Does Overtone's Nonbleaching Hair Dye Actually Work on Brunettes? I Tried It to Find Out

For background, I went into this with virgin mid-to-dark-brown hair that hadn't been dyed for 20 years. As far as texture goes, a hairdresser once told me I have thin hair strands, but just a lot of them.

I used Overtone Pink For Brown Hair Coloring Conditioner ($29) and followed up with Overtone Pink For Brown Hair Daily Conditioner ($18).

To prep, I bought heavier-duty rubber gloves than the paper-thin disposable ones Overtone provides, since I had read the dye can still get through them (I saved them, though, for using the daily conditioner). My murder dye prep kit also included a black towel to save my nice towels, hair clips, facial lotion to keep my face dye-free, and trash bags to prevent carpet from getting stained during the process. I highly recommend covering all surfaces you don't want stained (and either doing it naked or in a shirt you don't mind getting stained), and fair warning, the tub will require intense cleaning after you shower (and even then it may still have a hint of color). This stuff is highly concentrated.

This is the look of someone worried they made a huge mistake. The process is pretty straightforward and very messy. Start with dry hair for maximum impact. Take a small piece at a time, from bottom to top, and coat the heck out of it, getting to the roots. Make sure you don't miss any spots in the back, and when in doubt, glob on more. I felt like I used a ton, but I didn't even use the entire container for my hair (see previous photo of what I had left). The scent is minty, which was unexpected but nicer than a strong chemical smell. Then just leave it on for 15 minutes and head to the shower to rinse it out. Pro tip: leaving it on for super long won't make it brighter. Once it's saturated, that's as much as it's gonna do.

The company recommends using superhot water, which opens up your hair cuticles even more and helps enhance the color. Then just rinse, rinse, rinse until the water runs clear-ish and your hair doesn't feel like it has any product on it.

The final step is giving it a blow-dry, another example of how heat helps the color look brighter and healthier. Once your hair is dry, it really won't transfer on anything. I didn't have any color on my pillow that first night, and it never dyed my clothing.

Here's what it looked like right after, indoors. As you can see, the color is definitely subtle, and it can look pinkish, reddish, or purplish depending on the lighting. I actually really loved how it turned out, since I wasn't ready for an extreme color change.

I wasn't too worried about it dyeing my skin, but it did take a good scrub to get the pink off my neck, ears, hands, and scalp.

Here's a look at my hot-pink scalp right after the initial dye.

Here's a sunny outdoors shot to show how the color shifts in the light.

This is what it looked like the second day, having slept on it but not washed it yet. I couldn't get over how soft my hair felt and how shiny it looked. Overtone is a conditioner, after all, but I was so focused on the color aspect, I didn't really think about the other benefits.

Again, depending on the light, it can look more purple or pink.

This is what my hair looked like after shampooing it (using this sulfate-free shampoo from Target) and blow-drying it. I didn't use the daily conditioner because I was hoping to scrub the dye off my scalp first.

As you can see, there was a little dye left on my scalp, but much better.

The color still seemed evenly distributed on my hair and didn't seem to fade too much (although the water did run pink in the shower).

This is what my hair looked like after using the daily conditioner. First I shampooed my hair like normal with a sulfate-free shampoo. Then I put on the thin gloves the product comes with and liberally coated my hair with the conditioner in the shower. I didn't rub it into my scalp, but I did cover it all. I only left it on for around five minutes before rinsing it off.

The daily conditioner perked up the color and also helped my hair feel softer and healthier, but scrubbing the tub every time I used the product was kind of a pain.

Here's another look at the color after using the daily conditioner.

So in between day five and day 12, I went on a vacation that included lots of pool and sun time. Because we were staying in a rental, I was nervous about using the daily conditioner and staining someone else's tub, towels, etc. (FYI, even if you don't use the daily conditioner, your hair will dye towels after each shower you take.)

I followed Overtone's pool tips and got my hair wet, then applied coconut oil to it before getting in the pool. But I didn't use the daily conditioner until I returned on day 12. This is what my hair looked like after using daily conditioner and blow-drying it. I also used some coconut oil to smooth flyaways.

As you can see, even the daily conditioner dyes your scalp, but I was happy with how well it conditioned my dry, postvacation hair.

The daily conditioner helped give my hair a little color and shine boost.

While it's starting to fade back to brown, it still has hints of pink, especially in the sun.

Overall, I loved the results from Overtone's For Brown Hair coloring conditioners on my virgin hair. I wasn't expecting a huge, dramatic change, just a subtle twist on my usual humdrum brown, so I was really happy with the subtle tinge of pink I got. The biggest surprise was how healthy my hair felt after using the conditioner, and I loved running my fingers through my soft ends.

The downside was really just how much of a pain it was to keep the dye from staining my skin, my carpet, my clothes, my towels, and my sink and tub. And RIP tub, because I don't think it's ever going back to white after this! I also went on vacation less than a week after doing it, and the pool and sun hastened the fading process, but I was too scared to use the daily conditioner for fear that it'd dye the Airbnb's tub (and towels).

All in all, I'd recommend this product to anyone who doesn't want to fully commit to having their hair professionally colored or is worried about damaging their hair with bleach and chemicals. The Overtone dyeing process is quick and easy and leaves your hair feeling soft and luscious, and the color comes out rich and multifaceted. I'm game for doing it again when I need a fun change of pace. Maybe just after I stock up on more black towels and cleaning supplies.