We tested the best at-home hair color and dye products for pro-level results

Get to the root of your hair color problems from home.

In a time when going to the salon isn’t just a hassle but may incur some serious spending, many are taking hair color into their own hands — literally. With the help of box dyes, people have been doing their own do’s forever, but many with questionable results. Now, products are enhanced and at-home color (that actually looks good, if not great) if 100% possible. We know, we tested them out.

After 10 years of coloring my own hair, always staying abreast of the latest and greatest in color that I can get my hands on without being a professional, I’d tout myself a pro at DIY hair ventures. I’ve made the mistakes and taken the risks so you hopefully don’t have to.

But you don’t have to just take my word for it. We spoke with Edgar Parra, founder of Opul Beauty, a service focused on providing tailored beauty services and a luxurious client experience within the comfort of your own home.

And for those who have been on TikTok and seen some at-home hair color disasters, either in videos from the person themselves or in viral reenactments, we spoke with a few of those professionals — Siiri Parks (@siiriparks), Theresa Van Dam (@theresavandamstylist) and Taylor Burgos (@madeandtaylored) — now dominating the subsection of the app dubbed HairTok.

Click to go straight to our FAQs or our winners of the best at-home hair color by category:

• Best permanent overall: IGK Beauty
• Best touch-up: Kristin Ess Signature Gloss
• Best semi-permanent: Lime Crime Unicorn Hair Full Coverage
• Best demi permanent: Sally Beauty Demi-Permanent Gloss Liquid Hair Color
• Best professional: Schwarzkopf Igora Royal
• Best value: ion Color Brilliance Permanent Creme Hair Color
• Best temporary natural: Christophe Robin Temporary Color Gel
• Best temporary bright: Lime Crime Unicorn Hair Temporary Hair Color
• Best for damaged hair: Surya Brasil Henna Cream

The Best At-home Hair Color Brands

Best permanent overall: IGK Hair

This brand was recommended across the board as one of the best. Not only do they have a great shade range, but as mentioned above the kit comes with stain removers, a post-treatment mask and everything else you’ll need to color your locks at home. “My favorite for virgin hair I would probably have to say would be IGK hair color,” said Parks, who actually uses this brand herself. “It’s a beautiful color match and makes my hair super soft and super shiny.”

“IGK gives you everything you need in a box. From a protective barrier to reduce stains on the skin to a mask to leave your hair shiny and healthy,” Parra stated.

For me, I find IGK to be consistent and reliable when I know my hair quality and need something in a pinch. As Parks stated, it’s the absolute best on virgin hair, and since it is a permanent dye, it’s recommended to stick to going darker or within your hair color level. I went copper when I had blonde hair that hadn’t been touched outside of hydration treatments in months, and it worked like a charm. They have the absolute best color selection, packaging, and kit of any box dye I’ve used.

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Best touch-up: Kristin Ess Signature Gloss

“She’s also a celebrity stylist, so her tools and her color line are made by a professional,” said Parks about Kristin Ess. “Since glosses are nonpermanent, that’s a really good way, especially for lighter-haired people, to experiment with going like a touch darker or maybe giving themselves like a rose gold or a nice honey blonde. It’s a really good way to experiment without the permanence of dye.”

Parra advised: “Kristen Ess Signature Gloss is intended to extend the life of your color. Results vary drastically leaving some users with salon-level results and others with little to no change at all.”

When I was honey blonde, I relied on the Winter Wheat shade for monthly touch-ups without damaging or risking overprocessing my hair. I found it worked better for longer than when I used purple shampoos, which are drying as it is. My hair is always silky after using Kristin Ess anything.

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Best semi-permanent: Lime Crime Unicorn Hair Full Coverage

To say I’ve dyed my hair at home confidently for many years is also to say I’ve had one or two (or seven) pretty insane colors. After getting a bit bored with Manic Panic’s color selection and not loving the inconsistent results of mixing my own colors, I had the chance to try Lime Crime’s range of semi-permanent hair colors.

“Lime Crime is really fun for funky colors when you are blonde,” Parra raved. “This is a deposit-only color so it will not last. I would only suggest this to someone that wants to try something fun for a music festival or a special occasion, not for someone trying to get salon-like results.”

When I tell you the range of shades offered rivals that of a Crayola 100-pack, I mean it. Everything from natural rich browns to neon whatever, and I’ve tried 10 of them. They wash out slowly but evenly, giving you a consistent result every day the product is in your hair.

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Best demi-permanent: Sally Beauty Demi-Permanent Gloss Liquid Hair Color

After my purple, blue, pink, and yellow phases, I graduated to natural, more corporate hair colors and this Redken ShadesEQ dupe by Sally Beauty is the best product for the job (second only to Redken ShadesEQ, which is for professional use). It must be mixed with the Liquid Processing Solution, a special formula made for the gloss itself, to create a very liquid cream that is easily dispensable via bottle.

Douse your wet, just-shampooed hair in the solution and watch closely as it develops quickly. It’s the best way I’ve learned how to tone my hair to exactly what I want it to be since I can mix different colors together for a custom end result. Don’t like it in the end? Go a little darker than you’d hoped? It’s demi-permanent and a gloss, so no worries there either.

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Best professional: Schwarzkopf Igora Royal

Going red was the most challenging thing I ever did to my hair until I discovered Igora by Schwarzkopf. Paired with the brand’s own developer, it makes for a rather brainless application and, once I did the usual wait, rinse, and condition, it made my hair closer to naturally red than I could have imagined possible. I was astounded at the color payoff, how well and long it lasted, and that I was able to do it myself.

“Schwarzkopf is a world-renowned professional hair color,” Parra said. “Of course, this is safe to use as long as your colorist has shared the formula with you. Because this is used by professionals, it will give you salon-like results as long as you use it correctly.”

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Best value: ion Color Brilliance Permanent Creme Hair Color

My most-used go-to, ion Color Brilliance Permanent Creme color is foolproof to mix with the developer, thick enough to apply only where you want it to go, and the color payoff is beautiful. It’s excellent at covering grays and, especially with a low-volume developer (like 10 volume, as opposed to 20 or 30), won’t kill your hair. It’s reliable and affordable — which is what we’re all looking for with at-home hair color, no?

Perra does state that “Ion Color Brilliance claims to be able to lift hair up to 5 levels without bleach. As a professional, I find that very hard to believe. The general feedback on this product is that it’s best on brunettes.”

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Best temporary natural: Christophe Robin Temporary Color Gel

Since going dark, my lighter-toned roots come out, giving the top of my head a sort of dusty appearance. To counter this, I love going in with a little of this temporary color gel by Christophe Robin. I introduced it to my mom as well, who swears by it for covering grays in between salon appointments and before events. When it comes to natural-toned temporary dyes, Christophe Robin beats out the rest.

“I absolutely love Christophe Robin products,” Parra declared. “This is a great tool for brunettes on the go that have gray around the hairline and want a quick fix. Keep in mind this will not completely cover your grays but it will stain them enough to get you by in between salon appointments.”

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Best temporary bright: Lime Crime Unicorn Hair Temporary Hair Color

That said, sometimes I miss my bright color days. Now, I don’t have to just go down memory lane. With the Lime Crime temporary color, which rinses out in one or two washes, I can have my cake and eat it, too. It’s highly buildable, so the more you apply, the more saturated the color is. That said, the more product you use, the more product is in your hair — I recommend hitting it with a brush and blow-dryer to lighten the feel of the product and smooth and blend with the rest of your hair.

“I would only recommend this to someone looking for a fun temporary change,” Perra advised. “These are fun funky colors that you will only see on lighter tones like a blonde.”

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Best for damaged hair: Surya Brasil Henna Cream

Hear me out: This is my all-time favorite hair color product, but it’s for very specific uses. While it is henna, it’s not a pain or a mess to apply and some colors offers have little to no visible red in them (the Dark Brown is a stunning, rich color that fades to light neutral brown). That said, it is henna, so if you regularly like to get highlights or change your color often, it may not be for you.

I had luck bleaching the henna out (professionally) when I was ready, but everyone’s hair is different. Essentially, henna users sit at a different table than permanent hair color users. In my opinion, though, the henna table is where it’s at, as this Surya Brasil cream makes my hair smoother, shinier, and just prettier than literally any other product on the market. It’s a game-changer for damaged hair.

“Surya Brasil is a henna-based hair color,” Parra reiterated. “Henna is used to deeply penetrate the hair most commonly used on brunettes and redheads to really give you long-lasting results. This is also used for resistant gray coverage.”

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FAQs

Since we don’t want your dye job going viral for all the wrong reasons, we decided to have a chat with each of these hair colorists to see if they could provide us with any tips and tricks for a successful at-home dye session sans major fails. We asked them each to recommend their favorite brands, too, so you can revive your color between appointments or try your hand at an at-home color as safely as possible.

Is it safe to color your hair at home?

First things first — all of our interviews were with professional hair stylists and colorists, and so they all obviously recommend going to a reputable salon when coloring your hair. However, they understand that not everyone can afford professional treatment often, and with COVID-19 concerns, many have turned to the at-home route.

“I mean, quarantine taught us that getting to the salon is not always possible,” said Parks in an interview with The Post. “Obviously, I’m a professional, so I can’t lie, I will always prefer professional products and colors. But I feel like if anything within the past two years has shown us is that sometimes things happen, and it’s not always within your budget or your frame of availability to get professional color. So I definitely think that there’s a stigma attached to [at-home hair color] that is necessary, but I also think that there’s a stigma attached to it that’s not.”

This being said, there are some things you can do to make your at-home hair dying as safe as possible, from the ingredients used to the process of dying and the color you choose.

“My biggest thing out of anything would be make sure that it’s PPD free,” said Parks, referring to the chemical ingredient in some dyes called paraphenylenediamine. “It is not harmful for everyone, but it can cause allergies and has been known to be associated with cancer, so a lot of haircare companies both at home and professionals have really been steering away from including PPD in their hair color formulas.”

Added to that list are metallic salts, warned Van Dam in an interview with the New York Post, which can be found in a lot of henna hair colors.

“I would say metallic salts are like the big one because those are what truly cause chemical reactions,” she said. “They’re basically very flammable. So when peroxide is mixed with metallic salts, or put over metallic salts, that can actually cause smoking and combustion if you leave it on long enough. I’ve had that happen several times where I’ll put the bleach on and their hair will start smoking and get up to 450 degrees — it’s intense.”

Other tips and tricks from our stylist experts:

• Don’t play chemist on your own: “If you go to a store like Sally’s, talk to your stylist first about what you should buy, and how they would suggest you mix it and you know what developer to use,” said Van Dam
• Color doesn’t lift color: “People try to go from really dark to a really light color and think that once they put the light color over the dark color, everything is going to be light. That’s not the case, unfortunately. So people will get those really fiery hot routes and wonder why,” said Burgos.
• Do a patch test first: “A lot of people are impatient and don’t want to do an allergy test, but you’re supposed to put a little dab of color behind your ear or on your arm and just leave it alone to see if within 24 hours you’ve had a reaction. Most of the time color is going directly on your scalp, and next thing you know, their head is literally swollen because they were allergic to the dye. It’s just better to be safe than sorry, even if that means prolonging the hair dyeing process by a day,” said Parks.

How to choose the right color for you?

Aside from what to avoid, choosing the right color can be challenging but our hair color experts had some tips and tricks to share, many of which are as easy as opening an app on your phone.

“I’ve always used editing apps, and one of the apps that I’ve used for a very long time actually gives you the option to edit your hair color,” suggested Parks, referring to the app FaceTune which is free on the App Store. “Sometimes I give people the opportunity rather than just putting like a swatch up to their face to let them see like if it suits their skin tone or whatnot. I’ll just take a picture of them head on and we’ll change it to honey blonde or neon blue, if that’s what they’re thinking. And then they get to like really see the full essence of what they’d look like.”

Another way to make sure you are happy with your outcome is to start small and use at-home color for touchups or gray coverage between professional appointments. Burgos suggests this, as what you see on the model on the box may not be what you will look like in the end.

“I really think if you’re going to be coloring your hair at home, it really should be like gray coverage and try to stick with your natural color,” warned Burgos. “So if you’re a brunette, don’t grab the box that has a blonde on it, because as much as you want to look like that picture, chances are, that’s not going to be the reality of what happens.”

How to remove hair dye from the skin and hairline?

This was one of the most Googled questions we found, as we can only imagine the red or purple-stained hands frantically asking how to remove hair dye from the skin. Luckily there are products out there to help with removal, as well as some tips to prevent staining in the first place.

IGK is a brand that Parks suggested and mentioned they include both a color blocker that you can put around the perimeter of your hairline and a stain remover packet for the end to apply to any dye left on your ears or hands. However, to prevent stains from the start, Van Dam had an even easier household suggestion.

“One good thing to prevent it from getting on your skin in the first place if you’re doing your hair at home is to put Vaseline around your forehead first without getting any on your hair, and that can help prevent it from staining your skin in the first place,” she said.

Where to buy dye remover, as recommended by professionals:

• IGK Permanent Hair Color Kit: Step 1 of their system is a Color Block Barrier Gel, to apply all around your hairline and on your ears. Then use Step 5, which is a Stain-Removing Cleanser to spot treat any remaining dye on the skin.
• Vaseline: An easy-to-get product that you may already have in your cabinet is Vaseline. All you need to do is apply it to the hairline and ears to prevent staining.
• Roux Hair Color Stain Remover: Head to Sally Beauty for this hair color remover, that works to gently remove stray spots of dye on skin.
• Makeup remover wipes: This was another suggestion from our stylists as a great way to remove mistakes, so long as you do it quickly while the dye is still fresh.
• Dawn dish soap: “Dawn dish soap is really nice and it’s really gentle,” said Parks. “I mean, they use it to get oil off of little baby ducks!”

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