To trust ChatGPt’s advice on my hair?

[Teethingtrouble]

I’m brunette, going grey (unevenly). I’ve had a series of unfortunate events with my hair over the last few years even though I go to a hairdresser to get it dyed. First hairdresser advised going an all over lighter shade to blend greys - didn’t work, still had line and hair horrid colour. Did this for a year.
Went to a pricey hairdresser and they advised bleach with foils to blend greys. Was hideous and left my hair like parchment.
Last 18 months I’ve gone back to a hairdresser I trust (ed) and grew out highlights and had foils to blend in the grey, which didn’t really work. Last session she said this isn’t working for you and highlighted my hair (bleached) leaving me looking like a zebra.
I am truly sick of the money and time
i spend at the hairdresser , especially as I still have shit hair!
So. I asked ChatGPT and showed a
pic and have been advised to go for a box dye, number 4, in order to cancel out the highlights and get back to something that doesn’t look like a patchy mess.
Problem is that it’s irreversible and may be even worse!
Any views? And yes, I know, trivial and I should grow up.
Thank you for humouring me

If you dont trust the box dye you could go for a full head colour at the salon? The downside to a box dye / full head colour would be very obvious roots, which is why they've probably encouraged more blended options.

It would just mean more more frequent touch ups.
Although you can get powder or sprays to hide the roots between treatments.
Plenty of women use box dyes and are happy with the results so if its something you're thinking about and youve found a colour you like then maybe go for it.

As long as you're not using bleach and adhering to the leave in instructions your hair will be fine!

Also you could try semi permanent first and see how you get on with it

Use a semi-permanent box dye, it’s more subtle when the roots come in and isn’t as harsh on your hair. I’ve been a convert from permanent dyes and tbh I’m not even dyeing it that much more frequently. But yes, I am wholeheartedly in ChatGPT’s corner - highlights or going blonde is not the answer for all of us.

Try Casting - I’ve used it for years and it always deeply conditions my hair. Try a lighter shade first near your natural colour and stick to neutral tones.

I would be happy to trust Chat GPT on the logic/throry. It’s been trained on everything that hums have ever known. You have to play chicken with its hallucinations though 😁

I think it’s really cool that you’re looking for inspiration and open to trying things.

Firstly, it’s only hair so nothing is really irreversible. Try whatever you want and know that it can always be fixed (or cut off!)

Secondly, you need a new hairdresser.

Finally, box dye on highlights is not a great idea.

Box dyes tend to be quite warm (red) and the bleached hair will pick up the warmth more than the rest. Plus many contain peroxide to help the colour penetrate the hair, so you’re essentially applying bleach on already bleached hair, which is terrible for the condition. Greying hair can be quite coarse so you want to keep as much moisture in as possible.

I’d look for a good salon in your area, and make an appointment for a colour correction. Your natural colour may be too dark now but a combination of brunette tint with some highlights and lowlights might blend things better.

I get on well with this which is tiny little bottles of powder hair dye (I get mine off Ebay so haven't used the website).

For me most of my grey is around my ears so I mix up a little and brush it on round my ears for a few minutes and then brush it through the rest of my hair for a few minutes. It's very quick and easy to do so I don't leave it on long as I can top it up another time if I want more coverage.

It results in the greys being dyed but not one block colour like a permanent hair colour. I have brown hair and use the chocolate brown.

I wouldn't be so confident if you are starting with a blonde base as I've no experience of that but a brown base it's very good.

Have you thought about letting it go grey and maybe trying to enhance that rather than hide it?
Maybe a photo of your hair would help?

My very dark brown hair started to go grey before I was in my 20s, by mid 30s I was sick of the time and money I was spending to make it look decent and the roots would always look obvious after a few weeks.
I let it grow out which was really hard I won’t lie but was so worth it and I love my grey hair now and get so many compliments about it.

Thank you all for your support and suggestions.

PeteReturns Honestly, this is what I want! But my grey is still coming in unevenly so looks more salt and pepper, which I like less. I’ll stop dyeing completely in about 2-3 years but not ready yet.

Allisnotlost1 Thank you. Only problem with trying a new hairdresser is that it’s more time and money on my effing hair and that’s what I’m sick of! Though I know you may be right and what you say about box dies is what I’m scared of!

BurntBroccoli Many years ago, before deciding to take my hair to a professional , I used casting and was very happy! I would go back to it but worried about box dyes in highlights.

Emotionalsupporthamster hear!pinkglitter12 thank you - that’s what I wanted to hear - or was hoping to hear. So sick of throwing money and emotional energy at my hair. Can’t believe going full
circle Back to box dyes!

Was also going to suggest casting.ive got very stubborn greys so it didn't fully take on mine, but def worth a try before you go a harsher stronger permanent box dye

I'm also going grey unevenly and also intensely dislike my current colour. Ive got very stubborn greys and all the lightening left my hair fried.

Ive found a slight middle ground where I just dye my roots to try and give the length a break. Also use banana hair food conditioner and leave some of it in. Also, a silk bonnet has made a big difference. I was skeptical, but they work. That's all for the damage really, and not the grey, but all the intense dying trying to cover the grey resulted in damaged hair - i use box dye with occasional hairdresser visit.

I used box dyes for fun when younger and always loved the result tbh. Hairdressers will be on here soon to say it’s the work of the devil and only a £200 professional job will do, so I’m interested that chat GPT doesn’t back this up!

Personally, I’m loving the salt and pepper look and wouldn’t dye again I don’t think - but I’m very lucky as mine is all on my calf lick, so it’s very cruella de ville and I think shaping up to be quite cool!

Me too, I love a box dye and would definitely recommend one for covering virgin grey hair or changing colour. I’d be wary of putting one on highlights but you make a good point about chatGPT not cautioning against that, so maybe the received wisdom I have is no longer true.

A note of caution on temporary dyes - I've found they don't wash out over a month as they claim, for me medium brown just went a bit redder, would go back to original colour when I touched up roots and worked into lengths.

You can always colour correct with bix dyes too - if the result is too reddish, an ash bland tones it down like magic!

I used permanent colour for years, and it held the shade a lot better- i only moved to semi-permanent as I was thinking of going grey.

I used Olio, recommended to me by a hairdresser, left my hair in great condition and didn't smell disgusting.

I'm growing my grey out now, it's a bit of a slog, trying not to get a pixie cut to speed it up, as I know it would look awful on me.

What’s the relevance of AI here?

AI uses whatever you say and mirrors your view. So if your prompt was “I have spent all this time/money and hate my hair should I dye it” then of course, AI is going to tell you to dye it because you’ve indicated there’s a problem with your current approach. It’s that simple.

Snoozebuttonplease thank you / I followed AI advice and it went black - way too dark, so had to have a bleach wash 😩. Im now battling orange tones, so may try ash….

Firealarms Thank you. I’ve now learned that AI is a terrible friend, who’ll tell you what you want to hear like the weather. See above. I’ve de-friended chat 😂

That’s not how LLMs work.

OP, sorry that it didn’t work out how you would have liked!