...to think dyed grey hair looks shit?

[FourBagsOfMiniEggs]

I’m so fed up. I’m 30 and have been going grey since about 22. I’ve got frizzy, wiry greys sprouting out all over my head and I just feel so sad about it. I scrape it up in a bun or use a headband a lot of the time, but I hate all of these wispy greys. I feel like I look so scruffy. If I had straight glossy hair it might be different but I’ve always had very frizzy hair.

Anyway, I’ve been thinking about dying it and then I realised...dyed grey hair always seems to look shit! You can always, always see the grey regrowth shining through and the colour looks unnatural. I also think maybe it’s more ageing to dye it, particularly for me aged 30?

Has anyone managed to dye their grey hair successfully and NOT have it look shit? Anyone else gone grey early? Any tips on embracing it? I hate this frizzy streaky grey in-between. I feel like it’s too early to just give up on my hair but I just feel so low. It’s no fun going grey early 😣

I started going grey when I was 18, and had my hair dyed until lockdown last year.( A long, long time it will be fine as long as you have it done by a good colourist, and if you go lighter the regrowth won't be as obvious

@catwithwhiskers early grey solidarity to you! Yep, mine is across my whole head - kind of scattered across the crown and front and my hair is also dark brown.

@flakymate hmm maybe I should think about keratin treatments. Do they affect your hair permanently in terms of damaging the follicle or anything? Or burn the scalp like a relaxer?

@WashableVelvet I hadn’t thought about henna. Maybe I’ll investigate that. Thank you!

I have tons of grey and I bleach then colour my hair all sorts of colours. It doesn’t look shit. You can only see the grey when it grows out. Which is the same for all dyed hair.

Well I knew I had grey hair but not as many as I do actually have (which has been found out on these lockdowns)!!

Anyway on the other lockdowns I bought box dye until hairdressers reopened, as my hairdresser had started to rectify the box dye situation in November I have not used one this time so have LOTS of grey !

She will fix it once open and I will put my hood up on the school run on Monday. It looks fab and normal once I have been to the hairdresser, even I didn’t know there was so much grey.

Mine is balyaged and I do the curly girl method so I think that helps. Hairdresser every 6 ish weeks or so normally.

@EveryDayIsADuvetDay hmm I haven’t really heard of the curly girl method before. Is there a website you recommend for it?

The Brazilian blow dry - is that the same of the keratin treatment? How did it go wrong?!

I use a combination of these three, often I mix two together, I put my hair in a bun and leave it on for 24hr. These ones were recommended by my hairdresser
If you have Instagram take a look at nickylazou page for balayage inspiration, she's like the queen of it!

I started greying early twenties, now late thirties and very grey /silver at temples, hair line by my neck and getting speckles through my parting too.

I get my hair coloured every four weeks at the hairdresser. I have been very dark (my natural colour) all the way to blonde (highlights all over and built up until all over blonde). For the last year or so I've gradually lightened my base colour from very dark brown to a kind of medium brown, and have blonde highlights and a kind of balayage effect. The lighter the hair the less noticeable the grey roots and then the less often you have to go to the hairdresser!

For years I used box dyes but found that even the ones that say they are permanent and cover greys start to wash out after a week or so. Permanent dye at the hairdresser doesn't wash out, so it will all depend on how quickly your hair grows as to when you start to see grey again.

I feel your pain as greying early is the bain of my life and hands down my one hang up about my appearance. My great grandmother was completely grey by 40 and my grandmother and mum weren't far behind, so it's unfortunately in my genes (though my sister isn't half as grey as I am so I must have got more than her ha ha).

Try o wow, it's a home keratin style treatment that costs about £30. It is amazing, I have really shit, thick frizzy curly hair and it transforms it. It now takes ten minutes to dry smooth and shiny, it used to take an hour to look marginally less shit. It lasts three months. It doesn't help the colour but the texture is transformed. (I don't work for them, I just think it's amazing)

I am a lot older than you OP, and would be naturally quite grey, but I choose not to.
I have ( pre grey) dark chestnut hair. I still like to wear it longish.
Root growth is a problem, but I have that down to a fine art, I keep to the same ( decent quality) box colour and do a root touch up at home every 3 weeks or so.I only do the roots, so no colour build up, only massaging the product to the rest of my hair for the last 5 minutes.
My hairdresser often comments on the condition of my hair- it is soft and glossy.
Blonde wouldn't be for me.
I am nauturally quite dark.
A huge amount of grey but only at the top, sides, behind my ears.
Blening with highlights may be good for people with fair hair though - I can see that.

I do think that an older face with a block dye of darkness is not a good look. It looks fake. I think there are really nice ways of doing it though, probably very expensive! I do like to see a little bit of grey, or off grey, as it looks more natural.

[quote FourBagsOfMiniEggs]@GreenSlide do you use a permanent dye and get it done at the hairdresser normally when you have yours dyed? Yes, I agree - I think it can tend to look a mess when it’s all patchy which is why I feel so fed up about it all. I don’t really feel ready to completely embrace the grey, but my grey hairs are a completely different texture, so I don’t think they’d even take to dye.[/quote]
No I haven't got the money/can't get time away from DC long enough for regular hairdresser trips. But home dyes don't look great. MIL does do regular hairdresser trips and her grey hair looks so naturally not grey.

I started going grey in my 20s, had it dyed for years at the hairdressers which cost me a small fortune. When I decided to just go with the grey, I was given some advice to make it look good - a really great haircut (and keep up with this), plenty of products to give the hair gloss and moisture, and emphasise the silver with special products for silver-grey hair.

I'm naturally dark went grey at 15, I've been dying it since I was 25. I'm now blonde and have been the past 5 years. I love dying my grey hair it's fab and provides a nice texture to the blonde. My lockdown roots make me sad the grey makes me feel so old.

My hair started greying in my 20s and now it's pretty much all grey if I let it grow out. I've been using esalon hair dye for the past 3 years-ish and it actually covers my greys without looking weird. When I started colouring I only needed to do my roots every other month but now the greying is all over and it needs doing every 4-5 weeks. Esalon hair dye is a bit more expensive than the usual ones but it works for me and is still cheaper than monthly visits to a hairdresser.

I've got dark curly hair that's going grey. It has changed texture over the years though, and is much less frizzy than it used to be. I should probably call it wavy/loose curls these days. Anyway, I'm 31 and I love my greys! I like the contrast between dark and silver. Mine are more in streaks though, so maybe that's it? Could you change your hair parting/style so that maybe they lie differently?

Also, Lush hair masks leave my hair lovely and smooth!

What colour is your natural pre-grey hair?

Grey roots blend in much better with lighter hair and lighter dye ends. Well-done highlights or balayage don’t look bad at all.

It’s the dyed dark hair with the full strip of white down the parting that looks bad. Terribly ageing.

Ah, there are so many great tips here! Thank you so much everyone. It sounds like hair masks are something I should investigate, and steer clear of at-home dye. I just don’t think I can afford salon treatments regularly! So henna/ extra moisture/ keratin style stuff may be my way forward for now.

I started going grey at 20 and I am now late 20s. I still have a lot of brown hairs but my grey would be very visible if I left it natural. The best solution I have found is getting highlights. It blends the grey away nicely and my roots just look dark instead of grey due to the contrast.
Highlights definitely don't help with the texture but you can get good hair masks from Sally's. I highly recommend Wella Reflections mask and oil.
Whatever you decide to do, go to a salon. Box dye is poor quality compared to salon colour and you will get a much better result getting in done professionally.

@mrshonda

I started going grey in my 20s, had it dyed for years at the hairdressers which cost me a small fortune. When I decided to just go with the grey, I was given some advice to make it look good - a really great haircut (and keep up with this), plenty of products to give the hair gloss and moisture, and emphasise the silver with special products for silver-grey hair.

Same here. A really good cut is crucial. The first haircut after lockdown 1 took about 20 years off me.

I’m brunette, I use nice and easy, the lightest brown they do, as it is always so so much darker, and my hair looks really natural, medium to dark brown. I use root touch up every four weeks for three months, then a full dye on the fourth, honestly it doesn’t look shit. 😃

Also if you are worried about cost of salon colour, you can get balayage is cheaper then regular highlights and doesn't need done as regularly

*Grey roots blend in much better with lighter hair and lighter dye ends. Well-done highlights or balayage don’t look bad at all.
*

That is very expensive.

It’s the dyed dark hair with the full strip of white down the parting that looks bad. Terribly ageing.

I agree, but that can be maintained at home.
No need for the white stripe if you keep on top of that. Takes me 30 minutes every three weeks and a £7.99 box dye.

I’m starting to go grey at 33 (my natural
colour is light brown) and I’ve given up the bad old box dye torture days of my 20s as it doesn’t take evenly anymore. Instead I see a wonderful colourist every 4-6 months who weaves me the most beautiful, beachy, bespoke highlights/balayage combo which actually incorporates the greys as part of the highlighting and grows out beautifully. She’s a bloody genius

so yeah, basically, a good colourist can do magic. Decent products help too as they make sure your hair, whatever colour it is, is healthy and looks its best. I find that, as with skincare, I need to spend a bit more money and invest in quality when it comes to my hair. No silicones, no harsh sulphates, lots of nourishing ingredient etc etc.

Here's people iv realised over lockdown that are actually totally grey but dye. I would have never have guessed as their dye jobs are awesome.

Theres not here's