Brilliant Brunette Foam Color 4N by John Frieda

I've been using this product since I was in my 20s when I started to notice a few grays. I also just loved the color of this dye instead of my boring jet black hair. I used to be asked if my hair color was my natural hair color because it's a beautiful chocolate shade that looks natural, but has a beautiful sheen when the sun shines on it. I noticed that my hair sheds less with this product and my hair seems to be healthier and less damaged as well. I credit it to the gentleness of the foam. It also has less of a strong ammonia smell although it still does have it. I make a lot less mess with the foam too. The foam dye isn't splashed onto every random wall in the bathroom, because it foams instead of "farts dye onto your hair and walls". The biggest pro is that this is easier to use than your regular dye-at-home job because it foams and has a better coverage. There's less chance of you missing a spot with the foam. I have super thick, straight, black hair. I thought this wouldn't work with my black hair, but surprisingly it does. It's not super obvious color on my hair, but I don't want it to be. I want it to look like it could be my natural hair color. I've been dying my hair since I was a teenager and the regular dyes were a bit more work. You have to make sure you do it correctly with a regular dye otherwise you might miss a spot. I also used to have long hair so I used to need at least 2 boxes with regular dyes. This product makes it possible to use only 1 box and have my whole head colored. Now I'm 33 and I can no longer deny I have premature graying. I have to dye my hair now or I'd look 50 years beautiful. Nothing wrong with 50, I just want to enjoy my 30s as I'm supposed to. After all, we are only 30s for a few years and never again. A lot of my hair from the sides of my head is now white and I have to dye my hair about every 2 to 3 weeks to hide it from my husband who is now home 24/7 thanks to this 2020 pandemic. He swears he hasn't seen any grays in my head, but that's because Amazon has saved me a lot with having this dye on subscription for me every month. I did notice though that I have some stubborn grays that won't dye with this even when I leave it on for 45 minutes. It's definitely a new challenge, but it looks to dye most of my grays well enough. I just need to make sure I really cover every white hair with foam completely and for the full 45 minutes. So for now, this is still my go-to dye for my hair. I haven't looked "rough" yet during this pandemic, fortunately. I get my hair color done by myself. As well as my lashes (diy extensions), I also wax myself already before the pandemic, and I tried nail on glue for the very first time this year. If you find this review helpful, please click on the "helpful" tab. I noticed that many of the popular products on Amazon has tons of positive reviews, but the product turns out to be a disappointment. Negative reviews are buried under. I think some of the Chinese sellers have figured out that most of us rely on positive reviews so they've managed to fake tons of it to sell more product. So I'm starting to review products on Amazon and anywhere else online that I buy to help combat that. This is a genuine unpaid positive review and I want to make sure people know which products they can rely on. Thank you.

Great color and easy to apply. No mess in bathroom. This is good stuff

I love John Frieda hair color! Gives me superb coverage on my stubborn grays with no fuss and no mess! Hair looks shiny and healthy after each color. Color lasts me about 3-4 weeks before the gray roots start to show, which is far better than I have gotten with other brands of box dye. I have been using this brand of hair color in 4N for 5 years now! I am however extremely disappointed that it is nearly impossible to find this shade in stores anymore, and most of the stores I used to buy haircolor from are, for some unknown reason, no longer carrying John Frieda hair color at all! 🥺

UPDATE: This didn't last as long as I'd hoped it would. I'm about 5 weeks post application and grays are starting to peek through again. I'd also say the color has faded enough that it no longer qualifies as ebony, but instead a very, very dark brown. I'll likely have to reapply every 6 weeks. Was hoping to get at least 8 to 10. 3.5 star rating, as opposed to 4. This turns your hair a beautiful cool shade of black. It's perfect for those of us with fair, porcelain complexions. Pros: --The mousse is easy to apply. --It smells nice. --My husband helped apply this, but I think a woman could easily do it on her own if she was careful. --The end results looked beautiful (see picture below). --I'm 2 1/2 weeks past application, I have no grays showing, and my hair is still black. It's faded some, but I'm okay with that...it looks a little more natural now. --I really liked the post-color conditioner and sealant included in the box. Cons: --You need a lot of product, particularly if you have thick hair. I ordered 2 boxes and used both entirely. I probably could have used another, as my hair never did lather like it was supposed to (as per the instructions). My hair just seemed to soak it right up. --You have to be very careful when applying...it stains everything. We had it on our floor tile and grout...and on the cabinets of our vanity. Thankfully, a Mr. Erasure removed most of it, but I'd still recommend being very careful. It stains a bright violet color. Thankfully, it does seem to come off skin fairly easily. --The water still runs lavender every time I wash my hair...2 1/2 weeks after I dyed my hair. I find that a little odd, but it hasn't stained my pillow case. Overall, I'd totally recommend this product. I even ordered 2 extra boxes when they dropped $2 in price last week.

I'm not a fan of dying my hair at home. It is messy, and it is not that easy to cover everything if you have long hair. I'm OK paying $80+ at a salon, but the problem is that I never found a consistent colorist I liked. Either the color was off or I was left with a visible line between my roots and the rest of the hair. Also, I experienced dripping dye, strong chemical smell and a sloppy job overall. I tried several colorists before I gave up, (no, I was not willing to pay over $100 for going from brown to red as I don't consider it to be a complicated task). Now, with John Frieda "Radiant Reds" I get the best red color ever. It is so good that many people at the salon I go to for my haircuts comment on how beautiful my color is. They don't even suspect that I do it myself at home. I can see how many people who are trying to go from dark to light may end up being unhappy - it is way more complicated process and usually requires the use of pretty harsh chemicals. If you pay attention to the color charts, you will see that John Frieda does not advise you to use light colors if your own hair is more than 2-3 shades darker than the color you're trying to achieve. They know it will not work. Honestly, if your own hair is dark and you want to be a beautiful blond, it is almost impossible to do it at home. You will have to find a good hair colorist. It s expensive to be a blond, especially if you want it to look somewhat natural and not bleached out and over-processed. Also, I know it has been repeated everywhere but people still do the same mistake - do not attempt to change your color if your last coloring job happened less than 3 weeks ago. The results will be unpredictable and in the worst case scenario you may end up being pink, green or blue. Don't blame John Frieda - it is not their fault. I used many different brands before, but as soon as I discovered this dye a few years ago I never tried anything else. As many people mentioned, foam concept is so much better than a regular dye. I think I tried pretty much all shades of radiant red they have and they all were pretty - just depends on what exactly you want to achieve as the end result. I'll be honest, looking at the box, e.g 3VR and 4R it is almost impossible to see the difference and predict how exactly it will look on you, but if you're willing to play around a little bit with shades of red, you will find the one you like the most. A few tips: - wear some old black T-shirt because now you can concentrate on dyeing your hair instead of worrying about ruining your clothes - pull out face tissues and cotton balls beforehand as during the procedure your hands will be covered with dye (in my case bright red) and you will stain everything you touch - find a bottle of cream you don't care about and generously apply it around your face, close to the hairline but not touching your hair (this hair dye is not that difficult to remove but after 25 minutes can stain you pretty nicely, and if you don't have a lot of time to spend in a bathroom afterwards, applying any cream will save you some time) - brush your hair thoroughly and start from roots slowly moving towards your ends, especially if you are retouching - by doing this I never had any visible difference between previously dyed hair and grown roots - do not shampoo your hair afterwards, just use the conditioner they provided (I understand this step is from the manual but I know quite a few people who are impatient and end up not reading it till the last step) - take a snapshot of the box before you throw it out because you may forget in a month which # you used. Good luck to everyone! I hope your hair will end up looking gorgeous and healthy!

Ive always boxed dyed my hair at home and this brand is by far the most accurate and dependable color for me. For context I have very porous medium brown hair with a red undertone and spots of gray. My hair is mid-long length at about armpit length. I use 2 boxes and still have plenty left after saturating my hair. My hair always turns out to be a dark brown color- not black, which is hard to accomplish with a lot of dark brown hair colors. Not that I care to color my gray strands, it does accomplish this. I just try to have more uniform colored hair due to the undertones I naturally have. The dye itself is very easy to work with and a lot less messy than traditional box dye due to the foam. Some tips I would recommend are to place vaseline or petroleum jelly around your hair line, neck being your ear, around your ear tips, etc to avoid getting dye on your skin. This is inevitable with every hair dye if you are pressed on making sure your roots and edges are dyed. After you finish the dye and you have to wait, you can use some type of wipe, wash cloth, etc to wipe where the dye/vaseline are and it comes right off.

I loooove this hair dye. I have used Ion in the past, and some Loreal colors from Walmart, but this is by far my favorite. It does dye a little dark, I first used 5n, then tried 6n which is perfect. It is so easy to use and quicker then any other dyes I've tried. The foaming really helps with getting all over coverage, and it is not messy at all. The only thing I dont like is the gloves that come it the box - they're just a generic big, loose fit. I highly recommend buying a box of better fitting gloves to help message the foam around your scalp.

I have a love/hate relationship with this stuff, which will be expressed in this review. First, to give you some context as to why I use this junk: I'm 25 years old, I'm a poor grad student, and I'm super self-conscious 'bout my grays, which reside in my large quantity of long thick hair. This stuff, while I have my complaints, is cheap and the color comes out nice. I use this crap about every 3 or 4 months, using a root touch up product about every 3 weeks in between the John Frieda torture sessions. So like I said, I have a LOT of hair. I mean, a lot. This is something hair stylists from all walks of life, ages, and experience always comment on, as if I don't already know. So, I must use TWO boxes of John Frieda. That's just the beginning of my troubles. But the point of this complaint is to let you know that if you have long, thick hair, don't be a dummy and think ONE box will suffice. You must use TWO. Next is the mess factor. This stuff is a mess. And it stains. It might be marketed as "non-drip" but that does not mean it is "non-fling, all over yourself and your bathroom". From past color sessions, I have lovely, permanent dark spots from this dye on my bathroom sink faucet handles, floor, toilet and walls. Armed with the knowledge that this dye is a hot mess, I now take many precautions when I color. I have a special t-shirt that I dedicate to John Frieda hair color sessions. I line my sink with the hair color instructions. I put a towel on the floor. Sometimes. When I remember. Actually I've never done that but I really should. Granted, with my insane quantity of hair, its hard to prevent a mess when dying. But really, the foam just flings everywhere and it is *really* annoying. Oh, and it stinks! It really stinks. Ammonia, for real. My bathroom is not well-ventilated, and sometimes I feel like I'm going to have a fainting spell when I'm coloring my hair. Either that or I feel like I might puke. Its never happened, but, you know, its always a threat. Having said all that, I try to have fun when I color my hair. I listen to music. I use the foam to write things on my head. I put my hair in a big bun on my head and swirl the foam around it and pretend I'm a human cinnamon roll. I consider what I'll write in my Amazon review. At the end of the session, I clip my hair in an 1800's 'do that I don't normally have the opportunity to sport. Then I clean up all the damn foam on my skin, sink, walls, floor, etc, and chill out for a half an hour, writing that Amazon review I dreamed up while dying. Ahem. dyeing. Or coloring, whatever. I actually dread using this stuff for the above reasons, but like I said, I like the even color that it delivers and I'm too chicken to try anything else. However, if you know of a better hair dye for thick-haired freaks like me, please do let me know, and I hope you found this review balanced, honest, and helpful.

Me gustó el tono que me quedo del cabello, ya no lo he comprado porque no está el tono

Great product

I have very thick long hair and only need to use one box. Color always turns out how it's supposed to. Love this stuff!

This didn’t cover my roots even though I left it on for 30 minutes I followed and applied per the instructions

Followed the instructions exactly. Doesn’t dye grey hair at all. Wasted my time.