hair dye

The 5 Best Home Hair Dyes

Andrea Cannon — Fri, 22 Jul 2016 09:30:36 +0000

Why spend the money dying your hair at a salon when you can get the same results at home for a fraction of the cost? In order to get the best results, you need the best at-home dye that will leave your hair soft, shiny, and conditioned. Just imagine all the money you’ll save.

What Is Home Hair Dye?

Home hair dye is a cosmetic product that can change the color of your hair or hide stray grays. Many celebrity hairstylists agree that drugstore hair color kits can be just as effective as what you’d find at the salons. Permanent hair dye can provide long-lasting results, while demi- and semi-permanent dyes are gentler on the hair, but won’t last quite as long.

The vast majority of women color their hair at home already, so you’re in good company. However, if you’ve never dyed your hair at home before, don’t skip the important strand test and watch some helpful online videos to get you started.

Top 5 Home Hair Dyes

Clairol Natural Instincts Hair Color

The Clairol Natural Instincts Hair Color is less damaging to the hair, compared to other dyes. It offers even coverage, unbeatable shine, and will leave your hair silky soft with beneficial ingredients like aloe, coconut oil, and vitamin E. It works in only 10 minutes and results in clinically proven healthier hair. It also has a pleasant, fruity scent thanks to the low-peroxide formula. The ammonia-free, demi-permanent color is also fade-resistant, so it will last a long time, even on gray hair. It is expected to last up to six weeks, or through 28 washes. It includes a ColorFresh Revitalizer, which can revitalize your color after two weeks by adding color pigments back into your hair in only five minutes.

This comes in 33 shades of radiant colors. Consumer Search selected it as the best nonpermanent hair color, while Good Housekeeping selected it as the best overall dye, in any shade. It is also recommended by Real Simple, InStyle, and Total Beauty.

Currently $7.94 on Amazon

L’Oréal Paris Superior Preference

A number of celebrity hairstylists agree that the L’Oréal Paris Superior Preference dyes are just as good as professional color. The permanent dye offers long-lasting, bright color with natural tones that can beautifully cover stubborn grays. It has a pro-precise applicator tip, making it easy to use. The cream-gel formula will leave your hair soft, silky, conditioned, and ultra-shiny. It also includes a six-treatment supply of shine serum packed with camelina oil, vitamin E, and a UV filter, which will leave your hair increasingly softer and shinier with each use. It offers up to eight weeks of luminous, translucent, fade-defying color with no fading or turning dull or brassy.

This comes in 53 vibrant shades. Consumer Search selected it as the best hair color overall, while Real Simple selected it as the best color for blondes. It has been the recipient of five Allure Readers’ Choice Awards, is a Total Beauty Top-Rated Beauty Product, and is also recommended by InStyle. If you’re looking for something with highlights and more shimmer and dimension, try the L'Oreal Paris Feria Multi-Faceted Shimmering Color, which is recommended by Real Simple and InStyle.

Currently $9.99 on Amazon

Clairol Nice 'n Easy Perfect 10 Permanent Color

The Clairol Nice 'n Easy Perfect 10 Permanent Color has micro pearls for ultra shine and bold colors. The high-gloss color can give you shiny, highly pigmented hair for weeks. The patented Perfect Color Comb allows you to quickly cover every single hair, so you have even coverage, even over gray hair. The powerful permanent crème dye works in only 10 minutes and is very easy to use. It will add depth and dimension to the natural tones of your hair.

This comes in 24 shades of rich, vibrant, long-lasting color. It is recommended by professional hairstylists and publications like InStyle and Elle. The Clairol Nice 'n Easy Root Touch-Up is the recipient of multiple awards and is recommended by countless magazines and the best choice if you only need to touch-up your roots.

Currently $12.79 on Amazon

Vidal Sassoon Salonist Hair Color

The Vidal Sassoon Salonist Hair Color Permanent Color has a unique two-step process that ensures salon-quality results every time. It treats the roots first and then the lengths separately, similar to a salon’s process. It offers even, lasting coverage and will perfectly coat every single hair with vibrant, seamlessly blended color, full of depth and tone. It also includes six weekly treatments worth of a color preserving conditioner, which can lock in color and condition your hair, leaving it soft, silky, and shiny.

This is salon-developed and frequently recommended by professional hairstylists. It has more than 700 five-star reviews on Amazon and is recommended by The Huffington Post.

Currently $8.99 on Amazon

Revlon Frost & Glow Highlighting Kit

If you’re interested in highlighting your hair and changing up your look, the ammonia-free Revlon Frost & Glow Highlighting Kit will provide the shimmering, non-brassy highlights you’d expect from a salon. It is frequently recommended by professional hairstylists because it causes little to no damage to the hair. It comes with a pull-through cap, which allows you to highlight only the areas you want. It’s easy to use, works quickly, and can help you achieve a natural, sun-kissed look. The formula and included conditioner work together to moisturize and protect the hair, so it feels softer and silkier after processing.

This is available in two shades to help you find the right level of blonde for your skin tone. Consumer Search selected this as the best highlighting kit, it is a Total Beauty Top-Rated Beauty Product, and is recommended by endless beauty vloggers. There are also countless online videos that can help you create an ombre or balayage look with this kit. If you’d rather have a kit to help you achieve an ombre look, try the award-winning Feria Brush-on Ombre Effect Hair Color, which is recommended by Allure, The Today Show, and The Huffington Post.

Currently $3.39 on Amazon

And those are our recommendations for the best home hair dyes. As always, be sure to check Wise Bread's Buying Calendar to learn when and how to buy just about anything!

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This article is from Andrea Cannon of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

Frugal Changes You Don't Want to Make — But Can

Anna Newell Jones — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 10:36:42 +0000

We all know there are frugal changes we should be making but just don't want to. Some require just a little too much forethought, a little too much sacrifice, and let's be honest — they are just a little too inconvenient.

After the initial hump of discomfort, these frugal changes can easily become a part of your daily life. (See also: 5 Dreams You Won't Achieve Unless You Live Below Your Means)

1. Take the Internet Off Your Phone

It's very expensive to constantly be tapped in. My phone bill skyrocketed (up $60) when I decided to add the internet to my phone. Efficiency books and websites suggest focusing on one thing at a time, so by removing the internet you get the dual benefit of being more efficient and saving money.

2. Let Your Hair Be Its Natural Color

For the longest time I fought this one because my mousy, slightly ashy brown locks just couldn't compete with the blond I craved to be. Every four to six weeks my dark roots would pop out and beg for a cover-up. I finally convinced myself to go three shades darker than I usually did. While it's taken a very long time to get used to the darker color, I love it when I realize how much time and money I've been able to save by doing something as simple as switching to a more natural hair color. My current 'do is going on its fourth month, and roots are no where to be seen; this could never have happened if I was still a faux blond.

3. Carry a Water Bottle

Stash a reusable, BPA-free water bottle in your bag and fill it up at the water fountain when it starts to run low. Not only will you save money by foregoing store-purchased bottled water, you'll also be helping the environment and keeping yourself healthy and hydrated.

4. Turn Down the Invitation

This is a tough one. It's hard to admit that you can't (or shouldn't) do something that you know you can't afford. After all, no one wants to be a Debbie Downer. Politely decline the invite or offer up a less-expensive alternative, if appropriate.

5. Stop Buying New Clothes

This is another painful one to consider, but it's surprisingly freeing once it's implemented. If you're anything like me, you get sucked into the new season's trends and spend a lot of time looking at clothes and items online. When I was in full spending fast mode, I was shocked to see how much extra time I had on my hands. I rethought my wardrobe, dyed my cotton clothes with RIT dye to refresh them, and planned clothing and accessories swaps with friends to get new-to-me clothes and accessories. An unexpected benefit of the swaps was that it provided a fun, free, and unique reason to get together with friends.

Is there a frugal change you know you should be making but just can't get yourself to do?

This article is from Anna Newell Jones of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

Dye Your Own Hair Without a Beauty Disaster

Carrie Kirby — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 10:24:22 +0000

Since the recession began, more and more Americans are trying home hair coloring for the first time.

Even those who don't give up their professional colorist altogether are stretching the time between visits with at-home touch-ups, said Stacey Jones, a color expert who helped develop Sally Beauty Supply's house brand.

Using chemicals at home — and trying to match the results of trained, experienced experts — can be scary and challenging for first timers. One salon manager told me he has a standard line for panicked callers with botched DIY dye jobs: "Quit your bitchin' — you did it in the kitchen!"

Yet Jones and beauty expert Paula Begoun assured me that there's no need to fear a foray into kitchen cosmetology.

"Not only are drugstore dyes safe, they are chemically IDENTICAL to what a salon uses. The chemistry of dyeing hair is not something only salon lines know about. Beside, many of the companies making hair dyes for salons are the exact same companies making the drugstore versions," Begoun told me in an email. Begoun writes the website CosmeticsCop.com, which offers advice and sells beauty products, but not hair color.

Below are Begoun and Jones' pointers for dyeing your own hair. (See also: 5 Hair Conditioners You Can Make at Home)

Stick to "Demi-Permanent" Color as a Beginner

This dye is ammonia-free and does not remove your natural color. Despite the name, today's demi-permanent tins last as long as "permanent" color, Jones said.

Ensure Even Results With Pre- and Post-Color Treatments

These products are sold separately in beauty supply stores. Jones recommends a pre-color treatment to even out the porosity of each strand of hair, so that the ends don't end up darker than the rest. After-color sealer prevents the color from washing out too quickly.

Get Expert Guidance

"Do not hesitate to call the consumer help line with any questions. They are trained to assist you and make sure you’ve not only chosen the best color but that you apply it so you get the results you want," Begoun said. Many beauty stores also staff color experts who can help you select the right color on the spot, Jones said.

Tap a Friend to Help You

One of the reasons that salon jobs tend to look better than home jobs is the colorist's expertise, but another advantage is that the colorist can see your whole head, not just the part you can see in the mirror. A friend can help you achieve all-over even color.

Know When to Go Pro

For example, Begoun advises leaving highlights to the professionals. "A salon professional is skilled in the mixing and application of color when only certain strands are to be dyed," Begoun said. "Trying to do this at home, even with special highlighting kits, rarely works well."

What brand of hair dye should you purchase? That depends whom you ask.

Begoun said that "the dyes available from major brands sold in drugstores are outstanding."

But Jones, understandably since she works for Sally Beauty Supply, prefers to shop at a beauty supply store. For one thing, a salon store tends to have more choices of shades. If you're using permanent color, professional color supplies purchased in beauty supply stores tend to have less ammonia than the drugstore equivalents, Jones said.

For more home hair color tips from Jones and Begoun, see Sally Beauty's Ask the Color Expert page or The Cosmetic Cop's Hair Care section.

This article is from Carrie Kirby of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

Would You Stop Coloring Your Hair?

Andrea Karim — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 01:01:29 +0000

My hair started turning gray when I was a teenager. At first, it was just a weird little wiry white hair here and there. Then, a few longer strands. But it wasn't until I was 21, living on my own in the big city, that I noticed that I was really, really going gray. It wasn't a big deal — I was young and favored home coloring kits. I went from black to blonde to brown and over to red. It was fun.

As I got older, I started caring a bit more about the kinds of chemicals that I was putting on my hair and skin, so I decided to grow my gray out for a while. With shortly cropped hair, this didn't take long, and before long, I was able to march into the hairdresser and have the remaining colored ends trimmed away, revealing my now natural gray and light brown tresses. What should have been a fairly liberating moment was dampened only by the fact that I suddenly looked, after a few snips of hair had fallen away, about 15 years older than I actually was.

My face was suddenly washed out. Crow's feet that I had never noticed waved happily from the corners of my eyes. My cheeks, normally rosy and flushed, suddenly looked wan and sallow. Not only was I gray, I was unevenly gray. My dreams of having great streaks of white and gray strands across the top of a chic hairdo were crushed when I realized that I had inherited my father's hair color: white and gray in a big band that stretched from temple to temple along the back of my head, in a definite mimicry of what I would look like with male pattern baldness. To make matters worse, I only had some gray (mixed with a pale, mousy brown) on the top. I was no Helen Mirren, that's for damn sure.

I gulped, smiled bravely at my stylist, who was gazing worriedly at me in the mirror, and then ran home to dye my hair back to a flattering shade of chestnut. That was about three years ago.

Recently, I decided to give it a second try. Gray hair is tricky — it does age one's face. Men seem to get away with gray hair more readily than women. Jon Stewart, Keith Olbermann, and Anderson Cooper are just some examples of men I see in the media who wear gray hair very well. It's harder for women to get away with, partly because the popular media considers us largely past our prime by the time we hit 35, whereas men are still considered foxy and desirable well into their 50s (or... well, however Paul Newman was.... rrrrowr).

But even without cultural idiosyncrasies dancing around in our heads, there are certain indicators of youth that, when removed, are shocking. (Check out this doctored photo of what Condoleezza Ricewould look like with gray hair.) Other odd things that make or break one's youthful look? Longer canine teeth and full lips. Who knew, right?

Anyway, this time I am sticking with the gray, both for the sake of saving $75 every three weeks, and also to be free from the tyranny of having to constantly alter so much of my appearance to suit society's needs. I already shave my legs and wear makeup and style my hair and wear deodorant and all other kinds of things to make myself societally acceptable (you're welcome). In a way, I feel like I'm giving myself a break.

I won't say that I'm 100% comfortable with my hair right now. When I wear my tan trench coat, I am convinced that I look like Colombo. Whenever I put on reading glasses, I truly feel like I am channeling my inner, elderly librarian (not that librarians don't rock — they do). At 31, I sometimes feel like I should be wearing bold, daring colors and multiple nose rings, but the truth is, I'm too lazy to maintain an eccentric personal style. I wear black not because I am chic, but because I spill coffee down the front of my shirt every single morning. So allowing my body to do the things that it seems ready to do is a natural choice. And easy choice. A really, really lazy choice.

And I'm happy with lazy.

Below are some beauty tips I've compiled from a variety of other online articles about how to decorate your face once you let your grays grow out. These actually do make a bit of a difference in countering the slightly aging effect of my hair.

If you have fair skin, you may need to consider a slightly darker foundation. Just a smidge darker, nothing too orangey.
You will need more blush. Period. Highlight those cheekbones and don't be afraid of those slightly iridescent highlighting creams that are meant to make you look all dewy and youthful.
Don't fake tan or apply bronzer. Unless you have an olive complexion or very warm tones in your non-grey hair, brown and tan tones look oddly muddy against white or gray hair.
Some people will tell you that you can no longer where bright shades of eye shadow or lipstick. This is certainly true for me, but there's no reason why you can't experiment a bit.
Try colors that never looked good on you. I could never wear blue mascara before I went gray. Now, it actually looks really good, and not at all like a throwback to the 1980s. I used to favor burgundy eye shadows, but now they make me look a bit like a vampire, so I've toned them down to warm mauves and lots of soft pinks, which make me look all glowing and lovely.
Devote effort to your eyebrows. They now work to frame your face more than ever. Keep them professionally manicured (this, fortunately, doesn't cost more than $15-20).
Gray hair can be coarse and brittle. Condition it like mad, and rinse it well.

This article is from Andrea Karim of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread: