Hair color can say a lot about a person, now that we live in a time when we are no longer stuck with the color we are born with. Today, thanks to both salons and the best at home hair color choices, we can change our own identities in in 20 to 30 minutes with more impact than, say, hair extensions or a blowout—and not necessarily because we are on the run from the law, but simply because the mood strikes us. Maybe we want a light, sun-kissed look for summer? Or maybe the idea of going auburn or warm caramel brown for fall feels like it’s a good match for our pumpkin spice obsession?

Whatever the mood or motive, thanks to today’s best at home hair color kits being easily available at our local corner drug store, we can completely change our look at the literal drop of a hat.

A change of hair color can give us the confidence boost we need, indicate a change of life, or it can simply be a way to outwardly reflect the way we are feeling inside—sunny blonde, mysterious brunette, or maybe even funky London Lilac! It’s something we can do in less than an hour that gives us as much of a new look as plastic surgery or ten week weight loss program, without all the pain and recovery time.

Thanks to vast innovations and improvements in the best at home hair color products of today, you can choose a color with confidence, secure in the knowledge that it’s unlikely to fry your hair, or send you running to the salon with a hat over your orange head, begging for help. Today’s at home hair color products are safe, easy to use, and often infused with ingredients to benefit the health of your hair. Maybe even leaving it in better condition than when we started!

Vidal Sassoon Pro Series Hair Color is one of today’s best at home hair color choices with a long-trusted name in hair care. This easy-to-use formula completely covers grays with a unique blend that has been perfected by the color experts at Vidal Sassoon.

Vidal Sassoon offers the most vibrant color choices available outside of a salon, with 22 choices ranging from the most natural looking hair color options to those that offer even more than nature does, with some new twists in hair coloring. Experience colors like London Lilac and Deep Velvet Violet, as well as Midnight Muse Blue and Runway Red.

Vidal Sassoon Pro Series Hair Color offers users a uniquely rich coloring experience with the signature luminous look of Vidal Sassoon. Each color shade is developed by the experts at Vidal Sassoon to be vibrant and long-lasting with exactly the right blend of pigments in the precision mix color creme. The developing creme can be swiftly applied with an easy applicator bottle, and develops a beautifully bold color quickly, and with no mess.

Seal in your color with the unique Hydrablock Color Preserving Conditioning Creme to prevent color fade-out with nourishing moisturizers and water resistant properties which wrap around each individual hair strand to leave hair soft, silky, deeply-conditioned and better able to last until your next coloring session without fading. Use the conditioning creme weekly between coloring to keep your hair color rich, and your hair shiny, smooth and protected.

Vidal Sassoon’s unique formula and bold color choices make this one of the best at home hair color choices for today’s new looks.

Key Features
  • Eight weeks of lasting color
  • 100 percent coverage of grays
  • Hydro-lock protection
  • Deep, rich colors
Specifications
  • Package Size: 2.4 X 2.4 X 6.4 in
  • Product Type: Permanent hair color
  • Organic: No
  • Important Ingredients: Hydra-block protection
  • Cruelty Free: No
Pros
  • Revitalizing conditioner for weekly treatment
  • Easy to use
  • Trusted name in hair care
Cons
  • Packaging needs improvements-contents shift

If you prefer a more gentle, natural hair color that you can feel good about using, NatureTint Naturally Better Hair Color may be the best at home hair color for you. It is free of ammonia, parabens, mineral oils, paraffin, and silicone. NatureTint actually increases hair strength by enriching hair and scalp with organic plant and seed oils as well as nutritive extracts to condition hair while it colors.

Use the NatureTint color fixing shampoo and and color fixing protective conditioner to protect hair color and increase its longevity, as well as adding continual shine for hair with a healthy gleam.

NatureTint offers better gray coverage if you leave the product on the hair for five minutes longer than the standard time. Avoiding very hot water and sun exposure will keep your gray coverage deep and rich for up to five weeks.

NatureTint offers a wide variety of shades in natural tones, golden tones, copper tones, and ash tones, to suit every warm, cool, or neutral complexion.

NatureTint uses ingredients of the highest quality, including organic plant oils in a deeply concentrated conditioner to treat your hair to moisture and nourishment after coloring. This will restore your hair’s health and shine, and leave hair in better condition than before you colored!

NatureTint is easy to use, and has low odor. The non-drip formula won’t leave a big mess behind so clean-up is easy.

Key Features
  • Permanent, ammonia-free hair color
  • Enriched with botanical oils
  • Strengthens hair while it colors
  • Long-lasting color and radiant shine
Specifications
  • Package Size: 5.57 fl oz
  • Product Type: Permanent hair color
  • Organic: No
  • Important Ingredients: Oils from plants and seeds
  • Cruelty Free: Yes
Pros
  • Contains plant oils with scalp-healing properties
  • Vegan friendly
  • Formulated to give you healthier hair while it colors
  • Fade-resistant
Cons
  • Color may not last as long on gray hairs
  • Shade results may be darker than pictured

One of the best at home hair color choices today is America’s number one selling brand—Revlon ColorSilk Hair Color. Revlon delivers high definition hair color with vividly pigmented color that is never flat. The nourishing color cream is completely ammonia-free and conditions hair as it colors with a triple-butter complex of shea, mango and nourishing coconut. Your hair will be healthier and softer than before you colored!

Revlon ColorSilk Hair Color uses 3D color technology that imparts rich, multi-toned color with unbeatable shine. This unique formula boosts color and adds dimension with a special combination of blended dyes and conditioners for multiple tones in one easy application. Even tough gray hair will be completely covered and naturally highlighted.

Revlon ColorSilk Hair Color gives hair a natural, shiny finish from roots to the hair ends with a patented UVA and UVB ray filter to prevent color fading and damage from sun. Revlon’s unique formula also includes silk proteins to leave hair in better condition than before you colored.

Revlon ColorSilk is easy to apply with a few simple steps, including an after-coloring conditioner that gently coats each hair to protect it from fading. Hair is left deeply conditioned and silky-soft, with a beautiful shine. You will have salon-quality results at home, with no strong scent from this ammonia free hair color.

Most shade choices will last from four to six weeks without fading, making Revlon ColorSilk the best at home hair color that is ammonia-free!

Key Features
  • High-def color and superior shine
  • Number one at home hair color in US
  • 3D gel formula
  • 40 shades available
  • Contains shea, mango, and coconut butter as well as protein fibers
Specifications
  • Package Size: 3.4 X 1.9 X 6.2 in
  • Product Type: Permanent hair color
  • Organic: No
  • Important Ingredients: Color gel formula with wheat amino acids
  • Cruelty Free: No
Pros
  • Colors are true to pictured shades
  • Contains wheat amino acids to condition hair and add shine
  • No harsh odor
  • Ammonia-free
Cons
  • Fades out faster than some permanent hair colors
  • Conditioner has a strong scent

One of the best at home hair color kits for intense color with shine is Schwarzkopf Keratin Color Intense Caring Color Hair Color Cream. This is a hair color formulated with intense pigments designed to compliment skin tones and impart a radiant glow.

Schwarzkopf offers 100% coverage for grays and colors evenly from roots to hair ends. Long-lasting color fidelity works using K-Bond-Plex technology, wrapping each hair strand in richly pigmented color, resulting in fuller, stronger hair with up to 80% less breakage than untreated hair. This is a color treatment that promises to leave hair stronger, rather than damaged and weakened.

Schwarzkopf offers a low-odor formula with a light, pleasant scent. Its hair strengthening technology makes it ideal for those with brittle hair that needs repair on its inner structure beneath the cuticle.

Schwarzkopf Keratin Color Intense Caring Color Hair Color Cream is an easy three-step process, making it one of the best at home hair color kits for simplicity of application. Simply prepare the hair with a protective pre-color serum which ensures even coverage of the entire hair length. Then apply the color cream. Finally, finish with K-Bond-Plex conditioner to repair hair’s innermost structure and coat the hair surface for smoother, stronger, healthier looking hair with a gleam. Hair may be deep-treated by leaving conditioning cream in place for up to 15 minutes.

Schwarzkopf Keratin Color Intense, offers twenty beautiful, fade-resistant shades.

Key Features
  • Pigments to flatter skin tones
  • 100% coverage for grays
  • Less hair breakage
  • Long-lasting color
  • 20 color choices
Specifications
  • Package Size: 2.1 X 3.9 X 6.6 in
  • Product Type: Hair Color
  • Organic: No
  • Important Ingredients: Keratin complex
  • Cruelty Free: No
Pros
  • Low odor
  • Colors evenly from root to ends
  • Repairs hair structure
  • Coats hair shafts for thicker hair
Cons
  • Browns may have more red tones than expected

From a trusted name in hair color, John Frieda offers one of the best at home hair color options for mess-free application. John Frieda Precision Foam Permanent Hair Color is a foam formula that doesn’t drip like a heavy cream hair color. The lightweight, non-drip foam is deeply penetrating and spreads easily throughout hair for evenly colored hair from roots to ends. The foam colorant remains white during application to limit post-coloring mess.

John Frieda Precision Foam Hair Color comes in 20 beautiful and natural-looking shades, from light pearl blonde to luminous blue black. Color is deeply pigmented for complete gray coverage and flawlessly even coloring even in difficult to reach places, resulting in salon-style hair color at home.

John Frieda’s rich colorant is sealed into the hair with a nourishing and intense, post-color conditioner to keep color from fading. The conditioner coats and seals in color and adds a healthy sheen, as well as smoothing frizz and fly-aways for a smooth, glossy finish with a silky feel.

The results you get from John Frieda Precision Foam Permanent Hair Color stay true to what’s pictured on the box, so you won’t find yourself with any surprises after coloring.

The mousse-like texture and easy spreadability of the lightweight foam makes applying this hair color nearly fool-proof, for beautiful, lasting results you can count on.

The ease of application, no-mess foam, and color results you can count on, make John Frieda Precision Foam Permanent Hair Color, one of the best at home hair color choices today.

Key Features
  • Deep penetrating for color saturation
  • Foam formula
  • White foam formula for no mess
  • Post-color conditioner seals in color for longevity
Specifications
  • Package Size: 2.5 X 3.8 X 6.4 in
  • Product Type: Permanent Hair Color
  • Organic: No
  • Important Ingredients: Foaming colorant
  • Cruelty Free: No
Pros
  • No-drip foam
  • 100 percent gray coverage
  • Easy to use
Cons
  • Limited customer service
  • Strong ammonia odor

Clairol Nice’n Easy Permanent Hair Color is the best at home hair color for providing tones and highlights for multidimensional color in one easy step. Unlike most at home hair coloring kits, Clairol Nice’n Easy works with your hair’s own tones to result in a natural-looking, never flat, hair color with subtle highlights and lowlights, even over grays. This color blend technology results in salon-quality hair color in a simple, 25 minute process.

Nice’n Easy Permanent Hair Color is one of the best at home hair colors for ease of application. Simply mix one tube of colorant into the squeeze bottle, shake, and apply. Massage through hair like a shampoo. Wait 20-25 minutes and rinse out. Apply the included color-seal conditioner and then rinse. Your hair will be beautifully colored with natural looking tones and highlights and complete gray coverage. Nice’n Easy creates three salon style color tones in one application.

Nice’n Easy Permanent Hair Color is a creamy, non-drip formula that has a pleasant floral scent rather than a strong, ammonia odor, so your coloring session with Nice’n Easy is much more enjoyable than with other at home hair colors.

With 54 available shades, Nice’n Easy is one of the best at home hair color options for offering users a wide range of shades in warm, cool, and neutral tones to suit any complexion.

For those with sensitive skin and allergies, Nice’n Easy goes an extra step with an allergy-friendly formula which uses ME+, a hair dye molecule which better protects people prone to allergies, and lessens the chance of allergic reaction, making this the best at home hair color for those who are allergy sensitive, though patch tests are still a must.

Key Features
  • More natural-looking color
  • Creates three tones and highlights in one step
  • Includes highlights and lowlights
  • Completely covers grays
Specifications
  • Package Size: 2.4 X 3.6 X 6.4
  • Product Type: Permanent hair color
  • Organic: No
  • Important Ingredients: ME+ to lower risk of allergic reaction, and color-blend technology
  • Cruelty Free: No
Pros
  • Multi-dimensional color with highlights and lowlights in one step
  • Easy, shampoo-in application
  • Long-lasting color
  • Color-sealing conditioner leaves hair silky and smooth
  • Lowered risk of allergic reaction
Cons
  • Strong floral scent may be too much for those sensitive to fragrance

Garnier Nutrisse Nourishing Hair Color Cream is the best at home hair color to leave your hair softer, and more nourished than before you colored. Garnier Nutrisse Hair Color Cream contains nutrient and fatty-acid rich fruit oils. Garnier includes scalp-soothing avocado oil with a rich blend of proteins, vitamins, and amino acids to strengthen and moisturize hair. This non-drip rich and creamy hair color is infused with follicle strengthening olive oils and rich shea butter for natural anti-inflammatory properties to soothe irritated scalps. Also included is a separate ampule of antioxidant-rich grapeseed oil to add to the coloring agent to indulge hair with a nourishingly rich natural oil with the power to reverse damage to the hair shaft, leaving hair in a better condition than when you started.

Best of all, Garnier Nutrisse Nourishing Hair Color Cream comes in 45 richly pigmented shades that give hair radiant, long-lasting color with 100% gray coverage. It is formulated to deeply penetrate the hair shaft to condition and nurture hair so that it accepts the rich color better and for longer-lasting color holding.

Garnier Nutrisse Nourishing Hair Color Cream is the perfect alternative to salon coloring for those who not only want great color, but also desire to condition and pamper their hair while it’s coloring. It is easy to apply and works quickly to impart natural-looking color, even on tough-to-color grays.

Key Features
  • Nourishing hair color cream
  • Contains avocado, olive, and shea butter
  • Protects and replenishes while it colors
  • Kit contains an ampule of grape seed oil to condition hair
  • Rich and radiant hair color in 45 shades
Specifications
  • Package Size: 2.1 X 3.2 X 6.2 in
  • Product Type: Permanent hair color
  • Organic: No
  • Important Ingredients: Natural fruit oils
  • Cruelty Free: No
Pros
  • Nourishes hair with three fruit oils and ampule of grape seed oil for conditioning
  • Non-drip color formula
  • Locks in moisture to protect hair while coloring
Cons
  • Conditioner has a strong odor that lingers
  • Color may not be true to shade shown on the box

If you want to try a hair color change, but are afraid to commit to something long-term, then Clairol Natural Instincts Semi-Permanent Hair Color may be the best at home hair color for you. Natural Instincts gives you rich, radiant color that lasts through 28 shampoos.

Clairol Natural Instincts is considered semi-permanent because it doesn’t permanently alter your natural hair, unlike permanent dyes which lift the hair cuticle and color the inner hair shaft. Natural Instincts delivers beautiful color and tones that gradually fade away every time you wash your hair. You can re-color to continue your color choice, or go back to your natural look, or try something completely different! Semi-permanent hair color gives you endless options with no long-term commitment.

Clairol Natural Instincts Semi-Permanent Hair Color never leaves you with different colored roots because it gradually fades out and never needs to be grown out. This gradually fading color formula is 80% naturally derived and includes hair-nourishing ingredients including coconut oil and aloe vera, as well as vitamin C, and E, to leave hair nourished and conditioned. Vitamins contain powerful antioxidants to repair and prevent damage from coloring, styling, and from UV rays, contributing to overall hair health.

Included is the finishing, brilliant-shine conditioner, that leaves hair silky-smooth and shiny so your hair is in better condition than before you colored.

Clairol Natural Instincts Semi-Permanent Hair Color is ammonia-free, and gentle on the hair, making it the best at home hair color for those who want to feel good about coloring.

Key Features
  • Semi-permanent hair color
  • Lasts through 28 washes
  • Coconut and aloe infused
  • 80% naturally derived ingredients
Specifications
  • Package Size: 2.4 X 3.6 X 6.4 in
  • Product Type: Semi-permanent hair color
  • Organic: No
  • Important Ingredients: Aloe, coconut and vitamins
  • Cruelty Free: No
Pros
  • Ammonia-free
  • Infused with coconut oil, aloe and vitamins
  • Easy, three-step application
Cons
  • You may see dye in rinse water for several subsequent shampoos

If you are looking for long-lasting hair color in a creme formula with excellent gray coverage, L’Oreal Paris Excellence Creme Permanent Hair Color may be the best at home hair color for you. L’Oreal’s coloring system is unique. It includes a weekly after-color collagen conditioning treatment to keep hair protected until your next coloring session. Collagen supports the hair-building proteins of the body to prevent hair loss.

L’Oreal Paris Excellence Creme imparts rich, radiant, multi-dimensional color and is available in 38 natural-looking shades from ash blonde to jet black, with a range of browns and reds between.

The unique triple protection system cares for your hair before you color with a ceramide pre-color treatment to protect ends from color build-up which can lead to uneven color. The coloring treatment itself includes pro-Keratine Complex to strengthen hair as it colors. It also includes a nourishing post-color conditioner for weekly nourishment and protection, making L’Oreal Paris Excellence Creme Permanent Hair Color one of the best at home hair color choices for those who want continuing care from their hair color.

L’Oreal’s excellence Creme is an easy-to-use at home hair color that includes a non-drip formula to save you from messy clean-ups. In thirty minutes, you will have developed long-lasting, natural looking color and have the means to protect and nourish your hair and hair color between coloring sessions—making L’Oreal Paris Excellence Creme the best at home hair color that cares!

Key Features
  • Triple protection to seal, condition and replenish hair while coloring
  • Total gray coverage
  • Richly pigmented color with radiant glow
  • Available in 38 shades
Specifications
  • Package Size: 2.8 X 3.6 X 6.6 in
  • Product Type: Permanent hair color
  • Organic: No
  • Important Ingredients: Ceremides, Pro-Keratin Complex and collagen
  • Cruelty Free: Yes
Pros
  • Protects inner structure of hair shaft
  • Damage protection
  • Covers stubborn gray hair
  • Includes weekly conditioning treatment
Cons
  • Strong odor
  • Conditioner leaves a lingering scent in hair that may irritate those sensitive to fragrance
  • Blond colors may not lighten as much as expected

If you are looking for fun, flirty colors in a rainbow array of pastels and primary colors, Arctic Fox Vegan and Cruelty-Free Semi Permanent Hair Color Dye may be the best at home hair color for you. Arctic Fox needs no developer. It works as a direct dye to deposit true color onto the hair shaft without penetrating the cuticle. This means it contains no harsh chemicals and will not damage hair, so you can feel free to touch-up as often as desired. There is no ammonia or peroxide in Arctic Fox.

Arctic Fox is formulated in a conditioner base, so it softens and conditions hair as it colors. Bold, beautiful color lasts four to eight weeks with average shampooing and styling. Colors will be most vibrant when applied to pre-lightened hair, but may be used on any hair color for a beautifully colorful tint.

Arctic Fox Vegan and Cruelty-Free Semi Permanent Hair Color Dye colors may be mixed and blended for a color that’s uniquely your own. Or you can use several shades to add rainbow stripes to your hair!

Arctic Fox is committed to producing fun hair colors that are always vegan and cruelty-free, with 15 percent of profits going to charities devoted to ending animal abuse.

Arctic Fox has glorious, fun colors like Girl’s Night Purple, Virgin Pink, Phantom Green, Purple Rain, and Wrath Red. Coloring your hair with Arctic Fox is a fun experience. Part of the charm of Arctic Fox’s hair color are the sweet scents that come with each bold color, making Arctic Fox Hair Color the best at home hair color for a fun coloring experience!

Key Features
  • Bold, vibrant colors with no developer needed
  • Made with vegan-only ingredients
  • Gentle, non-damaging dye for frequent use
  • Conditions hair as it colors
Specifications
  • Package Size: 1.7 X 1.7 X 5.2 in
  • Product Type: Semi-permanent hair color
  • Organic: No
  • Important Ingredients: Colorful dyes in rainbow spectrum, soy protein, fragrance
  • Cruelty Free: Yes
Pros
  • Colors can be mixed and blended for personalized color
  • Free of harmful chemicals
  • Long-lasting, semi-permanent color
  • Light, sweet scent
  • No developer needed, so touching up as often as you want won't damage hair
Cons
  • Strong, fruity fragrance may irritate those sensitive to scents
  • Will be true to depicted color only on bleached hair

Once you’ve made the decision to try a new hair color at home, the next decision is to decide which is the best at home hair color for you. Thankfully, a walk down the hair care aisle of your local drugstore will show you that you’ve you’ve got plenty of options to achieve that summer beach blonde, or autumn auburn look that you’re going for. You can choose from permanent, semi-permanent, or temporary color, depending on the level of commitment you are ready for. Also, available today is a range of ingredients and benefits that’s nearly as diverse as the shades themselves.

Improvements in Today’s Best At Home Hair Color Products

Today’s choices in hair color include traditional dyes with developer, color, and after-care conditioner, as well as nature-based hair colorants infused with hair-healing and nourishing ingredients such as avocado and grape seed oil. Many are designed to appeal to today’s more ingredient-conscious consumers and are formulated with beneficial properties to leave hair shining and healthy, as they give back the moisture and nutrients that coloring typically strips away.

One of the most important improvements in the best at home hair color kits today is the inclusion of after-care conditioners. These little tubes contain the power to make all the difference between dry, stripped, brittle, post-coloring hair, and silky, shiny, soft hair that gleams with health. And now many at home hair color kits contain enough of these wonder-conditioners to allow consumers to treat their hair to these nourishing blends weekly between coloring sessions. This helps to keep hair color protected, and to keep hair looking and feeling healthy, strong, and smooth, even if you use hot styling tools like hair straighteners. The replenishing and restorative ingredients in the post-care conditioners allow you to feel good about coloring your hair, rather than worrying about causing damage and breakage.

Tips for The Best at Home Hair Color Experience

Experts tell us that beautifully colored hair doesn’t have to come from a salon chair, but your expectations for at-home hair color should be a little different than what you’d expect from a salon coloring session.

Most importantly, don’t expect your hair to look exactly like the hair on the model on the front of the box. Instead, look at the color chart on the back or side, that shows the results to expect based on your current hair color. Most at home hair color kits will only take your color up or down by two shades, or over into warm or cool undertones.

It’s also helpful to understand your own complexion undertones. By determining if you have warm, cool, or neutral undertones, you can choose a hair color to better compliment your complexion.

Finally, apply your best at home hair color on unwashed hair. Waiting until at least the second day post-shampoo, will help your hair to better absorb color and add protection from the developer chemicals.

With these tips in mind, you can emerge from your own bathroom looking like you’ve just stepped out of salon—and enjoy the new you!

Resources— Allure, InStyle, ESalon.com

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