I had red hair most of my life. It got more brown as I got older. I used to color my hair at home to get some of the red back and give it body. A friend talked me into going to a salon to let them color my hair professionally. The salon uses a 2 step process. They neutralize my 90% gray roots to brown, then they color with a Goldwell product to get it a deep red. It is beautiful, but I do not have the time (3 hours) or the money to do this at a salon. My question is this: how do I start using an at-home color again? I'm afraid to start coloring it without knowing what is on it to begin doing it again myself without turning it some awful color. I use a 7.4 type peroxide color (in the past), but I don't know how it would react with the Goldwell system color that is on it! HEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLPPPPPP!! :confused:

It's best to have your hair professionally done to avoid hair coloring disasters. If you can't afford to go to a salon, you might want to consider going to a beauty school in your area. Beauty schools usually offer discounts that may fit your budget. But if you're still planning to use an at-home hair color on your hair, I recommend using L'Oreal hair coloring products. L'Oreal is used in salons and they have a decent line of hair coloring products in stores which should be okay to use on your hair. If you want to maintain the current hair color you have, you will have to keep up the 2 step process since your natural hair color is 90% gray. Therefore, you will need to use deposit only color on your new growth first and then you can use a 20-volume peroxide developer with your desired hair color in equal parts to achieve results. Apply the desired color on the new growth for the recommended time, then comb the color through to the rest of your hair and leave it for an additional 10 minutes to refresh your old color. A high-lift hair color can be used also. After that, you can shampoo and condition your hair as normal.

It's best to have your hair professionally done to avoid hair coloring disasters. If you can't afford to go to a salon, you might want to consider going to a beauty school in your area. Beauty schools usually offer discounts that may fit your budget. But if you're still planning to use an at-home hair color on your hair, I recommend using L'Oreal hair coloring products. L'Oreal is used in salons and they have a decent line of hair coloring products in stores which should be okay to use on your hair. If you want to maintain the current hair color you have, you will have to keep up the 2 step process since your natural hair color is 90% gray. Therefore, you will need to use deposit only color on your new growth first and then you can use a 20-volume peroxide developer with your desired hair color in equal parts to achieve results. Apply the desired color on the new growth for the recommended time, then comb the color through to the rest of your hair and leave it for an additional 10 minutes to refresh your old color. A high-lift hair color can be used also. After that, you can shampoo and condition your hair as normal.

Thank you - thank you - thank you! I can do this! I used L'Oreal when I colored it at home and I will use it again. You have really helped me, and I do appreciate it. :)

You're welcome.