Grey hair help

[greyat38]

Posting here for traffic.

I'm 38 and grey, fully grey, due to total destruction of my hair with dye up until now.

But my hair needs dying now every month instead of every other month - and I think it's because I've chosen a purple colour - the roots are strikingly different and very obvious.

So what the hell do I do?? I'm growing my hair after a pixie cut and don't want to cut it short again.
Do I go brown over the top and hope that brown is less obvious?

Does Colour stripping work on hair that's been perpetually died purple for at least a year now...

I can't afford a hairdresser as I'm on low income, other wise I would have obviously gone to one :-(

I need some "do at home"'advice on what you think I should do - be kind, im feeling very woeful about myself right now :-(

Not a hairdresser, so feel free to ignore - but I had this problem with red. Now I buy 2 box dyes, one red and one brown/black. Do the brown/black on my roots and the red on the rest. Also dying monthly, but now I use the magic spray. Spray my roots the minute they start growing out. Saves my hair for as long as possible before I really have to dye it again. Probably a much easier way to do it, as my way is a complete faff, and happy to take on board any advice !!

I had mine dyed dark underneath with grey highlights and then let it grow out, so the grey is now me. Saved a fortune on the cost of a colour, and the roots blended well as the grey grew down.

Look into henna, Lush sell some nice ones. I don't know if you can put it over synthetic dyes, but if you want to convert to it, you may be able to use it over just the roots as they grow out.

I'm quite grey, and henna just glazes the hair rather than stripping the colour and changing it completely. This means my greys appear as blonde highlights in my dark hair - not a bad look! I guess as I get greyer, I'll get blonder as long as I keep up with the henna.

It looks best reapplied monthly or every 6 weeks or so to keep on top of roots, but really I never manage that. The grey sort of gently blends into the dyed hair without the harsh root "line" you see with synthetic dyes so it's much more forgiving of less frequent application.

When I do reapply, I only really do the roots, so maintenance doesn't cost much at all, and it's not too big a job. I have very long hair, and for my roots I only use one chunk off a whole block of lush henna, which is about £2 worth. If I were less lazy, I'd do a whole head every 6 months or so to keep the colour deep, but I don't have a great need as my grey lengths are permanently stained blonde now.

Downside is that once you henna, you can't use synthetic dyes or beaches anymore (not sure why, I think it just affects the colour because henna stains into the hair). Suits me as I'm allergic to synthetic dyes.

Should clarify, you shouldn't use henna as a base for synthetic dyes or bleaches, but it's fine once the henna is grown out, it's not a permanent thing.

I'm 38 and grey, fully grey, due to total destruction of my hair with dye up until now.

I am fully grey and have only ever dyed my hair 3 times - I don’t think your greyness is caused by that.

I use a semi permanent colour every 3/4 weeks and in between I use a brunette shampoo and conditioner to help keep the colour and only wash every three days. It doesn't completely cover the grey but does blend it in which I find makes it look more natural. I use Loreal Casting Iced Mocha as my hair is naturally a medium brown. It makes it lovely and glossy.

I have dark brown hair and about 50% white roots - I'm only 37. I dye my hair every month ish and use the spray root stuff or the brush on powder root cover up stuff. I hate it but I'm NOT ready to go full grey/white.

Before I decided to stop dying my hair I was using poly tint in dark blond. It meant that the grey ended up looking like highlights and meant it blended in a bit more so didn’t need to redo as often.

Are you wanting to go grey or just a different colour?
I'm very grey (dye doesn't cause it, it's the loss of pigment as you age) but was previously dark. Ive always dyed it but got sick of constant root regrowth. I did a colour stripper for the first time recently, it took my hair to a patchy, orangey lighter brown. I'd imagine yours would probably be similar underneath the purple. I then put a temporary 28 wash dark ash blonde over it to even it out and counteract the orange.
I'm now lightening it gradually by using semi permanent blonde dyes on the roots, with a hope that eventually they will go so light I can let the grey fade into it with less obvious regrowth, and grey that will look more like highlights.
That's the plan anyway, I'd like to pay for professional highlights but I don't want the cost and upkeep.

Currently sitting here with a colour stripper on!! Fingers crossed

I think fully grey can look chic, with a good haircut. I'm early 30s and am about 1/5 grey so expect I'll be the same as you soon!

I've been getting highlights, but now fully grey on top, so I'm struggling to get it to blend in as well. Have you tried getting a hairdresser to put a toner on? Or you could try semi permanent.. I used to get semi permanent dye in plumb etc, that was more subtle and you didn't get the harsh line growing out as the colour faded. Worth a shot.

Ok -so - it currently looks like this!! I'm amazed how well the colour stripper worked!

Ill be putting a light brown over it because I can't pull off this colour lol!

You have lovely hair op.

Oh shiny hair! OP it will look lovely light brown.

I think it looks great as it is. I'd leave it like that if I were you.

That looks really nice as it is.
I always found reds and purples didn't hold very well.
I'm early 30s and been going grey since I was a teenager. I've stopped dying it now. Can't be bothered with the mess, smell, cost and time it takes for it only to look good for a couple of weeks.
I quite like it grey. It confuses people about my age.

I think that colour looks lovely, keep it like that. Definitely.

That colour is gorgeous. Keep it!

I like that colour! Bear in mind your hair will be very porous right now so dye will go darker than expected

Love that colour! Your hair looks in quite good condition too considering you've just stripped it. I'd be wary of applying a dye for a week or so to let some oils build up or you could cause damage. You can definitely pull off that colour!