Natural Instincts Demi-Permanent Hair Dye, 9 Light Blonde Hair Color, 3 Count

I have had naturally white hair since my 40's, and back then (30 years ago) my hair was ruined by my professional colorist, so I turned to DIY with Clairol Natural Instincts, color 2, Sahara, light ASH blonde, once the damaged portions of my hair grew out. It was fantastic-- left my long white hair a very light cooler golden color, soft and shiny. I am a highly allergic person, and never had a problem with that original formula. I was very happy with the product for many years, UNTIL they changed the formula. Now the cool and warm light blonde colors have been mushed together by the clueless manufacturer as "color 9" "light blonde", which is more of a disaster every time I use it. Rather than cool light blonde hair, it yields a brassier blonde, that colors inconsistently and swiftly fades to white.. In its most recent formulaic iteration, the "product" has consistently failed to color most of the grey, but has left a massive freakish looking orange streak in the front. I have no idea why, as I've used the same technique for years. I understand the need to rid cosmetic products of parabens, etc, but don't see how that would have affected color results, as it has done. It seems like the manufacturer put profit over quality, cut the number of colors to cut costs, and just figured that all fair haired people, regardless of skin tone and eye color, would be just fine with using the same shade of light blonde. That strategy has failed. While whatever color "took" in most of my hair is now gone, the orange streak survives in all its horrific "glory". I suspect most blondes who prefer a cool shade will not like this color. Personally, I've simply stopped ordering the stuff, as I feel my natural white hair looks better than than the disaster this stuff has left me with recently. If they decide to go back to the original formula, I will buy again, but for now this product is a no go.

I have been coloring my hair with permanent hair color for over 40 years and each year, I noticed my hair was getting thinner, dryer, weaker and hopelessly frizzy. I assumed that it was just part of getting older. I loved going to the salon and getting my color and highlights, but the cost got so expensive, and my hair continued to look worse, so I decided to try something new. I wanted to use a gentler process to cover my grays and maybe save my hair from breaking off completely. I decided to try Clairol Natural instincts because it did not have any ammonia or peroxide. The smell is very mild and I had no scalp irritation at all. My natural hair color is medium brown with about 30 percent gray. I experimented with a few colors and finally came up with my own combination of Medium Cool Blonde (8A) and Light Blonde (9). The photos I have attached show my hair 2 years ago in January of 2022 and my hair as of 5/8/24. As you can see, I had very thin, fine hair with dead, dried out ends. After 2 years of using only Clairol Natural Instincts (and a lot of trims), I look like have twice the amount of hair and as you can see, the ends look great. I highly recommend this product.

I’ve been using this for years but it no longer includes gloves….why ??

Perfect color

It's fine. The original brown box version has never made my hair otange-y, while this one does sometimes - but I find it harder & harder to find my shade in that original version in person any more (I use Sahara/neutral blonde), so this version is my backup plan. I have to be sure I use this on a Friday evening to ensure I have time to wash my hair Sunday evening with purple shampoo before I have to go to work. I still LOVE the aftercare conditioner - there's plenty for ongoing use, and it's the best treatment I've used. I would pay for that stuff on its own! The product itself is also very gentle on my hair. It always feels and looks super healthy when I'm done. That part is the same, and that's a good thing. Overall, this is not my first choice - but it is way preferable to a permanent color because of the potential damage they can inflict, and it's better than nothing. It's an okay sub for the brown box version, when necessary.