Question for those of you who dye with boxed hair colors

[LunaHuntress]

Any recommendations for one brand over another? I've been using Clairol Nice 'n Easy for years but now that I've got more gray in my hair I'm finding it doesn't cover as well anymore. Has anyone tried Clairol's Age Defy? Or what about L'Oreal Excellence? Both have a pre-treatment which I think might make them less damaging, but how do they cover? I wouldn't dye at all if not for the gray but I don't want to "kill" my hair in the process. It's been over 4 months since I last colored, so I don't think I need to worry about a bad interaction from using a different formula now.

[Pamala513]

I use organic hair color only. It keeps my hair much healthier, as well as no chemicals being absorbed thru the skin.

[xoChesleyy]

Have you looked into henna? Or is henna just something you aren't really interested in?

If I were you, I would just stick with organic dyes as Pamala513 mentioned, or henna.

[Cania]

I've been box dying since I was 12 - I currently use Naturtint (http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0019LX1WS/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1). It is not completely natural, but I found it much less damaging that other box dyes. Henna is only really suitable if you want red hair (I don't), don't mind a long process (I do!) and don't mind your greys going a bit orange.

I also had good experience with L'Oreal Casting Crème Gloss both on my hair with baby greys and my mother's full head of silvers. I did prefer Naturtint.

Both brands cover my TBL hair using just one box.

[SkyChild]

I've used all three brands - L'Oreal, Clairol and Nice and Easy.
I'd say L'Oreal is my favourite bright colours and lightening brand. Nice and easy is the one I use to go back to my natural brown after all sorts of wacky colours and Clairol was a bit "meh". The one you add a drop of oil to it (L'Oreal preference I think) definitely feels less damaging but can be a little runny to put on.

I have no grey hair yet so no idea how they cover greys.
Nice and easy seem to cover my Mum's pretty well

[LunaHuntress]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I thought about henna, but I want to stay as close to my natural color (dark brown) as possible and the thought of the gray streaks turning orange horrify me. :D

I'll see if the Naturtint is available near me ( I don't like buying hair color over the internet since it's hard to judge colors). I know I've seen boxes of hair color in the health food section of my supermarket but never really noticed the name.

[Sandrawoah]

I've been dying my hair with boxed hair dyes for a couple years, and I recommend L'Oreal Excellence :)

[Rosetta]

I use organic hair color only. It keeps my hair much healthier, as well as no chemicals being absorbed thru the skin.
The so-called "organic" hair colours (like Naturtint, Herbatint and Tints of Nature) have mostly the same chemicals as the other brands (minus ammonia, usually), they're only slightly more gentle. They are perfectly fine dyes and I like to use them, it's just quite annoyingly misleading for them to be marketed as having "no chemicals", as that's simply not true.
Of course, it may be that you were referring to plant-based dyes (like Logona or Sante), in which case the "no chemicals" is actually true. :)

As to the OP's question, I cannot really comment on which ones are good for grey as I have none yet, but I'm surprised to hear Clairol Nice n Easy doesn't cover grey, as it's marketed especially for grey hair (and the boxes do say "100% grey cover" or the like)?

[Venefica]

I use Loreal but I can not remember any pre treatment in it. I use black number one and it cover fine, I do not bleach my hair and my hair go from dark blond to black pretty well and while there is a hint of being able to see the natural color through I think that just make it seam more natural, so I am happy with it.

[Cania]

The so-called "organic" hair colours (like Naturtint, Herbatint and Tints of Nature) have mostly the same chemicals as the other brands (minus ammonia, usually), they're only slightly more gentle. They are perfectly fine dyes and I like to use them, it's just quite annoyingly misleading for them to be marketed as having "no chemicals", as that's simply not true.

Agreed. I find Naturtint much less harsh, interestingly it doesn't make my scalp itch and it seems to damage my hair much less... But it is definitely not chemical free!

[LunaHuntress]

As to the OP's question, I cannot really comment on which ones are good for grey as I have none yet, but I'm surprised to hear Clairol Nice n Easy doesn't cover grey, as it's marketed especially for grey hair (and the boxes do say "100% grey cover" or the like)?

Pretty much all brands promise gray coverage, some deliver, some don't. Maybe my grays are just especially stubborn but now that I have more than just the odd hair here and there the color seems to fade twice as fast as before. Which means I was coloring more often and my hair was getting seriously dry and damaged, which is why I'm looking into less damaging formulas. But then again, if it gentler it might not work on my grays at all. *sigh* I might just have to end up relying on trial and error to find the right one for me. Thanks for the replies.

[Rosetta]

Yes, unfortunately trial and error is mostly the best, or sometimes the only way, to find the most suitable product - the same as with other haircare products :) Have you tried Garnier Olia, with oils and no ammonia? It's supposed to be gentler, though don't know about grey coverage.


It's been over 4 months since I last colored, so I don't think I need to worry about a bad interaction from using a different formula now.
I somehow overlooked this in your original post; to be honest, I've never heard that using different brands of hair dye could have any kind of bad interaction! (I don't think I've myself hardly ever used the same brand two times in a row, in fact ;)) The only kind of bad interaction I know of is between chemical dye and compound henna (which doesn't apply to pure henna).

[LunaHuntress]

Maybe it doesn't apply to switching between at home brands but when I was trying to get rid of the copper and blonde highlights I had professionally put in I called the Clairol color advice hotline and they advised me it wouldn't be a good idea. I guess the dyes they use in salons can interact badly with boxed colors? :shrug: I tend to believe what I was told since the consultant was basically telling me not to use their product as opposed to trying to make a sale.

I saw the Olia the other day when I was looking around in the health & beauty department. I'll have to look into the gray coverage.

[Rosetta]

Maybe it doesn't apply to switching between at home brands but when I was trying to get rid of the copper and blonde highlights I had professionally put in I called the Clairol color advice hotline and they advised me it wouldn't be a good idea. I guess the dyes they use in salons can interact badly with boxed colors? :shrug: I tend to believe what I was told since the consultant was basically telling me not to use their product as opposed to trying to make a sale.
Hmm, I'd say it was more them trying to avoid legal issues should you have ended up with an unwanted result when using their product ;) (And tbh, those hotlines don't sound very knowledgeable to me anyway, from everything I've heard.)
Also, home dyes and salon dyes have basically the same ingredients, I'm not sure where the idea that they're different has come from. (Probably created by salon industry to make people prefer their services, I'd guess...)

[Cania]

My mother's salon used to use Clairol. I've never seen it react with a box dye (and it never reacted with mine) so I agree, they were probably just being cautious. In general, a strand and patch test are the way to go :)

ETA: I always find salon dyes, especially Clairol, much harsher than box dyes and much more damaging. YMMV of course, and I have no idea if there is a difference chemically or not!

[Dandelion6]

I use clairol nice and easy. I have for years and I have a ton of silvers around the front and sides. It seems to work really well. I notice that you and I both have m/ii hair but yours is straight and mine is wavy. If you are not getting good gray coverage you might want to try leaving on 10 minutes longer and see if it takes any better. Also, when I dye my roots I do it the day after a wash day. I think that the amount of oil present near the roots might also have an effect on the penetration of the dye. Just some food for thought. I am no expert!

[LunaHuntress]

Thanks for the advice, Dandelion. I had tried leaving it on my sideburns (where the most gray is) for 10 minutes longer than the rest of my hair, for a total 35 minutes, but maybe I needed to go longer. The instructions say you can leave it on for as much as 45 but I was always chicken to go that long.

Ok, after much deliberation, listening to everyone who answered my original post and spending way too much time in the hair care isle reading boxes, I've made my choice. I'm going with Clairol's Age Defy for two reasons: I've used Clairol since I was a teen (found my first gray hair at 16 :( ) and know how my hair reacts to it, and it's formulated for "mature" hair and promises lasting color even on resistant grays. I've got tomorrow off, so after I run some errands I'll see how it goes.

Thanks to everyone who responded.

[Dandelion6]

Just looked up that product. It looks good. Best of luck....would love to hear about the results when you get a chance.

[LunaHuntress]

Well, it's currently "percolating" on my head as we speak, and I can tell you right now, I will NEVER buy Age Defy again. Not because of the end result (I don't know what that will be yet) but because the prep was a nightmare, starting with the "smoothing pre-treatment" package. The teeny, tiny, ity, bity, little pre-treatment packet. If I had SL hair or shorter I guess it would be enough. Maybe. But my slightly longer than BSL hair wasn't even half covered before I ran out. Then there was the color crème you have to add to the activating crème. In Nice 'n Easy it was a liquid you just pour into the applicator bottle. It was easy to make sure you got it all out. The crème was in a toothpaste like tube. Ever try and get all the toothpaste out of a tube by squeezing, then rubbing the tube against a straight edge to get the last bit that wouldn't come out? Yeah. I had to do that several times and I'm pretty sure I didn't get it all, so who knows what the color will look like when it's done.

*sigh* Looks like in 8 weeks it'll be back to the drawing board.

[LunaHuntress]

Oh, and I forgot to mention the smell. It's way stronger than NNE. So much so that even with it being cold and rainy out I had to open the windows just to be able to breathe. Which is lots of fun when your hair is wet. *grumble*

[Rosa Harris]

My mother's salon used to use Clairol. I've never seen it react with a box dye (and it never reacted with mine) so I agree, they were probably just being cautious. In general, a strand and patch test are the way to go :)

ETA: I always find salon dyes, especially Clairol, much harsher than box dyes and much more damaging. YMMV of course, and I have no idea if there is a difference chemically or not!

I always used Clairol's salon dyes. I love that I can mix and play with colors and how they process much more than box dyes. My mom was a master beautician and color specialist and I worked under her license back when you could do that.

I have sworn off tho.

The reason they seem more damaging has to do with how the stylist decides to mix it. Too many rush the process and use 40 volume peroxide when it could have been processed with 10 or 20 volume but with a longer processing time. You only need 10 volume to deposit dye and 30 is used to lift the color - mae it lighter shade than natural. Also, it does not come with a conditioning treatment so the product the sylsit uses after the treatment might not be so good but she may be convinced its the best thing going.

[Cania]

I always used Clairol's salon dyes. I love that I can mix and play with colors and how they process much more than box dyes. My mom was a master beautician and color specialist and I worked under her license back when you could do that.

I have sworn off tho.

The reason they seem more damaging has to do with how the stylist decides to mix it. Too many rush the process and use 40 volume peroxide when it could have been processed with 10 or 20 volume but with a longer processing time. You only need 10 volume to deposit dye and 30 is used to lift the color - mae it lighter shade than natural. Also, it does not come with a conditioning treatment so the product the sylsit uses after the treatment might not be so good but she may be convinced its the best thing going.

I've just read my post again and realised I was thinking of CLYNOL :doh: How silly I am! Your point still stands though, how interesting. I only had it applied by the professional stylists, too anxious to use it myself.