Clairol Natural Instincts Demi-Permanent Hair Dye, 4 Dark Brown Hair Color, Pack of 1

Okay hear me out!! DIY boxed hair dye to use at home.. yup sounds terrifying. I’ve never dyed my hair myself or anywhere other than at a well known salon with someone I trust with my life to do it for me. Well these days who has $200+ to throw at a salon?! Enter, the Clairol demi-permanent hair dye in cool light brown. This is super close to the same color my hairdresser used on me when I decided to go back to my natural hair color after being blonde for over a decade. Well after paying so much to get it redone a few times as it washed out and grew, I had to consider my DIY options. 👇🏻 I added before and afters for reference of course but wow 🤩 LOVE LOVE LOVE!!! First off, this color is great and really brought my hair back to life with covering up the blonder color that is growing out still (see my before photos for reference- it’s grown out like halfway-ish so far). The cool light brown color has no warm tones in it. I do not do warm/red tones of any kind in my hair and it would not go with my skin tone so it’s important that I found something that is strictly cool color tones. This also covered up my grays that I unfortunately already have on the top smack dab middle of my head so that was a nice bonus! Second, the dye adds a CRAZY amazing glossy look and feel to your hair. I am most definitely using this again in a couple months if not just for the glossy effect ✨ It revived my hair and brought me back from drab to fab! The application is super easy- I mixed it up as instructed and poured the whole bottle all over my head and made sure to cover it all. 20 minutes of sitting and then showering it off and voila!🤌🏻 Not to mention, they include a conditioner with this and it is amazing!! Also adds glossiness to my hair everytime I use it. There is plenty of conditioner to use and maintain for after the dye job which is nice. I only wash my hair once a week so I expect it to tide me over until I dye it again. Again, my photos here speak for themselves but go ahead and DIY that sh*t girl! We saving moneys in 2026 okurrr 💅

I only have some greying around the hairline but I think this would still blend with more greying. I put it on my roots and hairline first for 10 minutes then apply the rest. The box says do 20 minutes, but I leave on for 30 mins because I really want to make sure those greys are getting soaked to the max. Use your judgement depending how porous your hair is. If I were to get stinging, I would wash it off sooner. For me, the color feels really gentle and no stinging or discomfort. It smells nice. I have been using Natural Instincts color for many years, doing the fun colors as a teen sometimes. I don't do the fun colors as often now mainly because with my greying it's such a delicate balance, like redoing the roots and all then i have pink hair with brown and grey roots.. don't always feel up to the increased maintenance. If anything, I think the formula has gotten even better and gentler/more natural over the years. The color I got was 6C which is a neutral light brown. My natural color has lots of gold in it so I offset it by doing neutral or cooler shades of brown, as inevitably my natural gold tones will start to show thru as the color fades. For this brand, the neutral and cool shades truly remove my brassiness and the greys are blended into a light brownish or highlight looking, for about 5-6 weeks. Sadly, my greys don't always 100% absorb the color, sometimes I still have some greys but they are blended into highlighted tones. It takes more intensive work to fully color the greys, more intense than semi-permanent color. During the summer I do a warmer shade like the light caramel brown, I like to rotate out seasonally with slight color changes. It looks even better when out in the sun as the sun naturally lightens it. Over the past 6 months I experimented with color depositing shampoos. They actually cover my grey better, like near 100%, BUT it absolutely destroyed and dried out my hair to the point I suffered significant hair loss. Natural Instincts never has been harsh like that for my thinner porous hair, from now on I am sticking to this and similar gentle brands.

Nice coverage for greys! Great colour, easy to use & worth the price!

This works great as long as you know what to expect from this product. * It will NOT lighten your hair. If you want to lighten your hair significantly, you have to have it professionally colored at a salon. * It doesn't darken gray hair completely, it blends it, which means that those strands of hair will be darker than gray but not as dark as your regular hair color. It creates more of a highlighting effect. So if your hair is dark brown, the grays will be colored a lighter brown and will blend into your other hair. If you want your hair all one color including the grays, go with a semi-permanent hair color instead of this product. * After I used semi-permanent dye, my hair always felt dry, damaged, and rough. After using this, my hair feels normal and soft. * The dye doesn't stink like many hair dyes do. The conditioner they provide is in a tube so it can be resealed and it contains several uses. The conditioner smells nice and works quite well. * This stuff really stains so be extremely careful with your clothes, counter tops, floors - anything it may come into contact with. If semi-permanent hair dye stains your skin, be sure to apply petroleum jelly around your hair line and always use gloves. Double check everything after you apply it because once the stain sets in, it is likely permanent. This product is easy to use though I find I have to leave it on for about 30-35 minutes for it to fully cover gray. Overall, this is a good product at a reasonable price and there are plenty of colors to choose from.

I used to use this product years ago, but then for some reason when I became almost fully grey I decided I needed to start using permanent hair dyes. I regret that decision! There's really not a need for the harsher dyes, especially when you need to re-dye to cover your roots every 4 weeks like I do. I do lose hair when I use this product, but I have not found a single dye (I've tried probably 20 types) that doesn't cause this, I don't know what kind of magic one must possess for this not to happen, but I don't have it. I have been having problems with hot roots the past year or two (where the top 1/2" of my roots turn orange), but did not have that problem with this product. I do always turn a little fan on low and keep it pointed at my scalp while I wait 20 minutes for the color to set, just to be safe! Since hot roots is caused by the heat from your scalp, I figure might as well keep some cool air flowing and so far it's either been luck, or it's helping prevent that. I generally use a 4 (dark brown) hair dye and wasn't sure this demi would be "strong" enough to notice any color difference, but it did make it a half shade darker and also got rid of a little bit of the reddish tone (it's still reddish though, just not quite as much - but it does turn more red as it fades over the course of a month though, FYI). Before and after photo attached. For grey coverage this does a decent job for a demi. I've attached a photo of my scalp where I'm pretty much 100% grey so you can see what it looks like. The greys are blended pretty nicely, but definitely not the exact same shade as the rest of my hair. I really don't think it's noticeable at all that the greys are lighter in person, it's blended well enough to not draw your eye (unless I'm purposefully tugging at it to show my roots like in my photo). Plus my hair actually feels soft and silky after using this product - which is DEFINTELY not the case with 90% of the permanent dyes I've been experimenting with over the years. I do use 2 boxes for my long hair. The conditioner it comes with is really nice, smells great (fresh and not perfume-y at all) and leaves my hair feeling better than it did before dyeing. I'm glad I re-discovered this product and plan to keep using it! Would recommend.

Covers solid white nicely. You can see in one photo very gray wild hair, another where white hair frames my face. The orange sweatshirt is immediately after coloring and black shirt photo was taken a week and a half post-coloring. Two boxes of color every 3-4 weeks and the job is done. The color I use most often is Brown #5 and does a great job covering the white if the color solution is left on long enough… I have a lot of hair and one box just wasn’t cutting it. Gray came early for me and white soon followed… at 53 years old I just got tired of the white and needed a change. Sooooo… 35 minutes on the roots for box 1 and then the second box on the remainder of my hair for another 15 minutes. Done. When I followed the advised time on the box, my hair ended up very red… that’s always been how my hair holds color… red first. So I leave in much longer and it works perfectly ending up with a rich brown. The color does take a couple of washes before it looks just right to me but I get a lot of compliments from those who know me and also from those who don’t know my hair is actually white. Aside from adding extra time, the directions are simple. Put the gloves on and mix one bottle into the other bottle, give it a shake apply it to the roots first. Set your timer. It can be messy so watch out for that. Be sure to have towels at the ready for cleanup. Sometimes I use a Q-tip and put color on my eyebrows but I don’t always love the results. What I do love is that overall the process is easy and straightforward. The color treatment and conditioner give me shiny healthy hair and it smells nice. I like that it fades a little over the 3 weeks and doesn’t have a hard line where the new growth is. The color never fades all the way on the full length of my hair it just lightens. This option is much better than my friends and colleagues who pay a ton of money to get their “hair did” at the salon and have a white skunk stripe down their part while waiting for next appointment… waaaaay cheaper, better coverage, and more available, as in Amazon delivers and it’s easy peasy salon hour at my kitchen sink. Note that the color still saturates differently throughout the hair because of the different shades of gray and white that is applied to. So there’s still a natural depth in the color. Lessons learned: if you’re experimenting with leaving the color on longer, the main thing is each time write down or keep track of how long you leave the color on the roots plus then the extra time on the rest of your hair… It has never harmed my hair to leave it on longer, but since I want the roots to be darker than the rest of my hair I just experiment a little bit. So try until you get the time right. When you’re doing a touchup on your roots, you definitely still want to put some through your hair at the very end of the time…don’t skip that even if it is just 5 min. If you don’t, the rest of your hair will be dull and lackluster. And during root touch-ups you definitely also do not want to leave the color on alllll of your hair the whole time that you have it on the roots. It will get super super dark, and the roots will be lighter where the color has only been once… unless that’s what you want. I’m not sure how it’s possible with two boxes of color, but I always find a way to miss a few random strands of silver. Watch the forehead and temple hairline color also and it will help the results look more natural. I keep experimenting/adjusting the time (mostly because I’m impatient) and am very very happy with the color every time.

I recently tried this brown hair dye, and I couldn’t be happier with the results. The shade turned out absolutely beautiful—rich, glossy, and natural-looking. It gave my hair the perfect balance of warmth and depth, which really enhanced my overall look. The color wasn’t flat or dull at all; instead, it had dimension and shine that made my hair look healthy and vibrant. The application process was surprisingly easy and mess-free. The formula spread smoothly through my hair, coating each strand evenly without clumping or dripping. I also noticed that the dye didn’t have an overpowering chemical smell like some brands do, which made the experience much more pleasant. From start to finish, it felt simple and professional, almost like I had gotten it done in a salon. One of the things I loved most was how gentle it was on my hair. After rinsing, my hair felt soft, silky, and nourished, not brittle or dry. It didn’t leave my scalp irritated either, which is always a concern I have when trying new dyes. The conditioning treatment included in the box sealed in the moisture, giving my hair an extra boost of smoothness and shine. The final color exceeded my expectations. The brown tone looked both elegant and natural, blending beautifully with my skin tone. I got so many compliments from friends and family who said it looked like my natural hair, only better. It had just the right amount of richness to stand out, while still being versatile enough for everyday wear. Overall, I would highly recommend this brown hair dye to anyone looking for a stunning, salon-quality result at home. It was easy to use, gentle on my hair, and left me with a gorgeous, long-lasting color. It’s definitely a product I’ll be reaching for again the next time I want to refresh my look.

Turned hair dark brown. Was still pretty, shiny and good quality just very dark. Beware and order lighter shade than you think you need.

First time trying this product after researching plant based and least damaging hair dye. The dark brown variant covered my greying roots blending nicely with my previous colour. Followed the instructions carefully and timely especially my hair has become brittle due to previous dyeing and chemical treatments. No itch or allergic reaction. The treatment included which I applied only to the coloured roots left my hair soft. The tube last me quite a few washes. Highly recommended. Im about to repurchase to replenish my supply. Thanks 😊

I absolutely love this Clairol Natural Instincts hair dye! The Dark Brown shade (4) gave me such rich, natural-looking color that blends beautifully with my hair. It didn’t dry my hair out or make it feel brittle like other dyes I’ve tried - my hair actually feels soft and healthy after colouring. The demi-permanent formula lasted nicely and faded evenly without any harsh lines. I also appreciated that the pack of 3 is great value and ensures I have enough product for future touch-ups. Easy to use at home and the results look salon-worthy! Highly recommend! 🌟💁‍♀️✨

Todo ok

Good product

Good quality, less ammonia smell than other home dyes.