Going grey/lilac...how much of a faff is it?

[Badders123]

Ok
So, I'm 43 soon to be 44
I'm pale skinned and brown eyed
I'm naturally very grey, started going grey when I was 17 😞 So have been dyeing my hair for decades.
I'm fed up of it.
I love the look of the grey/lilac combo but I'm wondering if it would be too much faff as I current,yo have dark brown dyed hair and its cropped
So..
How much does it cost?
I'm assuming the root issue won't be too bad as I'm naturally grey anyway
How long will it take?
Will it damage my hair irreparably?
Thanks!

[AndNowItsSeven]

My dd spent six hours on hairdressers on Saturday, she has to go back in two weeks for toner. It cost £120.

[Badders123]

6 hours!?
Blimey.
Is her hair now "done" or is the next appt to finish it off?

[AndNowItsSeven]

Pretty much it just needs to be a little lighter, previously her hair was brown with blonde highlights.

[AndNowItsSeven]

The toner will be the lilac sorry wasn't that clear.

[SlinkyVagabond]

My friend went from dark to her natural grey via blonde, she did it with a hairdresser, so yes expensive faff. Have a look in super drug though, there's a range of grey permanent dyes, ranging from silver to granite.

[Badders123]

Looks lovely.
I'm so desperate to do something
But I can't walk around with either
Grey Roots showing
Or
Bleached blonde hair
Argh.
Can it all be done in one go?
I know you can get special shampoos - touch of silver? - which I'm happy to buy

[Thefitfatty]

It's a faff. Just spent 4 hours getting in done on Saturday (just grey) and because my hair doesn't like bleach the most I can say I am is medium brown with platinum blonde highlights. I'm using silver shampoo but that's making it lighter.

Wondering what would happen if I went and bought a permanent all over grey and threw it over, if it would just get picked up on the blonde bits....

[Badders123]

I've never bleached my hair (well, actually I had highlights a few years ago)
It's quite dark brown ATM which I hate.
So I won't be able to get it done all in one go (so to speak)?

[Thefitfatty]

I think it depends on how well your hair takes to the bleach and the toner.

[Kennington]

Andnowitsseven you dd hair looks fantastic
OP: I am doing the whole thig slowly: I have my roots done one shade lighter than my usual brown - a 6, I think, very ash brown and no red
I also have a full head of balayage/highlights
I fully intend to go grey in the next few years but am going lighter gradually so it isn't such a shock to me nor others.
I have to do roots myself every 3 weeks and get highlights every 8-12 weeks. It is a pain though.

[SanityClause]

I did DD1's at the start of the summer. I bleached it, then we put on a toner, then a silver dye.

She used bleach London silver shampoo and conditioner, and it's kept the colour really nicely, but her roots are showing quite badly now, so we really should touch them up.

So, all that probably once every 4 weeks to look quite groomed.

But not madly dear to do yourself, if you have a willing helper.

[orangeistheonlyfruit]

My friend at work tried to have it done and it just didn't work. She had her hair bleached but this was where the problem as they couldn't get her hair to lift as light as it needs to be. So she ended up with a sludgy brown grey blonde colour. When she had it bleached in the first step it looked super light but this wasn't even light enough!

Also another thing to think about is that the grey lilac hair can be very very aging.

[Badders123]

Sanity....what colour was your dds hair to begin with?

[SanityClause]

It's naturally mid brown.

It was a burgundy red colour with bad roots when we dyed it.

[ditavonteesed]

I started with hennaed red haor a week ago and now it is a lovely silver, 3 goes of bleach and then a bleach london white toner. Silver shampoo. Its gorgeous and cost me about £25 in all, I will do the root every 3 weeks.

[sonlypuppyfat]

Does the bleach damage your hair. My hair is dark brown, dyed obviously! And shoulder length and I don't know whether to go grey

[Badders123]

Dita...
Did you have to lots of time between bleaching?
I cant be walking around with bleached blonde hair 😲

[SanityClause]

I did DD's all on the same day.

We probably could have bleached it once again before the toner and dye, but once they had gone on, it was fine.

Get extra of everything, especially if you have thick hair.

[Badders123]

Oh god I wouldn't do it myself!
I'd go to a salon....just want it all done in one go

[treetops104]

I'm not much help on the process of getting your hair grey/lilac but I swear by the touch of silver shampoo, I have highlighted blonde hair and wanted it a bit more ashy, the shampoo has been a miracle worker for keeping the colour silvery/ purple!

[MrsSpenserGregson]

First post under my new username

OP, I'm same age and colouring as you. And I have silver/lilac hair, although at the moment I'm adding some blue.

It's not a faff, you can buy toner / coloured conditioner from //www.overtone.co and do it yourself at home. I've been using it for over a year. Initially I had my hair bleached by a hairdresser first, but now I just have hilights and apply the conditioner over the top. The results are exactly as you see on the Overtone website.....

The colour will only "take" on hair that is platinum blonde (or grey), so you may need to get your hairdresser to do a one-off bleach of your ends to remove the dark colour first, and then apply your silver / lilac colour over the top. As your roots are already grey you would only need to do this once. Sometimes the colour conditioner can take a few applications before the colour takes properly.

* N.B. Always get a professional to bleach your hair!! *

Before I used overtone I used to pay a fortune for the hairdresser to apply toners over my bleach, which only lasted a couple of washes. I'm now hooked on doing it myself! And the touch of silver shampoo is also good but it won't add silver colour, it just helps to prevent your colour fading as quickly as it would otherwise.

[ditavonteesed]

I did 2 lots and a toner in one day, then another a week later. However you wouldn;t need to bleach it quite that much as I had remove henna. I did have bleach blond hair for the week. (well three days then I dyed it pink for the other three)

[Badders123]

Mrsspencergregson
I am very honoured (and am also a massive p g wodehouse fan :)) so LOVE your nn
I'm going to have a chat with my hairdresser and get it sorted

[MrsSpenserGregson]

Badders123 Have you spoken to your hairdresser? Are you now a pleasing shade of smoky lilac??

Am currently devouring every Jeeves & Wooster book I can get on my kindle, going to biff off now and read another one

[Badders123]

That's spiffing old thing...do enjoy!
(My fave is "code of the woosters")
I saw him today actually and we have discussed it. I'm not due an appt for 3/4 weeks or so he has suggested growing out some of the current colour and he do a strand test by cutting some off and testing it prior to bleaching the rest.
I'm excited now!