Clairol Natural Instincts Demi-Permanent Hair Dye, 5G Medium Golden Brown Hair Color, Pack of 1

I used to use this product years ago, but then for some reason when I became almost fully grey I decided I needed to start using permanent hair dyes. I regret that decision! There's really not a need for the harsher dyes, especially when you need to re-dye to cover your roots every 4 weeks like I do. I do lose hair when I use this product, but I have not found a single dye (I've tried probably 20 types) that doesn't cause this, I don't know what kind of magic one must possess for this not to happen, but I don't have it.I have been having problems with hot roots the past year or two (where the top 1/2" of my roots turn orange), but did not have that problem with this product. I do always turn a little fan on low and keep it pointed at my scalp while I wait 20 minutes for the color to set, just to be safe! Since hot roots is caused by the heat from your scalp, I figure might as well keep some cool air flowing and so far it's either been luck, or it's helping prevent that.I generally use a 4 (dark brown) hair dye and wasn't sure this demi would be "strong" enough to notice any color difference, but it did make it a half shade darker and also got rid of a little bit of the reddish tone (it's still reddish though, just not quite as much - but it does turn more red as it fades over the course of a month though, FYI). Before and after photo attached.For grey coverage this does a decent job for a demi. I've attached a photo of my scalp where I'm pretty much 100% grey so you can see what it looks like. The greys are blended pretty nicely, but definitely not the exact same shade as the rest of my hair. I really don't think it's noticeable at all that the greys are lighter in person, it's blended well enough to not draw your eye (unless I'm purposefully tugging at it to show my roots like in my photo).Plus my hair actually feels soft and silky after using this product - which is DEFINTELY not the case with 90% of the permanent dyes I've been experimenting with over the years. I do use 2 boxes for my long hair. The conditioner it comes with is really nice, smells great (fresh and not perfume-y at all) and leaves my hair feeling better than it did before dyeing. I'm glad I re-discovered this product and plan to keep using it! Would recommend.

Covers solid white nicely. You can see in one photo very gray wild hair, another where white hair frames my face. The orange sweatshirt is immediately after coloring and black shirt photo was taken a week and a half post-coloring. Two boxes of color every 3-4 weeks and the job is done. The color I use most often is Brown #5 and does a great job covering the white if the color solution is left on long enough… I have a lot of hair and one box just wasn’t cutting it.Gray came early for me and white soon followed… at 53 years old I just got tired of the white and needed a change. Sooooo… 35 minutes on the roots for box 1 and then the second box on the remainder of my hair for another 15 minutes. Done. When I followed the advised time on the box, my hair ended up very red… that’s always been how my hair holds color… red first. So I leave in much longer and it works perfectly ending up with a rich brown.The color does take a couple of washes before it looks just right to me but I get a lot of compliments from those who know me and also from those who don’t know my hair is actually white.Aside from adding extra time, the directions are simple. Put the gloves on and mix one bottle into the other bottle, give it a shake apply it to the roots first. Set your timer. It can be messy so watch out for that. Be sure to have towels at the ready for cleanup. Sometimes I use a Q-tip and put color on my eyebrows but I don’t always love the results.What I do love is that overall the process is easy and straightforward. The color treatment and conditioner give me shiny healthy hair and it smells nice. I like that it fades a little over the 3 weeks and doesn’t have a hard line where the new growth is. The color never fades all the way on the full length of my hair it just lightens.This option is much better than my friends and colleagues who pay a ton of money to get their “hair did” at the salon and have a white skunk stripe down their part while waiting for next appointment… waaaaay cheaper, better coverage, and more available, as in Amazon delivers and it’s easy peasy salon hour at my kitchen sink.Note that the color still saturates differently throughout the hair because of the different shades of gray and white that is applied to. So there’s still a natural depth in the color.Lessons learned: if you’re experimenting with leaving the color on longer, the main thing is each time write down or keep track of how long you leave the color on the roots plus then the extra time on the rest of your hair… It has never harmed my hair to leave it on longer, but since I want the roots to be darker than the rest of my hair I just experiment a little bit. So try until you get the time right.When you’re doing a touchup on your roots, you definitely still want to put some through your hair at the very end of the time…don’t skip that even if it is just 5 min. If you don’t, the rest of your hair will be dull and lackluster. And during root touch-ups you definitely also do not want to leave the color on alllll of your hair the whole time that you have it on the roots. It will get super super dark, and the roots will be lighter where the color has only been once… unless that’s what you want.I’m not sure how it’s possible with two boxes of color, but I always find a way to miss a few random strands of silver.Watch the forehead and temple hairline color also and it will help the results look more natural.I keep experimenting/adjusting the time (mostly because I’m impatient) and am very very happy with the color every time.

I recently used this hair dye, and I'm happy with how it turned out all in all. The dye is a fantastic choice for a more pleasant and natural coloring experience because it is mostly made of naturally derived components and doesn't include ammonia or parabens. The application of the no-drip crème product was simple and mess-free, feeling more like applying conditioner. The color seemed to fade a little faster than I had anticipated, which was one minor inconvenience I had. The vibrant, deep color began to lose some of its brilliance after around 18 washes. Despite this minor issue, the dye effectively blended away my grays and left my hair feeling soft and healthy. It’s a good option for a temporary color boost with a natural touch.

Pleasantly surprised! I have been dying my hair my entire life, mostly bleaching it very light blonde. This not only was damaging my hair a lot, but takes time to properly tone, conditioning treatments, etc. After I had my daughter i didnt have time to keep doing all that and had the salon try to darken it, and they did, but it was a hard transition from blonde to a more “mousey” brown. On top of that, it faded severely die to my hair being bleached previously, the ends lightened up alot and looked bad. I read that this type of hair dye was less harsh on your hair and picked a color close to my natural color and chose BBZ, or light carmel brown. First off, it didnt smell offensive and like chemicals, which I was shocked by. It actually smells nice. That alone made it a positive experience. The conditioner is pretty decent, and the color came out beautifully. Its thin, and drips easy, but if you take your time i find that it is very easy to apply and make sure you do not miss any spots. Color is vibrant and not brassy. Hair feels soft. I will use this product again.