Changing hair colour- What kind of dye do you use?

[Dreamkitty]

I have never dyed my hair before but I want to now. My hair is extremely dark brown- it looks black, but I want to make it a lighter shade, just "dark brown".

My mum dyes her hair dark brown, her reason for using it is to cover some of the grey hairs she has. It lasts for about 6 weeks.

I was wondering if I can use my mum's dye? on the package it says "covers all grey hairs". I don't have grey hairs, I just want to change my hair colour, so is it safe to use or are there seperate hair dyeing products to use for changing hair colours? because I was getting excited to use some of it but I want to be on the safe side.:D

What did you guys use?

[Crazycatlady]

Hey Dreamkitty...before I started growing my hair a year ago I used L'Oreal Preference. It's a box dye and the kind I got was for all over your hair. When I decided to grow my hair out from a pixie cut, I wanted more of a high-lighted look so I went to my hair stylist and had a couple of foils put in. I really like doing this now, it's not too expensive since I only get a few foils at a time, plus, I don't have to go very often now that my hair has brown and blonde streaks. You might consider having highlights put in since you've never had it colored before. That way you can see how you like the color change. I couldn't believe how much I LOVED the first lowlight (brown) streaks I had added to my blonde hair. It was only 2 chunkey ones, but they really did make a difference.

But your question regarding box dyes that say they cover grey hair, that is fine for you to use, too. :) Good luck!

[Dreams_in_Pink]

Erm, if you put dark brown dye over your dark brown hair, it wouldn't change a thing :D I'm not a dye expert, but my mom says colors come out way darker than the preview on the box. You may want to get a medium brown dye if you want to go lighter. Or you can have a few highlights (at a salon). Since this is your first, maybe you can try on a few wigs to find exactly your shade. It gives a nice idea of the color you feel good with.

[amaiaisabella]

I use Natural Instincts dye by Clairol. I love it! I use the Ebony Mocha shade, which is brown black with some reddish undertones. It's very dark, and I have medium brown hair normally.

The thing is, you have to be careful what shade you choose, no matter which line. Hair color, for the most part, will usually turn a shade darker than the box suggests. I would choose a box a few shades lighter than you think you need- if it comes out too light, you can always go darker, but you can't go lighter without stripping off what you put on.

I'd suggest looking for a color with "golden" or "reddish" tones in it so your hair doesn't turn too dark and ashy. If you have any questions, please feel free to PM me :)

[Demetrue]

A semi-permanent dye (these are often used just to cover grays) will only deposit color or darken color, it will not lighten (if the box says lasts 28 shampoos, then it won't lighten your hair). You need to use a permanent dye with 20 vol. peroxide, which can lighten your hair up to 2, maybe 3 shades. The two problems are that you may end up with orange tones and you will have dark roots showing within 3 weeks that you will need to re-dye every month. You could put in some light brown highlights to break up the darker color and the regrowth would be less obvious.

[KittyLost]

It is fine to use a dye that says covers all greys, even if you don't have any! It's just an indication to how strong the dye is.

I agree with all the above posters, whatever the colour on the box it will come out a shade darker and maybe fade lighter. To go from nearly black to a dark brown you would have to lighten a little I'd guess, otherwise to see a colour difference you may have to enhance some red or golden tones.

When dying my hair brown I used to use Nice and Easy permanent colours my favourite was 112 dark reddish brown and I loved it, but now I use L'oreal Perfect 10 because sitting for 10minutes with dye on your head is more fun than sitting for 30-40minutes :p also it is a lot closer to my natural colour so I always pop it on after dying my hair some crazy colour so I can grow it nicely.

I think you should go with the highlights that were suggested, they can be more fun :)

[Dreamkitty]

Thanks guys for the advice, I might try highlights or maybe I can let my mum put the hair colour on for me. She doesn't like the idea of me dyeing my hair because she wants me to stay natural and thinks my hair colour is fine the way it is lol.:D

My hair colour looks black even though its supposed to be the darkest shade of brown. I want to stay natural to my hair colour. I like the idea of reddish brown. I want my hair colour to be dark brown, I just don't want it to look black.

Here is a pic of Anne Hathaway and Kristen Kreuk as an example of the hair colour I want. What shade are their hair colour, in these pics? I am clueless lol

http://i53.tinypic.com/23iuxx3.jpg
http://i51.tinypic.com/no8s20.jpg

[KittyLost]

The first picture has reddish tones to me, if you used a dye with red tones chances are you'll probably end up with something similiar!

The second picture looks like the ash brown I dye my hair with.

[Dreamkitty]

The first picture has reddish tones to me, if you used a dye with red tones chances are you'll probably end up with something similiar!

The second picture looks like the ash brown I dye my hair with.

Thank you:). I really like those hair colours. I have olive skin tone so I don't want my hair colour too go too light.

What is hair colour is darker then ash brown?