Directions - How long do you leave it on?

I leave direct dyes on for as long as I can stand. I tend to apply the dye in the morning and wash my hair in the afternoon or evening. I wrap my hair with dye in clingfilm so it doesn't dry out and a towel around my head to keep it warm and so it doesn't look as silly to others. 😛 I haven't found dye lasting longer with 10 hours or 4, but I've never left it on for fewer than 4 hours. It's my belief it's depending on the specific shade and/or brand. Certain colours tend to stick like crazy, while others fade or wash out much more quickly.

But I do think it will stick better if you leave it on for a lot longer than 15 minutes.

With Directions, on my hair, it needs 4 hours for maximum longevity. Longer than 4 hours doesn't make a difference, but everyone's hair is different so whatever works for you. It is very conditioning, so no such thing as too long.

I've got into the habit of dying my hair in the evening when I can and leaving it on all night. It takes some of the pain out of the wait 🙂 otherwise I lose patience too quickly and wash it off after an hour or two, which just isn't long enough for me. Partly because I dilute most of my dyes with conditioner and my hair LOVES conditioner, so the longer the better!

I tend to leave it on around 4 hours too. The longer the better in theory but I've never noticed a huge difference past that point.

I tend to do 4-6 hours . I used to do overnight but I kept getting ear infections ('swimmers ear') from sleeping with damp hair!

I always tuck the cling film I put over it behind my ears as I've had many an ear infection and swimmers ear over the last couple of years! It rarely makes a difference to the dye on my temples.

I am considering semi permanent dyes cause I'm a fraidy cat.  I really want to die my hair to some funky color but I am afraid of damage.  My hair is already rough.  What do you ladies use to combat the negative effects of dyes?

4 hours is the lucky number

I am considering semi permanent dyes cause I'm a fraidy cat.  I really want to die my hair to some funky color but I am afraid of damage.  My hair is already rough.  What do you ladies use to combat the negative effects of dyes?

There are no negative affects of direct dyes.

I also put the dye on in the early evening and then wrap it up in a towel and leave it until the next morning to wash out.

I don't even need to bleach my (naturally light brown) hair that way, the colour still comes out so bright that people regularly ask me whether or not I'm wearing a wig in the first few weeks. 😛 No damage, still glorious bright green, it's lasted for nearly three months (fading to a murky fir-green that I personally like). The only caveat is that you'll need to scrub your hair several times with clarifying shampoo and make sure you've got as much colour as possible out before each redyeing, because if you don't bleach then it'll dye darker over the last one each time.

On the other hand, the one (and first) time that I used a Directions dye for only 30 minutes (twice as long as the 15 minutes they recommend on the packaging!) almost nothing happened. It was Lavender on hair bleached to a lightish blond and it didn't even make it to an even silver, let alone purple-- it turned it a strange patchwork of fawn with grey strands where my hair had natural highlights. It was pretty, actually. Just definitely not lavender!

Yeah, I agree with the others, leave it on as long as you can stand it. Just watch out when you go to wash it out, Directions dries and cakes on your hair to a diamond-hard finish if you leave it in that long and it'll take some scrubbing with gloved fingers and cold water to break the dry bits loose. Otherwise they'll make your scalp itch all day and any time you scratch your head you'll come away with colour under your fingernails.

I leave mine on about four hours or so! Because these are direct dyes with no developer they are safe to leave on. Just cover your hair with cling film/shower cap to stop it drying out/the dye getting everywhere 🙂