What sort of dye should I be using?

[Mochaccino]

I'm new here, so forgive me if this question is stupid. :p I dye my hair dark brown to cover grays. I just use regular drug store dye. I'm only 26, by the way, so I'm just not ready to embrace the gray. My "grays" are actually stark white, thick, wiry and very resistant to coloring. Is there a less damaging dye I could use that could completely cover my resistant grays? I'm open to colors other than dark brown. Could I do a color other than dark brown without stripping my hair? Remember, my hair is already dyed dark brown (which is also my natural color), and I don't plan on using a drug store color stripper. What can I do? My hair already needs to be dyed again.

[Amanah]

http://www.hennahairdye.net/buyhennadye.html

[Mochaccino]

I've heard that henna is not effective for covering stubborn grays. Does anyone know if that's true? I've also heard of powders, glazes and color depositing shampoos, but I don't know enough about them. How do they compare to henna? Which products are the least damaging?

[Mochaccino]

Amanah, after looking through some of the results on that site, I'm pretty convinced it'll work for grays. Now I'm just wondering how a reddish shade of henna will look on very dark brown hair :shrug:

[Konstifik]

Henna is usually very effective in covering, I can't think of any better natural alternative. However, henna only comes in red shades.

[hootski]

I've found henna with indigo (especially a 2-step) is awesome for covering greys and getting dark brown, particularly after repeated applications. No it's not quite the same as conventional dyes with the solid colour you get, but the bonus is you're improving the quality of your hair!

Besides, I found with conventional dye, the length often lightened up with shampooing anyway. I find with henna/indigo, my length stays nice and dark (granted I am now using much less harsh shampoos, like Burts Bees, and oiling my ends).

I find as I continue to use henna/indigo, the farther down my length the harder it is to tell which ones were grey and which ones were already naturally dark brown.

[Mochaccino]

Thanks everyone! :D I think I'm gonna take a small risk and go with pure henna. If I don't like it I can just correct it with the indigo.

[Vanille_]

My signature is me with Manic Panic Vampire Red used on dark brown hair. It covers my white hairs beautifully. It's a very safe dye to use.
It looks red in the sun and bright lights and brown in lower lights.

[Mochaccino]

Hmmm... Vanille, maybe I should go with a conventional deposit hair color after all. I just don't know.

[Vanille_]

Hmmm... Vanille, maybe I should go with a conventional deposit hair color after all. I just don't know.

Manic Panic is a vegan dye. My hair actually feels better after using it. You can find it at your local Sally's if you have one.

ETA: if you look in my album, you can see how different it looks in different lights. Most of those pictures are all the same color - except the last two.

[Mochaccino]

"Conventional" probably isn't the right word. I want a deposit hair color that's not damaging, but what do I look for? Some of the "punky" brands, like Manic Panic, seem to be a completely different kind of product then normal drugstore hair dye. Whats the diff? What do I avoid?

[Mochaccino]

What non-damaging, deposit hair color options are normally recommended around here?

[Amethyste]

I second manic Panic. I do the Vampire Red on my hair and it covers my whites completely and beautifully! I use heat for 45-1hr (gives me time to catch up with TLHC). then let it sit on my head for another 2 hours. I also do henna every 2 months so when the MP fades, the read is underneath and it looks good. It washes out unfortunately so I have to redo my hair every 9-10 days. I CWC every 2-3 days. I heard that Pravanas VIVIDs are more permanent than MP and you might like that more. I am all for deposit colors, they are better for your hair in my opinion.

I am about to oder ELUMEN, so maybe I can achieve the MP Vampire Red with Elumen and not have to worry about the fading or redoing my hair every 9-10 days... :)

[Amethyste]

What non-damaging, deposit hair color options are normally recommended around here?

La Riche
Pravana
Special FX
Manic Panic
Elumen
Henna
Kool Aid
(few that comes to mind)

[Mochaccino]

Wow Amethyste, that's extremely helpful. Now I just have force myself to choose a color. :mad: Will any of these react badly with the dark drugstore dye already on my head?

[Amethyste]

Wow Amethyste, that's extremely helpful. Now I just have force myself to choose a color. :mad: Will any of these react badly with the dark drugstore dye already on my head?

As you know, these are color deposit only, so it will not lighten your hair, but coat it with the color molecules you are going with. I don't think it will react with the previous dye you have underneath. since your color is a dark brown, you can do Vampire Red and you can also get other manic panic colors and mix them to get close to the color you want. you can mix 1 part of black to 3 parts of red to get to a rich dark brown, you'll have to experiment, which is cool with that because eventually, the color fades and you can try something else if what you did before wasn't what you were expecting ~ give you chance to tweak out your mix. Before you jump into the more "professional limes" like Elumen, Pravana I would get myself to Sally Beauty supply (or public beauty store) ans try on a Manic panic color. It's pretty non-commital cause it washes away fairly fast. I did this with my hair to see if I like the Burgundy color before I'd jump into the Elumen (its a color deposit only but is quite permanent actually). After close to a month of doing it, I still like it, so thanks to the MP, I was able to test first :)

[swearnsue]

I use henna to cover my grays and really love the result. I'm about 10 or 20 percent gray with medium brown hair. The henna makes the brown a deep dark auburn and the grays are a medium copper red. I henna often and sometimes mix cassia with the henna. The henna has made my thin hair stronger and smoothes the cuticle. But...it is permanent color so make sure your skin tone would look good with the warm colors of henna before you use it. There is a good website, hennaforhair.com that can explain all the pros and cons of henna and other herbs used for coloring.