Comments on: Is There A Better Way To Get My Gray Hair Dyed?

By: LeeLee

LeeLee — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 00:34:33 +0000

I’ve tried just about every hair color and Gray Magic, too. It took many years to find the best way to cover my over 50% + gray. This may sound tricky, but it’s even easier than drugstore haircolor with pro results!
First you have to know your color level:
Level 1: Black
Level 2: Very Dark Brown
Level 3: Dark Brown
Level 4: Medium Brown
Level 5: Light Brown
Level 6: Dark Blonde
Level 7: Medium Blonde
Level 8: Light Blonde
Level 9: Very Light Blonde
Level 10: Lightest Blonde
Now choose 2 shades lighter than your original natural hair color. For instance, I’m naturally medium brown, so I use Level 6 Dark Blonde shades. Here’s my custom recipe: 1 oz. Suede 6N and 1/2 oz Brandy 6NW Redken Color Gels mixed with 1 1/2 oz. 20 volume peroxide. Shake it up in a plastic color bottle with small tip to aim the color right at the roots for more precise application than the dumb brush they give you with drugstore color. This bottle is what they use in salons. I order everything easily on line. The very first time you color you will be coloring all your hair. Thereafter, you color just the roots. The reason you choose 2 shades lighter is because color always deposits 2 shades darker. Some pros don’t even know this, duh! My 50 year old gray hair comes out medium warm brown with fantastic blonde highlights. Highlights happen because hair is usually grayer in the back and whiter in the front, so the white hairs turn blonde and the gray hair turns brown. It’s actually prettier than my original natural hair color. Be careful trying to turn 75% gray hair blonde. Two good examples of this hair color disaster is Barbara Walters and Donald Trump, whose hair looks washed out and drab, and they have expensive pros doing their hair! If you want blonde hair I suggest going to a high end salon rather than doing it yourself. But if you want red, brown or black shades definitely use professional color at home, save a ton of money, and conveniently touch up roots every 2 weeks. I recommend everyone doing deep conditioning and deep protein treatments. Alternate using no sulfate shampoos and conditioning cleansers like Wen and Hair One from Sallys. To save money wash your hair with cheap conditioner every other time you wash, or mix conditioner with your shampoo. The way you shampoo and condition is important so you don’t strip the color.

By: Donna

Donna — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 14:37:20 +0000

Wow..I’m in for who know’s what in about 20 minutes…I mixed rich dark brown…(that color was an accident meant to get light brown) with Mahogany Red Brown. One bottle says to heat–t the other says not to heat and then one of them says not to mix them. The lady at Sally’s said they could be mixed. I asked before I bought them. From the comments I have read, I’m going to most likely have some really dark hair. Is this product for African American hair type? I’m fair skinned and white. I’m afraid to see what I’m going to look like when I rinse this out!

By: Mimi

Mimi — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 07:56:19 +0000

I have tried it and while it covered up the grays pretty well it unfortunately was too dark for my personal tastes and also the hair looked rather dull.

By: wendy

wendy — Wed, 05 May 2010 01:11:51 +0000

Toluene is the second ingredient, and a known carcinogen.

By: professorauntie

professorauntie — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 20:00:16 +0000

Clairol–are you listening? I’ve been wanting to comment on Advanced Grey Solutions, but it seems the Clairol website doesn’t have an email comment form, and I was too lazy to write a letter. But I wanted to ask Clairol to add more shades of AGS–specifically, a light ash or neutral brown. I’m caucasian, with long, dense, curly/frizzy, fine-strand hair, medium brown, about 40% grey at the roots, and all grey at the temples. My hair gets damaged easily by peroxide, even low amounts of it, so I was very interested in trying AGS. Though it’s marketed for African-American women, I think curly/frizzy hair in general is usually more fragile than straight hair, so I pay attention to news about how to care for African American hair.

Here’s more about my experience with AGS:
I’ve tried Advanced Grey Solutions a few times. The shade called Rich Dark Brown is lovely and natural-looking, but too dark for me. The shade called Light Golden Brown is also lovely, but it’s really a brilliant copper color (at least on my hair), and that’s not what I’m looking for. I had to dye over it. I’m afraid to mix the Rich Dark Brown and the Light Golden Brown to get a lighter brown, because I think the Light Golden Brown would add too much red. I have medium-light skin with a lot of yellow in it, and blue eyes, and I look horrible with red and orange shades of hair, but good with ash or neutral shades. I used the Rich Dark Brown a few times even though it’s too dark, because it covers my grey well and leaves my hair feeling soft and smooth. But I don’t like having unnaturally dark hair, so I’ve gone back to trying the regular Beautiful Collection from the beauty supply store, and also Clairol’s Loving Care from the drugstore. I like these dyes because they’re non-damaging and easy to use. But I have to use them every 2-3 weeks to keep the grey covered, and they never really stick to the part closest to my scalp.

AGS did cover my grey better and for a longer time that regular Beautiful Collection, and better than other no-peroxide dyes. It also seemed to damage my hair less than demi-permanents+developer. After not using AGS for a few months, I can feel that the AGS did damage, or at least change, my hair. The newer hair (that has only been dyed with direct dyes such as regular Beautiful Collection) feels really strong and smooth, while the hair dyed with AGS feels rougher. But the hair at the ends that I dyed with peroxide feels much rougher and more fragile than the hair dyed with AGS.

The part that I dyed with AGS never went back to grey, though the grey strands changed from dark brown to a yellowish-blond tint. The hair previously dyed with AGS takes up semi-permanent color better than my new hair does, so that’s a plus. It seems like the “SynAIRgy” technology acts sort of like a very weak peroxide developer, as far as how much it damages hair. It really is a lot less damaging than any semi+developer dye that I’ve ever tried, but not quite as gentle as direct dyes. I think AGS is definitely a new kind of hair color.

After I used AGS for a few months, my hair took on a reddish/orange cast. This happens after using any dye for a few months, I think because the red dye just lasts longer than the other colors, so it builds up in the hair. I decided to try to remove the old dye and start over. I used UnColor to remove the direct dyes, and Color Oops to remove the oxidative dyes. It didn’t get all the old dye out (I’d probably have to use two boxes of Color Oops and/or do it two times), but it did remove the red shades and make my hair very shiny, springy and healthy-feeling. Removing the old dye also left my hair a funny color–ash brown with all kinds of strange highlights. When I went out into the sun, the part dyed with AGS had bright primary colored sparkles–red and yellow. This made me wonder if maybe AGS gets its intense, longer-lasting color by depositing brilliant colors deeper in the cortex, and more natural colors on the outside. (That idea is 100% conjecture, since I am not a cosmetic scientist, just a curious consumer.) Anyway, I didn’t leave my hair in that color state for very long. I redyed it with regular Beautiful Collection in the Light Ash Brown color. I’ve also since tried Loving Care in the Light Brown color. Both shades look natural and good on me, and both seem to condition my hair for a week or so. I’ll probably just keep on dyeing my hair every 3 weeks, try not to wash it too much so the dye will last longer, and every couple of months I’ll remove the direct dye buildup with UnColor. That’s the best plan I can come up with so far to keep my hair really healthy and less frizzy, avoid peroxide, cover most of the grey, and avoid an orange/red cast.

It will be great when somebody comes up with a completely non-damaging grey-covering dye that lasts forever! Or–a much easier to use direct dye so that using it every 3 weeks or even more often wouldn’t be such a pain. One idea I have for dye delivery would be as a mousse that goes through thick, curly hair easily. If it could be applied in the morning as a styling aid and left on all day, then rinsed out at night, that would also make it less of a pain. Or if it could be applied to dry hair, left on for up to an hour, then rinsed out, that would also make it easier.

OK Clairol, if you’re still listening to this long rambling post, thanks for making AGS, and keep up the good work for us grey-haired ladies.