I'm reviewing Clairol Natural Instincts 6G (Light Golden Brown / Toasted Almond). I've been using Nat. Instincts for years, and have tried various colors, finally settling on this one as best for me. My natural color was a light brown, with golden highlights (in my younger days) :) I really liked the "overall" color of the 6.5G (Lightest Golden Brown / Amber Shimmer), as it was closer to my natural color, but it was just too light to cover the grays.

Before Clairol came up with their "10 min. method", I had developed my own timing method, and was reluctant to try this new "10 min." one. I still "tweak" it a little. I had unintentionally gone about 7-1/2 weeks since my last color, and I was really surprised by how much more gray hair I had than just last year! I still don't quite follow their method "to the letter", but here's what seems to work for me: I apply the color first to a prominent gray "patch", and to my roots. Then, I wait 10 min. BEFORE applying the remaining color to the rest of my hair. After applying it to the rest of my hair, I wait 5 more mins. and then rinse out and condition. This makes a total of 15 mins. The end result is slightly darker than my natural color, for the first week or two, but it gradually gets lighter. My grays get a lovely, slightly "reddish" tone, which blends in nicely, and makes it look very natural (instead of that "flat" one-tone look you get with some hair dyes). That's why I like the semi-permanent hair color - It looks very natural, fades out gradually, and I don't have a "definite" root line that ever shows. In fact, sometimes I don't even notice that my grays are showing! I can generally go about 5 - 6 weeks before coloring again. Hope this helps someone!

I couldn't wait to leave a product review for this! My hairdresser told me no way would semi-permanent dye cover all my gray - so I dealt with severely damaged hair for YEARS. I finally tried Natural Instincts... my hairdresser was shocked at the coverage, the health and thickness of my hair after finally leaving permanent hair dye in my past. I LOVE this brand and will never ever go back to anything else. My hair is about 80% - not gray- *silver* (ugh) and this product has 100% coverage. (Leave on for one hour before rinsing)

This is the perfect auburn hair color (5R Cinaberry)! I have been using it for about a year, and was so grateful to find it on Amazon after going to 3 different stores and thinking it was discontinued! I naturally have red hair, but it started to get browner as I got older. I wanted to deposit some more red without looking unnatural. This color is a little dark upon first application, but lightens to a lovely auburn color after 3 washes. It lasts me about 2 months and fades out beautifully. Since I have to use 2 boxes, I hoard the amazing conditioner it comes with and use it once a week, as well as a UV protection spray so the color lasts as long as possible.

I have a lot of stubborn gray, and have to leave this product on longer than reccomended or I end up with hair that's lighter at the roots than on the rest of my head. (I've also tried the darker brown neutral, but it still takes a long timw to stick and even when I try to stick with coloring just the roots end up with inky black ends after 2 treatments). Also, I've yet to ever get it completely out of my hair, even the time I let my roots grow out for 3 months before recoloring, it's not really very temporary. That said, it's a lower ammonia formula that's kinder to my scalp than permanent colors and I think I get a somewhat more subtle shading and a more gradual transition from roots to color compared to the permanent color formula.

I was trying to find a way to cover grays but still look natural. This is it! I let the color sit on my hair for 10 minutes, the website says 15 minutes for gray hair, I will do that next time so all of the grays are covered. It left my hair soft and silky and smells wonderful! I have dark brown hair naturally and used the Hazelnut medium brown color and this just gave a richness to my natural color. My teenagers did not notice that I colored it (I had to tell them, they were impressed) I notice that the color is a tad bit brighter than my original, I love it!

UPDATE.
I still love this product but am realizing it only lasts 4 weeks even if you only wash your hair twice a week. It is really not a big deal though. Also let the color process 15 minutes to fully cover all grays. The grays color a much lighter color, so the result is natural looking highlights.