I went to my hair dresser today and told her of my dilemma with Natural Instincts. She had a suggestion. She said to buy a hair color brand such as Garnier or L'Oreal. Take the bottle of developer and empty out half. Then replace the same amount with water. You want to be sure the color bottle and the developer bottle have the same amount of liquid. Then color per directions. She said that by using half of the developer the cuticle on the hair shaft does not fully open up to take the color. You end up with most of the color coating the hair like the semi permanents and demi permanents do. She also said that Clairol's Nice N Easy permanent hair color has been changed and she would not recommend it. It is harsh on the hair. I asked about roots showing after a while and she told me to go lighter rather than darker if I was between 2 colors. That way the gray won't be as obvious as the color wears off. I hope to try this in the next couple of weeks. To be honest I would prefer not to give Clairol any money for an inferior product. If they go back to the old formula I will be happy to buy it again.