I tried Elumen for the first time this week on my roots. I chose a color that was too light from the NN (full gray coverage) range. I was underwhelmed, but due to my color choice, I'm going to give it another go before posting a full review. Since I have switched the location of my part to the other side of my head, I have so few visible grays that I feel like I can experiment for a while.
I tried NN@7. I'm new to this. After watching videos of the other NN shades, I'm convinced they skew too warm. I'm going to try AN@5 and report back. Keep in mind, most of my hair is henna-ed, so I really need something the color of greenish-greyish-blue dirt to neutralize it.
In the interim, here's a review of oVertone in Espresso that I posted elsewhere and felt I might as well keep here as a placeholder:
For those unfamiliar with direct dyes, they essentially coat the surface of the hair/ deposit color near the surface. The more porous the hair is, the more dye is deposited, but that isn't to say direct dyes won't work on healthy or low-porosity hair. I have done a two-step henna/indigo process on my new growth for several years since I started to get gray hairs at my roots along where I part my hair (manual manipulation and heat styling means I have a row of grays in one distinct place on my head). Henna isn't a direct dye, but the dying properties (lawsone) in henna have an affinity for keratin in the hair, so henna coats the hair shaft. Indigo is a natural direct dye, and it works over henna. Orange red (henna) + blue (indigo) = brown, give or take. Henna has the benefit of making hair appear shinier and feel healthier, but the downside is it takes 4 hours, a lot rinsing, and a follow up indigo consisting of 30 minutes and more rinsing. I bought this to try and cheat between henna/indigo treatments. For those who are warm toned and don't mind dark brown hair with strong red undertones, this is a great choice. It offers full gray coverage. I have a very pale olive complexion, and my hair is naturally very dark ash brown (eyebrows are almost jet black), so this just made my hair look like some of the darkest henna stains I have had (different henna from different parts of the world stain differently, but there are no henna "colors"). I was looking for a more neutral brown, and from what I have read online, Overtone tends to skew warm, so this was a miss. Positives include short processing time, full gray coverage, and minimal to zero damage (although direct dyes are not supposed to damage hair, I have found a few of the salon brand direct dyes to be very drying). Your mileage may vary!
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