I have recently developed an allergy to hair dye . Even though I only ever used demi-permanent color, I am now reactive to anything I put on my hair that has peroxide. Guess what? EVERYTHING HAS PEROXIDE. When I try to use it, if feels like I am putting acid on my scalp and every place it touches turns red and inflamed. Not cute. I am already allergic to henna, so that is definitely not an option, plus I never cared for the orange henna look. I have been feeling paranoid that I'll be a gray-haired old lady way before my time if I don't find a solution. For years Loving Care was a great choice for deposit-only color with no peroxide or ammonia. They stopped making it, and now the only deposit-only truly semi-permanent colors are Manic Panic and those like it in radical colors. Those are great, but a lot of us just wish we could have natural color that lasts for 12 washes and doesn't contain ammonia or peroxide or anything else to lift the color of the hair. I don't really want blue and purple hair. There is a no peroxide/no ammonia brand out of Canada that gets mixed reviews, and also a few Indian brands but I'm hesitant because they seem so off-brand. Using spray-on gray coverage is just SAD. So I've been freaking out. I have only been coloring my hair for a few years to combat stray grays, and in that time my hair has become brittle and dry. I always prized myself on luxurious long hair, so I really wanted to find a way to blend the grays and let my hair grow out undamaged. I really wasn't expecting much from this, but I thought if it's truly a color-depositing glaze, maybe it will blend my grays. I have about 20% that blended well with my natural dark blonde/light brown hair when I colored my hair with light golden brown or medium brown. I didn't use the John Frieda glaze exactly as directed. I got out of the shower after shampooing and toweling dry, and applied it like I would regular hair color, using gloves. It definitely stains skin so make sure to wipe off your face and neck if it drips! I completely saturated my long hair -- I'd say I used about half the bottle. Then, I let it sit for 5-6 minutes before rinsing very well. I felt like I couldn't even get all the product out of my hair with a lot of rinsing, so I actually shampooed it again with a color-safe shampoo. It still felt silky and glossy after the shampoo, and I could still smell the rather intense John Frieda fragrance. It's not BAD by any stretch, but it's definitely a strong scent. I was really surprised when I dried my hair. The grays were a light blondish brown -- like highlights. The rest of my hair was soft and so shiny I couldn't believe it was from a drugstore product. I LOVE how natural it looks. And this was even though I shampooed again AFTER using it. A few of my grays are still shinier than the others but it looks totally multitonal and natural. Today I washed my hair again and did not use the glaze, curious to see if it completely washed out. To my delight it did not! My grays are still beigey golden brown, and my hair is still so shiny and soft. I will use it again next shampoo, using less product than before and not shampooing after. I also am planning to try the other Brunette treatments -- the deepening color treatment and the gloss. I will be so happy if I can grow out all my damaged hair and blend the gray ones -- all without an allergic reaction! I honestly don't mind doing this every shampoo if I can continue to have these results and allow my hair to regrow without the damage of regular dye. I will update with more as I continue use. I have a feeling you can build the color with this. (I've seen a YouTube video of a woman who turned her salt and pepper hair brown using the Frieda brunette shampoo and conditioner ONLY, so I'm kind of intrigued to just make this brunette line my go-to. She had far more gray than I do, and it looked really natural and pretty light brown after using the shampoo and conditioner for a month. I didn't even know the shampoo and conditioner deposited color.) I did not notice even a hint of orange in my hair. Even in bright sunlight it's golden chocolate BROWN. I'm thrilled. YMMV but I give this a hearty thumbs up. Try it! UPDATE: May 19, 2019 Okay, this line is incredible. I added the Brunette deepening shampoo, as well as the Brunette multi-tone conditioner and I don't think my hair has looked this good in decades. I've only washed and treated my hair four times and I feel like it is a million miles away from where it was before I discovered the line. I use the glaze before I shampoo, leaving it on for 5-10 minutes like I would regular hair color. I wash it out with the Brunette deepening shampoo, letting the shampoo itself sit in my hair for another 3-5 minutes. (The shampoo is also color-depositing, but it doesn't stain your scalp and hands like the glaze does.) It's easy to let the products do their thing while I do the rest of my thing in the shower. After that, I condition with the multi-tone conditioner, rinse, and get out of the tub. My hair is so close to the color it was before I started messing with hair dye that invariably always turns brunette hair orange. I don't have that weird red tint most dark colors give you, even if they call themselves brown and even if they call themselves COOL brown. My grays are now dark golden/caramel without a hint of red, and the rest of my brown hair is silky and dark chocolate brown. I've had so many compliments on my hair in the last week it's WEIRD. And instead of feeling straw-like and crunchy like when I used to color it, my hair is soft soft soft and shiny like my 14 year old daughter's hair. I haven't had to use a de-frizz spray or argan oil or leave-in conditioner. I also bought the John Frieda Go Blonder no peroxide no ammonia shampoo and conditioner to see if I can get my ends looking sunkissed while the top of my graying head gets darker. (Multiple uses really does build color!) At the very least, I don't need to let the ends go any darker, and if I can bring out some of the highlights with no peroxide, it will be great. The key to using all of these products for me is to let the stuff sit on my head long enough to work. And they WORK!!! I honestly never thought something like this would work so well! A note about the fragrances of the shampoo and conditioner: The deepening shampoo is a sweet floral that is not as strong as the glaze. The multi-tone conditioner (I couldn't find the deepening conditioner) smells so much like THierry Mugler's fragrance Angel, I would almost call it a dupe. I happen to adore that fragrance so I was happy! If you like modern fragrances like Angel, Alien several of the recent Calvin Klein fragrances or even the timeless Chanel #5 then I think you'd like it. All of the fragrances are fairly strong (except for the shampoo) but all fade to a delicate level after rinsing in the shower. I don't feel like I've dumped perfume on my head, and it's not cloyingly floral or citrus. I still haven't tried the deepening treatment or the brunette gloss, but both bottles are now waiting for me to try them. I'll see which is my favorite of the three -- gloss, glaze or deepening treatment. Upon inspection, the deepening treatment looks more coffee, less chocolate in tone so it might be really good for the very top of my head where the gray is (WAS!) most prominent. I am overjoyed to have found this stuff. Don't stop making it EVER, John Frieda!!! July 17, 2019 update: My hair has honestly not looked this good since my 20s. All gray is caramel golden. My brunette is deep chocolate and all of my hair is so shiny and healthy. I’m using the entire line and I will do so as long as John Frieda keeps making these incredible products. I’m Including a picture to show off!
