I dye my own, too, although I use professional products from the beauty supply to do mine (they are the only ones that will cover my gray). It could be that your MasterCuts person was just a more skilled colorist. At my salon, the person who cuts my hair gives a great cut, but another woman is a better colorist. In lightening hair that tends to turn brassy, a lot of the skill seems to come in knowing which product to use with which, and also timing the lightening process. You might try an additive (a "drabber") in your shampoo and conditioner...they also sell those at the beauty supply and can tell you how to use that product. Good luck~

speaking as a hairdresser, your "old hair" becomes very spongy afer repeated applications of color. you really cannot remove it. the only option is to have your hair trimed to strengthen the ends and get rid of the dark. the biggest hint i can give you is NOT to color the ends every time you do your roots. use regular color on you roots only, then add 2x as much shampoo to the rest of the color in the bottle. put that on the rest of your hair for 5 minutes only. rinse and condition. have a friend or neighbor help you if you have trouble just getting the color on the roots. leave root color on for 15-20 min only. rinse, then apply the color/shampoo combo for the last 5 min. hope this makes sense, email me if you need more help! trin

Does your hairdresser have you sit under a dryer to heat your hair and make the color develop faster? That heat has caused my hair to frizz and break off, so now I just wait at room temperature until I'm "done." Does your hairdresser keep checking your hair every couple of minutes to make sure it's not overprocessing? Natural Instincts is a home product that works reasonably well to temporarily cover grey, is not harsh and comes with a good deep conditioner. BTW, biotin has made my hair (and nails) grow faster, but it hasn't given me more hair. My thyroid hormone was found to be low, which is a common problem, and the replacement hormone I take now has given me a bit more hair -- might be worth checking.

I used to be a hairdresser, not a colour specialist though. I do want to add that talking to your hairdresser about your colour vs graying hair and having an update to your file is due. Products have changed immensely since the 80's when I worked so I cannot comment on today's salon products. I can say that 'baby shampoo' is not a light shampoo like many people think. It's actually harsher than adult shampoo because it's designed to remove the extra oil babies have that can build up quickly like a waxy deposit - years ago it was called 'cradle cap' if not washed off well enough. I do not recommended using baby shampoo on coloured hair at all. Hair can behave in many different ways, especially if you have been colouring your hair for years. Sometimes the hair gets overworked causing the cuticles to stretch open so far they don't hold colour well anymore, become fragile. Years ago my own bleach blonde (Madonna look) got so worn out I actually had to have just the colour (no peroxide) first put on to soak in and put a base colour down and then do the normal colouring with the peroxide to hold the colour. Like I said that was over 2 decades ago and products change. If you go to a local salon that does not have a colour specialist you could ask your hairdresser to talk to their beauty product supplier or call the 1 800 number for the product itself to speak to the manufacturer colour specialist to see if there is something else they can do. If you are not happy with your local salon, go to another one. Ask what the name of the professional product is that the hairdresser is using on your hair and how much peroxide is being used. It's your hair, you have a right to know. Maybe it's time for an adjustment. If you don't tell your hairdresser what is going on, they won't know how you are feeling. Just my 2 cents. Here's a site I refer to myself. Here is a link that might be useful: Hair Boutique