Semi-Permanent Hair Color Issues: Why Reddish Brown Fails on Gray Hair

Question
I have been trying to color my hair.  But instead of using black or  dark brown hair color, which is the color of my hair, I've been using reddish brown.  I have a little gray hair that I am trying to cover, but the hair color that I am using is not working well.  The end results have me looking like a clown with my grays bright red.  What should I do about my covering my grays.


Thanks.

Answer
it is not the color product, it is the color choice that is a problem. you will need to get a brown and a red-brown, and mix half and half together to create a more brown-with-red color. you can open the colors and take out what you need, then seal up the unneeded portion for next time, do this before you mix it with the developer. the reason it looks like the white hairs are red is because there's not enough brown in the mix. white hair is like white paper or blank canvas. the color you put on it is the color it will be. so if the color is more red than brown, the white will look bright red.. so if you mix in more brown and make a customized color, it will fill in the missing brown in the white hair, and the color will look more natural.also, i noticed you are using semi permanent, sometimes that is not penetrating enough to cover gray well. it is sometimes a more translucent product which allows you to see your gray shining through. maybe try a permanent color in a level of darkness that matches your natural brown,like a level 4,and mix brown and red brown together as i mentioned above.follow the directions and do a patch testy to be sure you aren't going to be sensitive to the ingredients 24 hours beforehand. good luck!