You`re welcome egghead.... let me know how you get on... timing is the key....also I guess results can vary from one persons hair to another--- some hair will grab the color faster than others so it`s a matter of seeing what happens in your own case--just `go easy` at first....the longer you leave it in, the deeper the color as I said, but it`s hard to be precise due to `local`conditions..... I think the deeper brown will work best as the `1b` of your system is only one step up from black. I think if you applied black to your growing hair, it would be very noticeable.Cheers.