How to use Levero Coloring Shampoo
Two pumps in your palm.
Five to ten minutes.
Gloves on, press both pumps into your palm, mix to a lather, work through towel-dried or dry hair, wait five to ten minutes, rinse until the water runs clear. Colour builds over two or three uses. No PPD on the declaration — but PTD takes its place, so patch test 48 hours before every use.
It is a two-part dye in one bottle. One pump is the colour shampoo, the other is the developer. Press both into a gloved palm and mix until the lather is one even colour before it touches your hair.
Damp or dry, not soaking wet. Towel-dried or dry hair holds the colour better. Roots and the grey first, then the lengths. Five to ten minutes, ten if the grey is heavy.
Colour builds. The maker's own guidance is two or three uses in a row, then upkeep as the roots show. Treat the first wash as a start, not a finish.
Five things to have sorted before the first pump.
Patch test, every time
A dab behind the ear, 48 hours, uncovered. Any redness or itch means stop. No PPD here, but PTD cross-reacts — so the test matters just as much.
Gloves are in the box
Nails are protein and take colour the way hair does. The vinyl pair Levero includes is enough; put them on before the first pump.
Towel-dried hair
Squeeze the water out or start dry. Soaking-wet hair dilutes the lather and the colour takes unevenly.
Two pumps, one palm
There is nothing to mix in a tray, but you do mix: both pumps together in the palm until the lather is one colour.
Scalp hair only
Not brows, not lashes, not beards. The maker says the same: never near the eyes.
Towel-dried hair, five to ten minutes, seven steps.
The mixing happens in your palm, not in a tray — but it does happen. Both pumps, every time.
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01
Gloves on The vinyl pair from the box, before you touch either pump.
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02
Towel-dry, or start dry Damp holds colour better than soaking wet. Water running down your neck carries dye with it.
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03
Press both pumps into your palm Equal parts: one pump of colour shampoo, one of developer. Rub your palms together until the lather is one even shade.
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04
Roots and grey first Work the lather into the parting, temples and hairline, then bring it through the lengths. If you can see hair through it, add more.
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05
Wait five to ten minutes5–10 MIN Five for scattered grey and touch-ups. Ten when the grey is heavy or the shade needs to settle darker.
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06
Rinse lukewarm until it runs clear Hot water opens the cuticle and lets colour escape.
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07
Go again next wash Two or three uses in a row for full coverage, then roots-only as the line shows. A 300ml bottle is roughly fifteen applications on short hair.
Longer gives deeper colour. It does not make the product gentler — the allergen contact is the same, which is why the patch test matters more than the timer.
Towel-dried for touch-ups, dry for heavy grey.
Towel-dried · everyday
Wash, squeeze the water out, then apply. The gentler routine for roots and upkeep once the first full application is done.
Dry hair · first application on heavy grey
No water diluting the mix, so it takes more evenly and lands a shade deeper. Same gloves, same two pumps, the full ten minutes.
Colour lands on the first use. Full coverage builds.
Use 1
Colour lands. Scattered grey gets close; heavy white stays lighter than the swatch.
Use 2 · next wash
Darker than the first because the pigment builds. Where most people with a lot of grey land the result.
Use 3
Full, even coverage on resistant hair. From here it is roots-only every few weeks as the line shows.
Permanent in the chemical sense: colour forms inside the hair shaft and leaves only as the hair grows. The maker publishes roughly 15 / 7.5 / 5 / 3.75 applications per bottle by hair length. which shade to pick · every ingredient graded · Levero vs GDS, side by side.
What produces most of the bad results.
One pump instead of two. Half the mix means no developer, or no colour. Both pumps, every time.
Soaking-wet hair. Dilutes the lather; colour takes patchily. Towel-dry first.
Rinsing early on heavy grey. Lighter and warmer than expected. Give it the full ten.
Bare hands. Nails take colour. The gloves are in the box for a reason.
Expecting one use to finish it. Colour builds over two or three. The maker says so too.
Skipping the patch test because it says PPD-free. PTD cross-reacts with PPD. Test again, 48 hours, every time.
No PPD is not no risk.
Patch test 48 hours, every time.
A small dab behind the ear or on the inner elbow, left uncovered for 48 hours. Any redness, itching or swelling means do not use it. Levero has no PPD on its declaration, but toluene-2,5-diamine (PTD) takes its place and cross-reacts in people sensitised to PPD — a "PPD-free" label does not change that, which is why the test is repeated before every application.
No PPD, ammonia-free, vegan — and still a real permanent dye.
Toluene-2,5-diamine (PTD) does the job PPD does in other dyes, with resorcinol, m-aminophenol, p-aminophenol and 5-amino-o-cresol as couplers, developed by hydrogen peroxide and alkalised with ethanolamine. That is what covers grey and what carries the allergen risk. We grade every ingredient and publish the list rather than a badge.
● high · ● mid · ● low — our screening's assessment, not a safety determination
The full declared list with every grade is on the ingredients page. Why "PPD-free" is not the safety badge it looks like is in our piece on hair dye shampoos and the PPD question.
Quick answers.
Do I use Levero on wet or dry hair? +–
Towel-dried or dry, not soaking wet. Damp hair holds the colour better and the mix stays concentrated. Dry hair for the first application on heavy grey.
How long do I leave Levero Coloring Shampoo on? +–
Five to ten minutes. Five for a touch-up on scattered grey, ten for a first application or heavy grey. Beyond ten there is little extra colour to gain and the allergen contact is the same.
Do I really have to mix it? +–
Yes, in your palm. One pump is the colour shampoo and the other is the developer; press both out together and rub until the lather is one even colour. Nothing to measure, no tray.
Will one use cover all my grey? +–
Usually not. The maker's own FAQ recommends two or three uses in a row, then upkeep periodically. Colour lands on the first use and builds from there.
It says PPD-free. Is it safe if I am allergic to PPD? +–
No. PPD is genuinely off the declaration, but toluene-2,5-diamine (PTD) has taken its place, and people allergic to PPD very often react to it as well. Patch test 48 hours before every use and treat it like any other oxidative colour.
How is Levero different from GDS? +–
Chemistry and format. GDS Black is built on PPD and mixes nothing; Levero has no PPD, uses PTD, and mixes two pumps in your palm. Both are permanent oxidative dyes, both build over two or three washes, both need the patch test. The side-by-side ingredient screen is on our comparison page.
How many uses in a bottle? +–
About fifteen on short hair, fewer as length increases — the maker publishes roughly 15 / 7.5 / 5 / 3.75 applications by hair length.
Where does it ship from, and how long does it take? +–
Made in Korea and dispatched from Seoul within one to three business days with a tracking number. After dispatch, typically seven to fourteen business days to the US, Canada and the UK, and five to twelve to Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore.
Two pumps, ten minutes.
Every ingredient graded on the product page.
Ships from Korea within one to three business days, tracked. Patch test 48 hours before every use.