Hair Dye - buying colour and developer separately to save money?

wimbleQ

Hi,

Please are there any hairdressers out there who could help with this?

I have to dye my hair about every 3 weeks now due to greyness and usually buy packet permanent dyes from the high street - e.g. Garnier, L'oreal, schwarzkopf etc., - I vary between brands.

My problem is I have very thick hair and 1 pack of dye is never usually enough to colour properly.

I'm wondering if someone could tell me if it would work out cheaper to buy the colour in a tube and a bottle of developer separately from a hairdressing outlet?

Also, crucially, how much should I use of each in the mix and what should I be buying?

We used to have a hairdresser in the family who did this for our parents but she was trained and knew the quantities but unfortunately is no longer nearby.

Any buying and mixing/using tips would be very gratefully received.

Many thx.

GBNI

I just buy two boxes as quite often they are on offer anyway! My hair isn't overly long, but is thick.

I'd always be wary of doing your own mixture and often the outlets will only give you trade price if you are qualified.

AbbieCadabra

i changed over from using boxed colours to salon colour/developer about 3 years ago. it doesn't work out cheaper for me, perhaps even a little more expensive over the year, but the quality of the colour & condition of my hair are far better than when using boxed colours.

i buy from sally express, their own range Rusk

what about colleges & training days at salons, they usually offer cheaper deals?

Saban

AbbieCadabra wrote: »

i changed over from using boxed colours to salon colour/developer about 3 years ago. it doesn't work out cheaper for me, perhaps even a little more expensive over the year, but the quality of the colour & condition of my hair are far better than when using boxed colours.

i buy from sally express, their own range Rusk

what about colleges & training days at salons, they usually offer cheaper deals?

AC you always give such great information :T

I've also been thinking about trying out salon colours after a nasty experience with Casting Creme, not so much for the cost but for quality.

If you don't mind could you tell me which developer you use, how much do you mix etc? :A

AbbieCadabra

Saban wrote: »

AC you always give such great information :T

I've also been thinking about trying out salon colours after a nasty experience with Casting Creme, not so much for the cost but for quality.

If you don't mind could you tell me which developer you use, how much do you mix etc? :A

you're more than welcome, thank you!

i've got grey to cover so use the Rusk developer 10 volume/3% in a 1 part colour to 1.5 parts developer, ie. 80ml colour & 120ml developer.

my hair is long & very thick & i usually need 200ml for good coverage on my roots. my natural colour is dark brown & i use 3 colours (in different ratio's) to get a dark brown with a hint of violet/purple.

always put the developer in the mix bottle 1st, then the colour on top as it's much thicker. i did it the other way round once & ended up with half the colour still at the bottom of the bottle as it didn't mix properly, i knew i'd done it wrong so shook it for longer & thought it looked ok. only when i went to wash the bottle out did i realise how big of an oops it was!

i also add some deepshine oil drops to the mix & this gives a an extra boost on the conditioning. i just use the applicator bottles with a nozzle as it suits me. i did try a bowl & proper applicator brush once but got in a real mess!

this is the Rusk site & there's a link on that page to download the handbook. it gives a lot of info & i found it very useful.

i always keep an eye on ebay as there's a few salons that sell on there, usually a fair bit cheaper than Sally's but some of the colours are a bit difficult to get hold of. i buy the developer from sally's though as i've not found it cheaper on ebay due to the p&p, sally's is free delivery over £30 (i just do 1 bulk order per year).

happy colouring!

Saban

Thanks your help AC, that is incredibly helpful information :j

I'm going to read all the info in your links and do some more research.

Thanks again :A

sofaspud1234

You could try Schwarzkopf Poly Color, it's cheap only £2.00 it's an affordable quality brand too.

melanzana

Aldi brand is great. £2 per pack permanent colour.

Do the patch test first!

chocdonuty

Super drug have all the colourants on buy one get one free at the mo, so worth stocking up.
I found going to a college to get my hair done can be cost effective as you only pay a small amount and they use the proper salon colours, can take a bit longer though! My hair is about the middle of my back and takes two boxes of colour, now possibly 3:eek: so I know how expensive it can be!
As a pp said ALWAYS take a patch test, allergic relations can happen and can be very serious even if you have used the same colour previously.

Pleut

I'm about to get my long hair dyed at the college for £25 all over and then it's £11 a go after that for the roots.

aintshesweet

I'm no expert, but when my friend who is trained did my hair going back to brunette, we had to buy red as well as the brown and developer, as there's a danger of green tinges without the red.
Beware it's not quite as simple as buying a colour and mixing it with developer!