Hi everyone, I just have a simple question. My hair is dirty blond and I'm really needing a change. I'm thinking of dying my hair for the very first time. I have never even used one of those temporary dyes before. I'm thinking of dying my hair an auburn color. My question is, what is a high quality product I can buy from the store? I don't want to go to a salon as it would be too expensive but I do want to find a quality product that won't fade on me. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks. Also, any other tips for a first timer would be great.

i buy my stuff in a shop for professionals so yes, normally i am not allowed to buy there but they never were annoying in the past decade i buy my stuff there. i used to use L'oreal pro crescendo which now changed into marijel or something. but you know, my bf just uses schwarzkopf stuff from the supermarket and it seems to work too  ;) (it's just way more expensive).

I suppose this depends on whether or not you want to go permanent. Once you go permanant, especially with a dramatically different colour to your own, it's difficult to go back. Having said that, I've been colouring my hair permanently for 10 years and haven't tried to go back cuz I love having red hair!

Seeing as how you have "virgin hair" (WOW! What a rareity!), and you've never done this before, I would recommend having someone help you colour so that you don't miss any spots. Just till you get the hang of doing it yourself.

I personally have used just about every home hair colouring kit under the sun. (I don't like paying for the expensive salons either!) Each have their strong and weak points. Garnier Nutrisse is fairly mild, and gives a nice colour but the reds go brassy quickly. Nice and Easy isn't bad, but I find their selection limited and gave up on them years ago when I had a bad experience.

The one I always end up going back to is L'Oreal Feria. It tends to be quite a strong dye, but the colour is very vibrant and will last quite awhile before needing a touch-up.

I hope this helps you. Best wishes and let us know how you get on!

Rua
:)

Two things to keep in mind:

First, even if the color is not labeled "permanent", it might be permanent on your hair, or it might fade into an unlovely color and stay that way. You can't count on going back to your natural shade just by waiting.

You'll have roots that will need to be touched up. You should have a friend who knows how to do this help you with it the first time. It's not so important with level 1 or 2 haircolor (although it will save you money by not needing as much), but if you ever go permanent, you will damage your hair severely by reprocessing previously treated sections.

You sound to me like an ideal candidate for henna. Lots of women with hair the color that yours is have gone red that way, and it does eventually fade.

I agree w/ eKatherine, that sometimes those colors don't wash out.  I'd try a strand test first.  

I have been coloring my hair about 10 years this round, before that it had been 20 plus years between coloring. I went from dark brown to black and I used Loreal to make the transformation. I have used many different brands Miss Clairol, Nice & Easy and different types within those brands. The last three to four years I have been using Garnier Nutrisse exclusively. I like Garnier the best, my hair came out feeling really soft, the coverage is good and the excess dye rinses out easily. The main difference I have found in the different brands is getting the excess out of my hair in the rinse. Garnier and Loreal rinse out easily but Nice & Easy is the most difficult to get the excess rinsed out and sometimes the next day I could tell there was still sticky dye in my hair.  :'( This being your first time, you better have someone help you because it is really hard to get all the hair covered by yourself and you don't want to have spots that are the old color and some the new.  :P

i think the developer makes the difference. i used to use a higher one in the earlier days and it stained awfully the bath tub and was long to rinse out!

Thanks everyone. I don't frequent this board often so I almost forgot to come back over here and read the replies. I will definetly have someone help me out with this my first time. When I go to the store, I'm going to write down some of the types of hair dye you guys recommend so I can look for it. I appreciate the advice and I will let everyone know how it turns out.