HOME HAIR COLOUR

It saves time and is less expensive than a trip to the salon, but colouring your hair at home can also be nerve-wracking. Our beauty testing team and more than 100 GH readers put eight brands of permanent hair colour through their paces in a month-long trial. Top scores went to:

WINNER

Knight & Wilson Pureplex, £7.99, Superdrug.com

This scored top marks in our lab test, with very little colour fade over four weeks. Three quarters of testers said the colour didn’t visibly fade after four weeks and over 90% agreed that the instructions were easy to follow. The panel also commented that it gave good coverage and that hair felt conditioned after use – and they even liked the scent! Available in 10 shades. 88/100

RUNNERS-UP John Frieda Precision Foam Colour, £9.99

Performed highly in our lab and over three-quarters of testers agreed their colour didn’t noticeably fade over four weeks. In addition, 88% of testers found the dye easy to apply and rinse out, and said hair felt healthy and conditioned after application. Some commented it covered grey well. Available in 20 shades. 86/100

Schwarzkopf Color Expert with Omegaplex, £6.79

Testers loved how soft their hair felt after using this – it comes with an anti-breakage serum that’s mixed into the developing lotion – and nearly all said hair still felt in good condition after four weeks. This colourant also performed well in both lab and panel tests, with 75% saying that there was no discernible fading in colour after four weeks and several commenting it gave good coverage, including on grey hair. Available in 17 shades. 86/100

HOW WE TESTED

Our panel of 111 women performed a patch test followed by self-application of the dye. They assessed the packaging, instructions and ease of use during application. Over 4 weeks, they checked colour vibrancy and for fade. In our lab assessment, we used a Spectrophotometer to measure the hair colour before application, directly after application and 4 weeks later, to determine the level of any colour fade.