I make my husband or daughter check me every ten minutes, then wipe away the blobs. Old color tends to get drippy; I learned not to have more than three boxes in my house at any one time. I never pay full price since Sunday coupons and drug store sales are frequents, at least on the mainland.
My hair is quite different than yours; it is a coarse as a broom with hard to color gray. It is hard to destroy, esp. because I keep it short. I like Excellence by l'Oreal, especially the applicator which is like a comb with holes at the base instead of the usual long cone like a picnic ketchup/mustard bottle.
I now use the conditioner that comes with the Excellence to *shampoo* my hair. Keeps it clean and better looking than regular shampoo.
Last weekend, I used Healthy Look, a semi-permanent color by l'Oreal. It has terrible reviews on Makeup Alley, but I bought it before I read them. I thought semi-permanent might be better for transitioning to gray this fall since it is supposed to eventually wash out, but who knows. It looks the same on me as the Excellence (black), but I think the complaints came from those with lighter hair.