OTC Hair Color

I love henna myself.
I had tried all kinds of dyes but it was frying my hair and smelled horrible.
I can add some ground cloves to my henna mix and I smell delicious for a few days and my hair/scalp loves the vinegar.

http://www.hennaforhair.com/mixes

I use Naturtint from the Vitamin Shoppe. (www.vitaminshoppe.com). It is more natural without the things that used to give me the headaches or the smelly stuff...it hasn't faded on me yet and it doesn't make the hair coarser than it is. It costs $14.99 a box. It's more than your Walmart selections but it way less than the salon cost.

The only caveat is that because it is more natural, the color doesn't come out exactly as pictured. I had to try a couple of colors before I found the one that fit me just right. That's because it doesn't have the bleach that completely removes your natural color so it varies slightly between people. That was not a big deal for me.

Hope this helps.

M.

Go to a beauty store and get proffessional hair color. Not only is it cheaper (The amount I buy for one box of color, I buy all the supplies at Sally's and I can dye my hair 2-4 times depending on how long my hair is), but there is less ammonia which is bad for your hair. Do it, you wont regret it :D

my two cents.. the color you buy in stores has aged too. Who knows how many weeks from factory to packaging to traveling to store it took and how long it has been sitting on the shelves.

Hair dressers usually use new stuff.. I guess Sally's color would be the way to go.. if I could only find one in my area... that is...

I have been using this one. I love it! Lasts longer then the others I have noticed. Need to cover my grays! lol
http://www.lorealparisusa.com/_us/_en/default.aspx#/?page...

if you want salon quality results, and permanent color, in a natural hair color, use Wella products. the start-up cost is a bit more that your boxed at-home hair colors because you have to buy the bits (dye, developer, gloves, etc.) separately, but it's a much better value for a few reasons. 1) the color doesn't fade hardly at all, 2) the bottle of developer (and box of gloves) you buy will last through several dye jobs, so after the first time you use it, as long as you have enough of the other stuff left, all you have to get it the tube(s) of dye, and that only costs like $3. 3) it's actually the exact stuff most salons use,so you do get salon quality, literally. and 4) it doesn't do as much damage to your hair as the boxed home treatments do.

now, if you're going for an unnatural color (pink, purple, blue, etc.) the best I've found is amphigory (I've only used one of their colors so far, but it's been awesome). I've tried splat and manic panic and a couple of others, but they all faded REALLY fast. I'm talking like in 2 weeks or less it was totally faded to a completely different color (bright red to pink, dark blue to greenish teal, and vibrant purple to lavender). but I started using amphigory, put in the first dye job with it a little over a month ago, and while it has faded some, it's still VERY close to the color I had originally put in there.

you can buy Wella at just about any beauty supply store (I used to get mine at sally beauty all the time).

you can buy amphigory only online as far as I know. their website is here: http://www.amphigory.com/ the dye of theirs I used was one of their "special effects" dyes.

Clariol Nice and Easy. I haven't tried the new foam kind. It seems to last the longest and the smell isn't too bad.

I've also had good results with Revlon, but it smells.

I don't like Loreal, it turned my hair this eggplant color. Luckily it faded away within a week.

I use the L'Oreal no ammonia formula and got better results than at the salon. I can't tolerate the smell of the others. I now take the L'Oreal to the salon and my hair dresser applies it for me for small fee.

I believe that the hair color in the store is just as good as the hair color in a salon... unless you are wanting to make your hair lighter. Making it lighter can be a bit trickier than depositing color into your hair. If you want to go more than two shades lighter than your normal color, you need to go by Sally's and ask their opinion on what to get OR go see your colorist.

However, if you are just wanting to deposit color into your hair, I would go with Clariol or any that has on the box Low or No Amonia.

And this is coming from me, a hair stylist :)

When I began getting my hair colored I went to a salon. Price at that time was $25-$35 depending on length of hair. A friend of mine insisted I let her color my hair at home once and I let her. Used Loreal Excellence Creme and I've used it since. I does smell pretty strong but it only takes 30 minutes and you rinse it out. The conditioner that comes with it is awesome... too bad the company doesn't sell it separately (yes, I asked).

When I colored my hair, I bought professional color at Sally Beauty Supply. I really liked the Ion brand. My mom still uses this. They have great prices on all beauty stuff!

Depends on the color really... Clairol is known for their blondes, L'Oreal is a general overall ok, as is Revlon. The newer ones like Garnier and Matrix OTC are gaining for reds, etc.

You can also go to a Beauty Supply store that is open to the public and look into getting color and peroxide there. Unless you are really dark wanting to go really light - I'd stick to 20 volume, which helps the color last longer (even for reds!) and maybe stay in neutral or cool tones (violet is cool, neutral will say neutral, reds are cool, oranges/golds are warm) and DON'T go for ash!!

I use L'Oreal, and I agree it smells terrible. Garnier seem to smell a bit better.

I think the key to making the color last is using shampoos and conditioner that are especially made for colored hair. If you're using cheap shampoo it will strip it right out. Also I don't shampoo every day, but I do condition every day and that seems to help with the fading and the drying.

I'd also consider the actual color shade you're using... if it's something that is several shades lighter or darker than your natural shade your maintenance will be more. I have about 95 % gray if I let my hair grow naturally, and the rest is dirty blonde. The color I use is "medium golden blonde". It gives the gray highlights and covers it and the rest fades into a golden blonde color. I color about once a month or so and most people don't know that I color my hair at all.

good luck!