, where they have a thread on the free samples:

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=199160

Am I allowed to do that on the budget board?

Good luck with your hair!

 

[jesdmill1]

I have naturally dark blonde hair and I dye it bright auburn (looks better with my pale skin - the blonde is washed out.) I go to the salon now because the products they use there have a higher peroxide content and the red doesn't fade as quickly (red fades sooo quick!)

I used to color my hair lighter blonde than natural at home all the time. I recommend Loreal Feria. It's the best home color out there, in my opinion. Some of the medium browns are really pretty, and the blondes are nice (except the irridescent ones - Bliss, Bloom, and blush - they have a pink cast!) Avoid anything with a red cast to it or it will fade quicker, and also probably be brighter than you want since your hair has already been lightened. The conditioner with the Feria is awesome, as someone above said. You can even buy the conditioner by itself at Sally Beauty!

Good luck - make sure to use plenty of color (2 boxes if you need to, although Feria is more generous than many brands). Do a strand test (I can't emphasize this enough - you can avoid some mistakes that way!), and get someone to help you if you can, to make sure you get the color applied evenly. Good luck - I'm sure it will be great, and think how much you will save! Since I have all over color rather than highlights now I pay about 70 a month, but I often wish I could do mine at home - I just love the look I get now at the salon and I'm chicken