The time has come to colour my hair but...

[IsThisaWorkMeeting]

I'm very worried about having an adverse reaction....I have never coloured my hair, ever.My natural hair colour is black but starting to see a few greys now so I will have to take the plunge.
I struggle with anxiety so very worried about having an adverse reaction...I know about the patch test etc but still feel pretty anxious about the amount of chemicals and all the things that can go wrong...

any advice?

Don't doooooooooo it. With black hair you will be forever topping up your roots.

OMG, you have a few grey hairs - the horror.

@BeyondMyWits does that mean my only option is to go grey??
Pretty sure plenty of people with black hair do dye their hair

@PuppyMonkey okay get the sarcasm but the process won't reverse itself now so surely I'm going to get more grey??

Are you doing it at home or at a salon?

Salons do a patch test 24 hours beforehand to check for a reaction. YouTube will probably explain how to do it at home with a box dye.

I don't know why you got sarcastic replies when people who are blonde or brunette get route touch ups regularly. I'm a fellow black haired woman too

Grey hair is trendy.

@cherryonthecakes Salon- no way I have the confidence to do this at home

Re:sarcastic comments- its easy to be mean when hiding behind a keyboard- I just ignore after maybe responding once

@PuppyMonkey I thought of this but not sure I can pull the look- If I have dark skin maybe, or very fair skin tone- I've seen some women look amazing.

My skin tone is more olive tone- dont think I can pull the look

I'm not being mean, I'm telling you to embrace grey hair instead of assuming it's the worst thing that can happen to your hair.

You could go to a salon for a more natural looking colour. If you tell them you want a colour solution that only requires coming in twice or three times a year then yes it will be more expensive than doing it at home but it will look better and be better for your hair.

If you get highlights/balayage it doesn't touch your scalp so no allergy.

@PuppyMonkey- was not aiming you I meant general mean comments! I do want to embrace but I think I need to be comfortable in my own skin first-if that makes sense.

Yes going to the salon for a hair cut and will chat to the stylist-but I'm so nervous about having an anaphylactic shock

@Happy36 I'm going to check that out- yes ideally I would like an option with minimal contact

I would consider either leaving it, or having baby lights put through to blend the greys in, or - if you are determined to dye - use natural henna slightly lighter than your natural hair.

What will quickly become a PITA, and unflattering, is trying to block colour the whole head back to your original colour. The roots will become a constant upkeep effort and the repeated chemicals will make your hair unhappy.

If you opt for henna, Lush make good blocks of it. I’ve used that in the past.

I've got naturally black hair and I colour my roots every 2 weeks. I've been going grey since my early 20s. I'm mid 40s now so have so much grey but would look like a witch if I grew it out.

OP if you don't want to go grey then don't feel pressured into it because of comments here! Just phone the salon and talk it through. They will bring you in for a patch test first so no need to worry about reactions

Go for a semi or Demi this should cover greys and blend u won’t get a harsh grow out line either x

Have you had your hair dyed before? I now use a gentle home dye I order online as the one I’d used for years was staring to cause a bit of a reaction.
I’m nearly 50 but not ready to go grey so have to colour it every 2-3 weeks as I have a lot of grey in my roots otherwise.
As long as you do a skin test you’ll be fine.
I prefer to dye my own as I know the ingredients in it and love the conditioner that comes with it.
Pics to show how well it covers the grey.

And by the same token, don’t feel pressured to dye your hair when you really don’t sound like you like the idea.

I have been dyeing my dark brown hair for nearly 25 years. Never done a patch test and no reactions. That's my choice, not my recommendation! I dye my hair about every 8-10 weeks. I don't have roots showing as my hair comes through white at the front but the rest comes through iron grey. I am 70 next year and have no plans to embrace the grey. I have quite thick hair but the hair itself is fine. If I went grey I would have see through hair! In between dyeing I cover the grey using spray on temporary dye or dark brown hair crayons. I just bought some powder grey cover and it has worked well. All the temporary cover ups are removed when washing hair. Hope you can decide OP. Having it dyed at the hairdressers is very much more expensive and just as messy.