Hi all.  Just wanted to post a message about the new hi-lift colors that are popping up.  I have naturally dark brown hair that I used to go to a salon and have died to a light brown.  The colorist admitted that she was using a "blonde" color to get it.  For economical reasons, I stopped going to the colorist and began my journey into home coloring.  First, having taken the colorist's tip, I used a light "blonde" shade of L'Oreal's excellence and got a very nice light brown out of it.  After getting bored with that, I decided to go red, trying Excellence creme light reddish blonde, which turned my hair a medium-light reddish brown.  Quite lovely.  Then, the hi-lift colors came on the market and I tried Les True Brunette's Lightest Ash Brown.  I liked it at first, but grew tired of it quickly, although it did warm up and lighten in the sun.  I decided I needed a warmer color next time, so tried Garnier's Hi Lift Light Golden Brown.  LOVED IT.  If you follow the directions, it works very well.  Just now, I decided I wanted a reddish tone for winter... the Hi Lift did tend to fade a bit and lighten quite a bit in the sun.  I have long hair and underneath, had quite a lot of dark root.  I just used the L'Oreal Excellence HiColor for dark hair only (beauty supply only) in H5 soft auburn - with 30 creme dev. on the underneath, darkest ends for 20 min.; then mixed another tube of the same color with 20 creme developer for the top of my hair.  This was suggested by a beauty supply person.  IT IS GOREGOUS!  I would only try it, however, if you are familiar with the hi-lift products and they work well for you, because I've heard of some disasters.  So far, I've used the Les Tres Brunettes, Garnier and the professional L'Oreal HiColor.   I went to the HiColor because they have TONS of colors to choose from... the hi-lift products in the stores still don't seem to have any reddish shades available.  This was GREAT!  

Hello and welcome!

Thanks for your insight and experience with these products.  

I LOVE Redken Double Fusion, also a hi-lift.  It turns my pitch black hair to a nice dark brown.  It's caramel in the sun.  Double Fusion has two lines - DOuble Lights for dark hair (levels 1-5) and Double Blonde (for 6 and above.)  

As far as I know, you can only get Redken Double Fusion done in salons.  But thanks for your review, should I ever get the nerve to color my own hair.  :)  Do you have any before/after pics?  I'd be interested in seeing your results!

Cynde

I used L'Oreal Hi-Lift Plantnuim Crystial, on my medium blonde hair, and the results were okay...It ckind of scared me that you were not supposed to get the color on your roots till like 10 mins. into the color of the rest of the hair. My hair didn't really look like the color it was supposed to be, it was lighter on top and more yellowy blonde  on the bottom. Luckly it is fading fast.

Edited for grammar

Yes, the last few times I had my hair highlighted (From med brown to golden blonde) she used high- lift tint from Wella, much better than bleach in my opinion. But my hair is not that dark, I'm on the lighter side of med brown so it lightens easily.  A darker haired person might need bleach to go as light as I had it.

Has anyone tried the red tones from Clairol? I have a couple, but now im getting paranoid and wondering about strawberry blonde. Which will require a ton of new research, since ive been a member of the cult of red hair for quite a while. Anyway, I cant find any user experience on the reds, stories, anyone??

Hi, ViscidVillette and welcome to the boards.
I stopped coloring my hair many years ago, so I'm afraid I've not got any experience with the products you're asking about.  The majority of us currently active on the boards don't color.

Good luck, I hope you find the answers you're looking for.