Which way to colour hair when you’re about 50% grey?

[ThinkingAgainAndAgain]

Until a few years ago, I used to have a permanent colour at the hairdressers every 6-8 weeks. Then it started to look a bit too blocky, so I decided to have highlights instead. I have two colours put through, and the hairdresser leaves out every other one so that there is less of an obvious demarcation line when the new growth comes though. I have lots of baby highlights, not thick stripes.

This used to work fine for me, but I now have a lot more grey, especially on the top of my head, than when I started doing the highlights. I only had it done a week or so ago, and I see a lot of grey, which I don’t like. I don’t feel as if it looks recently done because of the grey.

Apart from the women who have decided to go grey, I don’t see anyone else who colours their hair every 6-8 weeks who has this amount of grey, so what is everyone else doing?! Is it standard to leave out every other one when you highlight hair? The hairdresser assures me that it is.

bumping

Help!

I henna/indigo my hair because I am not really ready to go grey just yet. My original natural colour is dark brown though.
I might have gone for something like you describe if I'd had lighter hair, but I prefer to colour at home rather than at the hairdressers and I'd have to be bleaching etc.

You said that you used to go for a whole colour up until a few years ago. Did you change because you wanted to fade into the grey or because it was too time consuming?

Could you use a colour depositing shampoo to take the edge off the greys?

I have highlights to hide my copious grey. It’s a mix of 3 colours, the lightest is the blondest you can go without bleach. I’ve never had every other one though? That sounds strange. It does do a good job of hiding the grey and lasts 7-8 weeks before it’s noticeable again.

I am so glad you’ve said this. My hairdresser is adamant than when you do highlights, you leave some of the hair out. Which is why I have grey even when I walk out of the salon. I am willing to accept that I will have regrowth, but not the minute I leave the salon.

When I look at other women my age and older with highlighted hair, they don’t have grey unless it is regrowth.

I stopped doing an all over permanent colour (what my mum calls a tint) as it was starting to look blocky. I think my skin tone has changed as I’ve got older, and greyer, and having just one colour in my hair was quite draining. And I had much more noticeable regrowth than when I have highlights.

My natural colour is dark brown too, but I’ve gone mid brown shades with the highlights to try and have less of a noticeable regrowth line.

I can’t do henna - I am so check handed I will get it everywhere on me and the bathroom!

Before I gave up hiding the grey, I would get a tint and then highlights. I would then use a box dye on my roots between appointments. The appointments were ridiculously long and boring but it worked. I gave up as it was expensive and I was sick of planning my life around my hair roots.

Oooh. I’ve not heard of this way of doing it before, thank you. Would you have both tint and highlights in one appointment? And how long would you go between appointments without having very noticeable regrowth please? And - finally - do the think the result would be the same if you had highlights that included as one of the colour's the colour in the tint?

I have a ‘tint and shimmers’ ( had it done yesterday , am not entirely sure what it is other than it took 3 hours flipping and cost £120) I think it’s a colour, then thin highlights, pulled through to ends then a toner for the lighter highlights. Seems to work, no grey visible for about 2 months then it’s pretty blended in when it does inevitably arrrive. Originally Im a dark brown, about 50% grey now.

I am 50% grey and natural colour is dark brown. I have balayage about twice yearly and root tint every month or so. Like you, I am finding the grey is becoming quite obvious after a couple of weeks so I use Clairol Root Touch-up at home just along the parting and hairline to space out appointments. But you should definitely not have any grey strands showing so soon after leaving the salon!

I have short hair, so bit more brave when it comes to doing something more extreme as can grow it out quickly.

Used to do the same as you, then got my hair bleached to strip out old brown and blonde colour and went silver + lilac. Absolutely love it, get lots of compliments. Just grey also made me looked pale and drained, lilac is lovely and warming.

I am replying just to encourage you to give a go to henna:). I was also very skeptical and worried about the mess, but after a couple of times now I am very good at it and there is barely any mess. It covers my gray hair and tones the brown ones, so the result is so incredibly natural.

I used to get a tint and 2 highlights "weave". The highlights (2 different colours) were "woven" in and the hair that was left was "root touch up-ed". It only lasted about 3 weeks for me but my hair and nails grow incredibly fast.

Now I just block colour (tint) my full head with any dye that has shimmer multi-tones in. I find the different greys in my hair give the colours different tones so it looks like I have highlights!

I was also very dark brown hair colour but I find I have to use something that gives a copper/auburn colour now (agree about the complexion changing the look). The dark greys go dark brown, the silver greys go a lighter brown and the white greys go auburn so it looks like I've got highlights when I haven't. I use some mid brown root touch up spray on my Silver Halo until I can be arsed to dye my hair again.

Ok so when I get highlights I know there is the problem of grey still showing and so what many hairdressers do is tint the hair that is not in the foil (the hair left out). That way all greys are covered and you still have a nice colour that is not blocky.