Best grey covering brown hair dye - the time has come!

[spikemomma]

Help me girls, I'm useless! I need a medium warm brown dye ie. not too dark, which will cover my rapidly expanding grey fine hair. What do you suggest?

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

I use Boots Warm Medium Brown permenant.
I do find that the grey 'grabs' the colour more but fades quicker.

[thisisthestory]

Casting light brown 6.0
Did it yesterday - lovely natural result

6.0 means ash tone. Last time i used 6.23 - warm tone but unnatural looking

1 hand typing sorry 4 brief response!!!

[ThreeBeeOneGee]

No! Don't do it! There's no going back once you do, and you have to keep dying it for ever and ever, even when you're elderly and brown clearly is no longer your natural hair colour.

I really wish I had just let my grey alone right from the beginning, then I wouldn't be facing the weird four-inch grey highlights transition I'm currently enduring.

[SilveryMoon]

I need this too. I am finding a few grey hairs but not sure I'm ready to be dying my hair all the time

[ThreeBeeOneGee]

Please read this thread before you take the plunge...

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/style_and_beauty/1641111-anyone-fancy-going-grey-next-year

[Monty27]

Have been dying my hair for years :(

I often use Casting, my hairdresser friend recommended it. I started using Feria, Toast for a while but they've changed the names of the colours grrrrr.

[TigerseyeMum]

Superdrug semi perm dark brown. Cheap, covers grey, not tested on animals and doesn't drip.

[NickECave]

I second casting 6.0 light brown. I used to use the medium brown but it brings out reddish tints which makes the hair look dyed. The light brown gives a really natural result. I agree that once you start there is no going back but it takes me half an hour once every 3 weeks or so and costs about £6 so I think it's worth it. I may be prepared to go grey one day but not yet!

[piratecat]

Belle Colour, blends well and quite kind to hair.

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

What about a semi permenant to try first.
It'll fade/wash out over a period of weeks.


One piece of advice I'd pass on though.
Don't use henna unless you look forward to
the mess- it's like cow dung, stains whatever it touches
the smell- like tobacco
the time- I used to use Body Shop red and left it in for 4 hours.
The results were fantastic TBH. Really nice, good condition
but...

you are very limited as to any other treatments you put on henna (IIRC dyes can't be used and some perms not adviced)

[rockinhippy]

I'd recommend dying it now as you please - casting is good - but later going for brown fine highlights, rather than all over colour, you know the streaking cap sort -

my friend had this done when she started to get a lot of silver in her dark brown hair & it looked stunning, it also did away with the need dye so often & later made it easy to grow out & go completely silver :)

Either that, or forget the brown, do as I do & grab the sun in - its again much easier to not be a slave to the dye bottle as it doesn't need doing often & the silver streaks become part of the highlights IYSWIM :)

[spikemomma]

Thanks for all of your responses- you are great!

I don't know what to do now- do I put a few hairdresser high/low lights in- to merge with the grey- and admit I have to go lighter.... Or, do I go for the all over brown dye which you have suggested (but I am scared about doing on my own!)- I'm a low maintenance kind of chick, so 'up keep' might be an issue for me!

What I actually need is a magic brown pen that I can colour onto my grey strands!

So what should i doooooo!?!

[Yakshemash]

Don't dye it. Get a fabulous cut.

[MrsBertMacklin]

Why don't you try hi/lowlights first, maybe just a T-section? Then if you can't be bothered wit upkeep, try the semi permanent colour? I also recommend Casting btw, I don't get obvious regrowth, just new grey.

[spikemomma]

What is a t-section mrsbert.?

[MrsBertMacklin]

T-section high/low lights are when just the top layer of your hair is done, just the front and your parting). If you get some hi and lowlights, they will blend away, rather than cover the grey. Your hairdresser will be able to advise the right combination.

[FunnysInLaJardin]

I have very dark brown hair and have about 5% grey. I use Aveda shampoo and conditioner for black hair as it has a tiny bit of dye in it and makes them less obvious. I soooo don't want to go down the dying the roots every few weeks road. I also pluck them out if very obvious!

[TigerseyeMum]

If you want low maintenance then I'd say a brown all over box job might be good. I've had highlights, lowlights, net black, blonde streaks. But now my £3.49 Superdrug semi in dark brown looks natural and takes 30 mins every 4-5 weeks, it's so easy it's like conditioning your hair. And its not all one colour block either, I have lighter streaks where my natural colour is lighter.

I have annoying greys at the front along my parting, so obvious, very annoying. Highlights etc just grow out too fast for me, this area is the first to show.

But a lot of hairdressers are doing offers at the mo as the Xmas rush is over so if you fancy a salon job now would be the time.

[ceeveebee]

I have dark brown hair and am about 60% grey on top, started going grey at 21. I have two colours painted on, one dark brown and a lighter ash colour - it's not really highlights as they don't use foils or anything. I'd recommend a consultation with a hairdresser and have them colour it for you the first time.

[spikemomma]

Thank you so much for responding- you have made me think about things a little differently... I've got a few different options, I just need to decide which one now!