Have I left it to late hair

[Youagain2025]

I'm going on holiday on Wednesday. I was going to dye my hair in the hope I won't look in my 90s. But I just read this chlorine can make it go green. Fade etc . That's for permanent and semi.

I also had a brain wave to do reverse perm so my hair his straight for a longer period of time.

So now sure what to do because of timing. And the haot going green and not sure I can even do both.

To note : i can't do it via hair dressers. I'm not using hair straighteners. As a one of I will if I do reverse perm. There are reasons for this but it's to much to go into.

Also if I go for a copper color will is look orange in the white parts of my hair

About 9 years ago

Don't dye it unless you are able to commit to keeping on doing it! Otherwise you will have the horrible task of growing it out.

Your hair does look wavey as pp said.

Don't brush it. Wash it, condition, comb with a wide toothed comb while the conditioner is in, rinse, scrunch some gel through it while it is still soaking wet. Air dry or diffuse. See how that does.

Yeah just dye it. I’d do like @fairgame84 said and put a semi perm on it. Loreal Casting do some red brown colours, pick one that starts with a 6 or 5. Do not go as dark as a 3.

You are right that a copper will show up bright on your white bits more than the darker lengths.

Chocolate Caramel 603 or Chestnut Honey 634 might be nice.

Don't to the perm. Just thinking of the grow out phase is enough to put me off. Box dye it if you want but I'd probably go for semi permanent so you don't have the upkeep of roots or the line growing out. It'll fade mostly instead. Just thinking what will be easiest going forward after the holiday while giving you a lift whilst on holiday

My hair doesn't grow (at all) so I won't grow it out it would eventually fade.

I get what your saying about wide tooth comb part but it would snap. I used to crunch with hair moose when I was in my teens but obviously that was many years ago.

Where have you got the idea for the straightening treatment?
Have you done it before ?

No it just came in my head . Then I googled it and it said you can do it. So then I thought my hair f#*ked anyway. So even if it went wrong I can just tie it back. But then I started to think maybe I can only do one or the other ie dye or straighten then I thought or maybe I can do both if I leave a gap between. But I think the gap has to be bigger than a few days or so . So I'm forgetting that for now

Honestly OP, don't dye it or chemically straighten it right now. It will inevitably go wrong and there will be another thread on here about how to remedy it two days before your holiday when you'll have a mountain of other things to deal with. When you get to the airport, buy a tub of leave-in conditioner in duty free once you're past security and use it while you're on holiday. Put it in at night, put it in when your hair is damp during the day and slick it back. No-one else will care about the grey, or the condition (I know you will, but no-one else will be thinking anything about it). Once you're back, if you don't want to go to a hairdressers, do you have anyone who could even just trim the ends for you? You can buy hairdressing scissors online, if you're just trimming the ends they don't need to be fancy. Keep using deep conditioner, and then when you're a bit happier with the condition, then look into dyeing it.

Would it snap even if your hair was soaking wet and smothered in conditioner?

Yeah I recon . I mean i can try its only a comb

I bought theses I was going to do one of them. I do t knlw what the numbers thing mean

If you’re going to dye it then use the darker one. I’m not sure the blonde will lift the part of your hair that isn’t grey.
Buy some leave in conditioner and maybe some serum to comb through your hair to try and combat the frizz.

That's the thing though. I know no one cares . No one is going to even batter an eye lid. But it's about me not feeling so ugly and doing something that might make me feel abit better . And look a bit better . I mean a mirical l is not going to happen. But maybe I can take the edge off it a bit

Ok you can dye it but don’t go blond.
as for style… give yourself a pony tail cut( look it up on youtube)
this will get rid of split ends and give you some layers. Maybe a butterfly cut if you’re feeling confident.
i’ve been doing my own hair this way for years( only go hairdresser once a year for a treat)

do not do the perm. After you dye it sit with some conditioner in and use a wide toothed comb to comb it out. Get some heat protection spray too 🙂

Honestly if you've not had it cut in 9 years hair dye and chemical straightening isn't going to really improve the look of it. It looks dry and damaged it needs cutting and conditioning treatments on it.

Your hair has the potential to look lovely!
The only problem is its condition.

If you can sort that out, I think it would need very little maintenance at all!

No I know, and that's totally valid - I just mean, don't add 'oh god what will people think?' to your list of worries. You will feel much better if you work gradually to improve your hair, rather than diving in with a chemical straightener and a box dye that you're not sure about - short term pain for longer term gain.

Those dyes are both permanent, they won’t fade out like a semi would. You’ll have to deal with the harsh re-growth even if your hair grows v v slow.

This is useful for understating the numbers: but dyes always come out a bit darker so bear that in mind.

https://www.wikihow.com/Read-a-Hair-Color-Chart

I'd avoid messing with a permanent colour immediately before holiday. As others have said, choose a semi-permanent colour vaguely close to your natural colour. It will be fine for a quick fix to make you feel better on holiday.

And don't try to straighten your hair using perming lotion! Just let it do it's own thing. The change in colour would be enough to make you feel more 'done' and holiday ready 🙂

I totally get what your saying. But there's no hope in hell of me going to a hair dressers. But that does not stop me from getting conditioner on it at home.ok I can't do the cutting/dead ends. That's not good i get that but its going to take me a long time to build the confidence to go into a hair dressers . And me doing something at home is my way of building myself up to that .

How long is your hair? You could do the pony tail cut thing we all went bananas for on here years ago.

@Youagain2025
I think I understand you.
Are You Neurodivergent by the way?
I too haven’t been to the hairdressers in years, and now I shudder at the thought of going to be honest.
I also cannot do anything that requires routine maintenance. Whatever happens I am inevitably going to fall back into the quickest option which for me is basically washing my hair.

Don’t put anything on your hair which will make it better for a few weeks and then leave you looking worse for the next few years, especially if your hair grows super slowly.
However much you would like a quick fix, invest in some vitamins to promote hair growth, give it a trim yourself and maybe some conditioning treatment.

Why don't you like hairdressers?
Have you had a bad experience?

I'm not a massive fan, I hate the sinks, but I wouldn't go 9 years without going!

No honestly my hair does not grow at all . There is no regrowth. You know when you get people who say my hair doesn't grow when really it does but very slowly. My hair actually does not grow.

Just above mid back. I have never heard of it i will take a look