Best home-dyes UK 2021: the best permanent at-home hair colourants to get professional results for less
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What can you achieve with a home hair dye? And what can’t you?
Home hair dying is not the time to attempt full colour transformations, or techniques that need a professional’s guiding hand, such as bleaching, balayage, or ombre. Instead, look to it to cover greys, touch-up roots, or tone your existing hair/colour. (That said, we know some of you will absolutely take to bleaching, so we’ve included the best options below).
Preparing to dye your hair
Ahead of colouring, it’s wise to apply a moisturising hair mask if possible, to help keep your locks in good nick. When selecting a colour, pick a colour one shade lighter than what you like in the picture - it will usually turn out as you want, and hair that is too dark is a nightmare to colour correct.
Whatever colour you choose, ensure you do a skin test 24 hours in advance (the box will contain instructions) to ensure you are not allergic - if you’ve skipped this step in the past, don’t, as PPD allergies are potentially fatal and can develop at any stage of life.
Dyeing your hair
When it comes to colouring, make sure you follow the box instructions assiduously. Start where your hair is greyest (if it is) and cover your roots twice as much as the lengths. If you have someone else cohabiting with you, ask for their help - especially for the back of your head.
We asked a selection of testers to trial different market leading hair dyes over several months. The ones that didn’t make the cut have been excluded. Here are the products that impressed.
The absolute gold standard for home hair-dying is Josh Wood - who is famed for his work as a colourist, and has brightened the barnets of many an A-lister at his London-based salon. But we’re not endorsing his home dyes for his celebrity connections, we’re endorsing them because they’re awfully good.
His range consists of 12 hues, from lightest blonde to deepest brown, and each of the colours is salon-grade, ammonia-free, and gently on your tresses. They’re a cinch to use and don’t damage your hair the way many permanent home-dyes do. Our tester used the deep-mid blonde permanent dye and found it clung beautifully and covered her greys, leaving a shiny finish. Pricier than other home dyes, yes, but one that works well.
If you’re after a less permanent switch up, we’ve trialled - and love - the Josh Wood Colour Gloss.
Last summer we used the Copper Gold atop our salon-balayaged hair and lack-lustre blonde was given a new lease of life with shimmering copper tones, a lick of flame in the sunlight, that we found improved the quality of our hair and retained colour for about five weeks.
If the £19 price tag makes you wince - we got two uses out of our 100ml tube, making it value for money.
