11 Best Hair Colour Brands Tested & Loved By Users

There’s always a temptation to go bright pink or neon green, and if you want to blindly pick a brand for that, choose Paradyes. The colour is semi-permanent, vegan, vibrant and easy to apply. Homegrown, the brand understands women’s hair, and the colours can be used on all hair types. What’s cool is that when you wash your hair post-dye, it feels soft and smells great. They currently have over 15 shades, with an experimental colour of the month every now and then. Tried and tested by a few of us at LBB, we love them for their high pigment and non-damaging formula. They also sell bleach and conditioner ideal for coloured hair.

Price: INR 895 onwards 

Shades: 20 shades available for semi-permanent colour

Pros: No bleach, No ammonia, No PPD

Cons: Has fragrance

An Indian brand (from a popular salon chain), BBLUNT knows what Indian hair needs and their Salon Secret High Shine Creme Hair Range is near perfect. The ingredients in the colours will offset the damage that hard water causes. Promising salon-like results, the hair colour lasts long, leaves your hair soft and shiny, and is ammonia-free! The hair dye is available in basic browns and red. Users say that their hair got extra glossy after use and didn’t have the 'ammonia' smell that most other brands do. Of course, if your hair is pre-lightened, the colour will be more vibrant and true to shade. 

Price: INR 200 upwards 

Shades: 7 shades in their Salon Secret High Shine Creme hair range

Pros: No ammonia, comes with a shine tonic in the package, affordable. 

Cons: Limited shades

L'Oreal is probably one of the most popular hair colouring options available for at home use. L'Oreal Paris Casting Creme Gloss is a range of semi-permanent cream-based hair colours. This dye works best on pre-lightened/bleached hair and is ideal for those who don't want to commit to any particular colour, as it lasts up to six weeks. This dye only coats the outer layer of your hair and is available in 11 ammonia-free shades. 

The L'Oreal Paris Excellence Creme Hair Colour range features permanent hair colour options as well and is ideal for covering greys. It's gel-based, comes with a developer (a hydrogen peroxide element that helps lighten hair and is mixed with bleach and/or hair colour to deposit colour into the hair cuticle), and is available in 38 shades. This one does come with ammonia, however. 

L'Oreal Paris Hair Color Root Retouch is an instant (and temporary) fix for covering up undyed roots between colour sessions. Spray-based, it only lasts until the next wash, but it's great for emergencies. It's available in dark brown and black. 

Price: INR 533 onwards

Shades: 13

Pros: Ammonia-free, gives a shiny result, lasts up to 28 shampoos.

Cons: No bright colours

An Indian brand, Streax has been providing professional colour options for a few decades now. Deriving their ingredients and formulations from Ayurvedic practices, their range is highly pigmented as it is easy on the pocket. They currently offer two types—global hair colouring (all your hair) and small sachets of dye for temporary highlights. Available in vibrant purple, green, red and blue, to name a few (and regular browns and blonde as well), the Streax Ultralights Highlighting Kit is great for those of you who want to experiment. It comes with a developer, which you’ll need to mix with dye for better colour payoff. The colour stays on for four weeks if you wash your hair twice a week. They also have instant shampoo hair colour in black and brown if you need something between appointments. 

Price: 131 onwards

No. Of Shades: 3 shades in each of its product range, which includes base shades, colours, and highlights

Pros: Enriched with almond oil and argan oil, affordably priced and cruelty-free

Cons: Not an expansive number of shades

Known for their clean, cruelty-free, vegan and herbal formulations, Biotique has hair colour options in their offerings too. Developed specifically for Indian hair, the colours they offer are brown, dark brown and black shades. These are all ammonia-free, and even the cream developer contains fewer synthetic components than other brands. But this results in your hair feeling drier and the colour fading quicker, as it lasts for around four weeks if you wash your hair twice a week. Each colouring kit comes with Biotique’s colour protection shampoo and conditioner as well. Be sure to be generous with your deep conditioning treatment if you colour your hair with Biotique’s dyes. 

Price: INR 180 upwards

No. Of Shades: 3 shades 

Pros: Made from 100% organic ingredients, completely chemical and cruelty-free, lasts up to 26 shampoos

Cons: Limited shade range

For those of you trying to avoid synthetic chemicals, get the hair colours from Indus Valley. Organic, vegan and derived naturally (ingredients include rose, amla, tulsi, and wheatgerm, among others), if you’re not too fussy about the colour staying for a long time, this is for you. You can pick from two options:

For various shades of browns and blacks, perfect to colour greys, the Indus Valley Organically Natural Hair Color will sort you out. All you need to do is mix the powder with a gel that comes with a kit, apply it post-shampoo and keep it on for up to 45 minutes. 

The other option is to pick up their henna and indigo to give you a rich brown. Of course, you can use them independently as well. Remember to deep condition if you're using this one. Men, they also have dyes for beards!

Price: INR 160 upwards 

No. Of Shades: 6 shades

Pros: No ammonia, no hydrogen peroxide, completely vegan

Cons: Limited shades, doesn’t last long

Another brand that makes natural and organic hair colours is Sadhev. They have a double-process hair dye, which basically includes brown and black. Dye your hair brown, and then black over that for a natural finish. The ingredients include henna, indigo and amla, known to naturally condition the hair, the dye is also chemical, cruelty, and paraben-free. For those of you who have prematurely greyed fast, the double-process hair dye works best, and if you just have a few strands or sections to cover up (and the hair isn’t stark white), use the single-process one. As it’s natural, the colour wears off in less than a month but causes the least amount of damage. 

Price: INR 557 upwards 

No Of Shades: 2

Pros: No ammonia, no hydrogen peroxide, completely vegan, and paraben-free

Cons: Not an expansive number of shades, does not last that long, pricey compared to other similar options

Anveya offers great temporary hair colour options that wash off in the next wash after application, giving you freedom to colour your hair without any long commitments. With their super-easy application process, you can get some streaks or highlights in just under 10 minutes. This hair colour does not require bleach and is vibrant even on dark hair. 

Price: INR 399 upwards 

No. Of Shades: Available in nine shades

Pros: Easy application, affordable, vegan and natural formula and vibrant shade. 

Cons: Does not last long and has limited colour options. 

With some of the coolest metallic shades, this punk-inspired brand will indulge you in its funky colours. Used by professionals, this brand is a great option for those who love exploring and experimenting with hair colour as it does not last longer than 4-8 washes.  

Price: INR 850 upwards 

No. Of Shades: 10

Pros: Highly pigmented shade that is suitable for all hair types and is value for money

Cons: Works the best on pre-lightened or platinum blonde hair. 

Milkshake's products are best used to touch up the previous hair colour while retaining the natural health of your hair. They have some of the most creamy and conditioning products in hair colours. Using these will keep your colour intensity from lowering while removing the need to constantly get touch-ups done, which usually harm your hair health. 

Price: INR 1100 upwards 

No. Of Shades: 15

Pros: Hydrating formula with milk proteins, vitamin E and fruit extracts for the best hair health

Cons: Pricey, with one bottle containing only 75ml of the product

For when you want to try that one particular shade you love, this brand with a whopping 50 options is what you should try. We love that this is vegan and cruelty-free. This also conditions your hair as you apply it and lasts for up to 4-6 weeks with good care. Each of their bottles is about 118ml which comes with a resealable tube so that you can apply it multiple times if you have some left over. 

Price: INR 1750 upwards 

No. Of Shades: 50

Pros: Lots of shade options. 

Cons: Does not last very long and works best on pre-lightened hair.