It'll be a while until we're back in the salon again we imagine. Luckily these home hair colours are here to tide us over
Mostly we leave our hair in the hands of the professionals but given the fact we're in lockdown, we're having to rethink our approach to our regrowth (if you're after a quick root touch up read our edit of the best ). If you've never coloured your hair at home, this may be the first time. So which one to choose? reaching for home hair dye kits rather than sitting in the salon chair.
Thankfully DIY hair dyes have come on in leaps and bounds from the ones we remember our mums using during our childhood. Now you can achieve a glossy head of hair straight from the box, at a fraction of the price of a visit to the stylist.
These are the at-home hair dyes we'll be using until the pandemic passes - we can only hope our stylist forgives us! Read our expert guide on how to use home hair dye before you get started.
Best home hair colour for home dye beginners
John Frieda Precision Foam, £9.98
Shade range: 20 colours from light ash blonde, to cherry brown to natural black
Formula: foam
If you're new to home dyeing we'd recommend trying a foam formula - it's non drip so less fiddly and it spreads through the hair easily for full coverage, including greys. Use as much of the foam as you can on your hair - the more you massage, the more foam you will create and the better your coverage will be.
Best natural hair dye
Tints of Nature Permanent Hair Dye, £10.95
Shades: 24, including this gorgeous fiery red, rich copper brown and natural dark blonde
Formula: Liquid
This permanent dye was developed with over 75 per cent certified organic and 95 per cent naturally derived ingredients to gently nourish and protect your hair for gentle, home hair colouring. It also contains the lowest possible levels of PPD and is ammonia, paraben and resorcinol free.
Best home hair colour for high shine
Josh Wood Colour Permanent Hair Colour, £10
Shades: 12
Formula: Liquid
We've been known to use Josh Wood's root cover-up tools, so we trust his ammonia-free permament range too. The dye comes complete with the colour activator, salon-grade gloves, the protective barrier cream, a stain removing wipe and the deep conditioning treatment, for hair that feels as silky soft as it does after you've been to the salon.
Best hair dye for bold colours
L'Oréal Paris Colorista Permanent Gel Hair Dye
, £5.99
Shades: Ten - vibrant hues including this bold copper, a chic rose gold and a sultry grey
Formula: Gel
If you're after a statement look, we recommend these colorful gel dyes. Gel makes for an easy application as it's less drippy than liquid formulas, plus it delivers a shimmering finish. This one claims to give up to three times more shine than other dyes.
Best hair dye for colour choice and shade range
Clairol Nice’n Easy Colour Care, £6.49
Shades: 54 - one of the most extensive ranges we've seen
Formula: Liquid
This at home hair dye is a perfect example of how DIY dyes have evolved; it's supercharged with damage-blocking technology to prevent dry ends and the ammonia smell that you might associate with permanent dyes have been replaced with a fresh floral scent to make the process more pleasant.
Best hair dye for blonde hair
Garnier Nutrisse Permanent Hair Dye, £5.79
Shades: 40+ including Holly Willoughby's hue of choice, baby blonde
Formula: Liquid
We have to say, we were skeptical that Holly's iconic blonde came from a home dye, but she insists that she uses 10.01, Baby Blonde. Holly's followers were obviously as suspicious as us, as the TV presenter took to Instagram saying: "Probably my most asked question on social media is, do I actually dye my own hair using Garnier Nutrisse Blonde? And the answer is yes... when I first started using it, and Garnier approached me to be their brand ambassador, I thought 'I'd love to, I use loads of your other products but I'm not sure you're going to get me to the right blonde. I'm not sure you can get me MY blonde - the Holly Blonde. And it did and I was completely surprised."
Best semi-permanent at home hair dye
Christophe Robin Temporary Color Gel, £30
Shades: four, Golden Blonde, Dark Blonde, Light Chestnut, and Dark Chestnut
Formula: Gel
Christophe Robin is best-known to us for their iconic scalp scrub , but this temporary colour was in the making for five years, so definitely worth a try, especially if you are a nervous colourist and not ready to try a permanent just yet. Just like the scrub, it's kind to the scalp thanks to oat flakes to soothe. You leave it on the hair for 40 minutes and it coats the hair fibre with colour pigments without modifying the hair’s structure, covering greys and adapting to the natural hair colour. It lasts between five and seven washes.
Best hair dye for organic ingredients
Naturtint Reflex Semi-Permanent, £10.99
Shades: 30, including rich copper, mahogany chestnut and sandy blonde.
Formula: gel
This non-drip formula promises 100 per cent grey coverage in 40 minutes and is enriched with natural plant and seed oils and extracts to gently care for your hair and scalp, with no ammonia.