Nancy, I started getting a stray white hair right or two after I gave birth to my son (go figure!) at age 27. Over the last 8 years they are coming at me fast and furious
. I do use OTC hair color and the brands I prefer are Preference by Loreal or Clairol Nice & Easy. These usually run between $5 (on sale) to $10 and take anywhere from 20-30 minutes to process. Other brands I have used are Feria which I think is a wee bit overpriced for doing the same job as Preference. I like Preference because it is more of a creme consistency than a liquid and doesn't run when you apply it. I mix the hair color in the bottle it comes in then squeeze all the mixture into a plastic or styrofoam bowl and use a paint-brush type applicator (purchased separately) to put it on. You
can use the bottle applicator it comes in but I prefer the brush since it gives better coverage. I use Vaseline on my skin in the areas where I don't want my skin to have a tell-tale stain. I know there are products made specifically for this problem but Vaseline works just fine for me.
Although I do get my hair colored in a salon every once in a while as a treat, I use the at home kits quite often. It all depends on the length of your hair, how much gray you have to cover and if you're willing to deal with a little bit of mess and cleanup at home. Since my gray is relatively confined to my hairline surrounding my face and has not yet moved to toward the back of my head
, I can get away with even using the new root touch-up kits which only come with a small amount of color mixture and blends really well. I think they are made by Clairol as well.
I like Nutrisse as well, the conditioner smells great and doesn't leave your hair with that processed smell when you blow dry it afterwards.
I can not/will not use Revlon Corn Silk ever again since it irritated my scalp and the color I chose looked fake. It made my hair feel like corn husk, not corn silk