Cheap & Easy – How I Color My Hair with Glam Works For Less Than P50!

I’ve been coloring my hair on and off for years – at first, because I wanted to try new hair colors, and later because I needed to cover gray hair.

I started getting white hair early. Maybe it’s the old wives’ tale of sleeping with hair wet that caused the early onset of graying. It’s not a whole head of gray – just a few strands here and there, but enough to annoy me since they are very visible against my generally black hair and make me look older.

Coloring at Home

Having my hair colored at the “parlor” or beauty salon was not a long-term solution because they take a long time and are expensive for my long hair. Including travel time and waiting time, this could easily take 4-5 hours! And who has that time to spare?

I tried the “branded” at-home coloring kits that are sold at the beauty stores and drugstores, but they were still pricey at P300-600 per box, and with my long hair, I sometimes need two boxes. They were also difficult to apply if you follow instructions. Also, more often I just needed to color the roots and spending P300 on that is really expensive. It’s not like the unused coloring mix can be kept until next month. Once you mix the hair coloring agents, they need to be used because they lose their efficacy. Also, I don’t think they are formulated for thicker Asian hair.

I tried the less expensive coloring options like Bigen (P60-70) but it was still a hassle because it required mixing. But it was cheaper and easier – enough that I used it for a while. They left my hair a bit matigas for a few days but with generous use of conditioner, my hair is back to normal in less than 5 days.

Then a couple of years ago, while perusing Watson’s, I saw this hair coloring packet that only costs P49.95! I couldn’t believe it! I read the instructions and saw that it is applied just like shampooing your hair!

Glam Works Permanent Hair Dye Color

I tried one packet and I’ve been using it ever since. I use 2 packs for my below-the-shoulder hair.

A pack is 30 ml. It’s ammonia-free. When you open the packet, you’ll find a big sachet and free disposable gloves.

I also have an old t-shirt to use or an old towel that I put on my shoulders to keep the color from staining my neck, shoulders and back. I also have a shower cap just for hair coloring (obviously, it gets stained a lot). I use a shower cap so I can do other things while waiting and to prevent the hair dye from getting everywhere. Prepare scissors.

A little prevention

If you are worried about staining your hands, fingers, arms, face, neck, shoulders with the hair dye, put a little petroleum jelly or Pond’s Cold Cream on the area. This will create a film over your skin so the hair dye won’t stick. Obviously, be careful not to accidentally put any on the hair you are trying to dye!

Should your skin get dyed, it washes off in 1-2 days. I don’t even notice them after 1 day.

How I dye my hair

I noticed that I got better results when I shampooed my hair first. Maybe because it’s clean, it absorbs the color easier. So anyway, I start by shampooing my hair and rinsing it clean. Don’t put conditioner. Towel dry hair until it’s damp but not dripping wet.

Wear the gloves then cut the sachet open and start putting the coloring goo on hands first to mix then apply to hair. Work it like a shampoo. There are two liquids from the sachet that should be mixed thoroughly. Make sure that the coloring mixture is applied on hair thoroughly, especially in areas with gray hair. I pay particular attention to the roots at the top of my head and the areas above my ears.

When I’m satisfied with how I applied the color dye to my hair, I put on the shower cap and wait for 30-35 minutes. The packet says 20-25 minutes but I find that my hair needs more time than that to get to the depth of color that I want.

After 35 minutes, I take off the shower cap, add a little bit of water to my hair and start massaging again so that it makes bubbles. Then I thoroughly rinse off the coloring agents and put generous amounts of conditioner, wait for a minute, and rinse.

When everything’s done, I go check my hair to see if I missed any white hair. I am usually satisfied with the results! My hair feels normal after coloring with Glam Works – not stiff at all! It’s the easiest hair coloring pack I’ve tried and it’s inexpensive so I don’t mind that I might have to use 2 packs for my hair.

Here are before and after pictures of my hair:

Sorry about the lighting of the pictures. But trust me, the white hairs are definitely covered! I used the Glam Works Permanent Hair Dye Color in Black. The Glam Works black is not a very harsh, dark black. It looks natural! They have 4 colors available, based on what I can see from at Watson’s – there’s black, brown black, a lighter brown, and a reddish brown.

I stick to the Black or Brown Black colors to cover my white hairs. The lighter colors don’t work as well to cover white hair.

Glam Works Permanent Hair Dye Color is now my go-to coloring kit and I’m very satisfied with its low price and good results. This is really a value-for-money product!