to be outraged that my so-called permanent hair-dye is proving rather impermanent

[parakeet]

Recently the sad day dawned when I decided I could no longer face pulling out any more grey hairs, and would have to start dyeing it. I was determined not to spend £££ paying a hairdresser to do it, and bought a DIY kit from Boots.

Barely six weeks has gone by before I see grey returning, and I'm not talking about the roots. The dye seems to have just faded or washed away.

What is going on? I thought permanent meant permanent. Or am I being hopelessly naive? Would it last longer if I paid the hairdresser to do it? Seasoned hair-dyers, please enlighten me.

(PS - If you're grey and proud, I'm not interested.)

Try using Elvive shampoo for coloured hair.

I'm with you, I've got grey too and it's a never ending battle. I haven't tried permanent though, I was going to try it soon so I'm going to keep an eye on this thread.

Grey is quite hard to cover with home hair colour, I've got bits in mine, I buy a home permanent colour and within about four weeks I can see the grey hairs peeking through again not just on the roots??

I've always found it lasts longer if the hairdresser does it, but it also cost about £60 more!

Hair dye fades, even the expensive stuff you get at the hair dressers. Not so much as the shop bought stuff but it does still fade. I spent all last year having my colour topped up every four weeks before I gave in and went back to blonde cos of the amount of grey I've got.

I took getting grey hairs as God's way of telling me to have highlights. I'm not religious but I felt a calling. I fought it and failed.

Blonde and happy now!

Highlights and/or lowlights from a hairdresser will blend greys in more naturally than block colour

I've got the opposite problem, in that mine is a semi permenant, which I'm dying to fade down a bit, but I still feel a bit Italian Widow ish. I got them to cover over my highlights, and its feeling a bit block colour. I used a cheap and nasty deep cleansing shampoo to try and strip a bit of it out but its still glossy, shiny, and DARK. Hmmm. It was done at the hairdresser by the way!

Nope, if you went to a hairdresser, it would fade as fast and cost a bomb IME.

I use Perfect 10 and leave it on for longer, I did do a strand test first, and find that it covers all my grey but only lasts 6 weeks, at best. Same as all the rest out there.

I look faded after that. I'm brunette so every slither of grey looks like beam of light!

If I left it, I'd be 80% grey now.

I've tried them all over the years. I went grey very suddenly at 21. I'm 35. I refuse to give in!

You could try a colour fade resistant shampoo? Dove pro age or Elvive? I'm not sure if they work but they claim to.

Plus the summer is allegedly on it's way so more fading to deal with.

I may buy a wig!!!!

I have mine done at the hairdressers and it doesn't fade, but still grows out . The DIY kits are nowhere as potent, usually they did't cover the grey in the first place.
I wish it wasn't so expensive is the only thing.

I've been colouring my hair for a fair number of years now. I always do it myself and find that it does need re-doing about every six weeks or so. I use Elvive colour protecting shampoo and conditioner as well as their leave in spray conditioner. I also use the masque regularly. I think it certainly fades less since using these products. I have never found that the grey peeps through, other than at the roots as they grow. Maybe you are not leaving the dye on long enough? My hair is now about 80% grey and I love the way that the grey hairs hold the dye differently to my natural colour, as it creates highlights without paying a fortune at the hairdressers! Last time I had it dyed at the hairdressers it cost about £75, whereas it only costs about £5 to do it myself!

Are you sure you are buying a permanent colour? There are quite a lot of semi permanent out there and they are often packaged in a similar style to the permanent colours.

Been dying for 25 years, both at home and in salons.
My home jobs are def better than any hairdressers .

I have tried many and Nice n easy is by far the best in my experience. I Leave it on for longer than suggested

Doesn't matter where you get it coloured, it's the porosity of your hair that makes it fade.

Hair dye works by alkali opening the hair follicles and letting the dye in. The after conditioner is acidic and then closes the follicles, trapping the colour molecules inside.

If your hair is porous, the follicles are naturally open and therefore the dye will "take" quite quickly, but also wash out quickly (like an open door).

If your hair is in really good condition and is shiny, the follicles will be quite tightly closed usually and therefore not let the colour molecules out.

Ta-da!

In defence of hairdresser done colour:

I have several greys at the front, really quite a few in the side temples. I have (as stated above) a semi permenant colour, usually with highlights, though from time to time I get them covered over and then "start again" (or you get a block of blond/toffee down the bottom)

I get regrowth, but I dont get fade out which exposes greys from root to tip, and that's a semi.

You might find you get better longivety with a hairdresser, but you will still get regrowth, 6 weeks is about when it will start to bother you if you are quite grey.

On that basis, you may as well continue doing your own thing with it, at least it will cost less overall and you can "top up" when it suits you without having to bother getting an appointment - before you go on holiday, etc.

I would get a colour treated hair shampoo, and indeed use a UV protect product (kerastase serum in the red bottle gives UV coverage).

Hair sucks, I'm going down the wig route.

Thank you for all the helpful advice. Yes I AM buying permanent, I can read a bleedin' packet, thanks very much!

I think I'll stick with my £5 home kit jobbies, and just re-do every six weeks. At least I know that is normal now. I'll also try leaving it on for longer though, and see if that helps.

Thanks again everyone.

Seriously ladies if you are going grey then your skin tone is changing along with your hair.

I'm 42 and loved having dark red hair and fighting the age battle but at some point you have to give in. Grey roots look worse than dark ones and too dark hair with a light complexion looks even worse. I'm 50% grey and it just wasn't sustainable. I think I looked like a vampire for a while

It is so much better to go to the hairdressers and have professionally done highlights/lowlights that compliments your natural hair colour and skin tone than to buy something in the supermarket that you hope will do the job as a cover all. Having highlights/lowlights means that you don't have the block roots problem so you don't need to do it so often. I have my highlights done every 6 to 8 weeks but could go longer.

Not a hairdresser by the way, I've just learnt through my own and my Mum's mistakes. She now has a gorgeous silver bob and looks fab. I'm predominantly blonde, which is only a couple of shades darker than mother nature intended and looks fairly natural.

Does anyone read my posts other than me?!

I read your post! Was going to add that some brands are just shit. Boots botanics dye is pointless, and that nutrisse is a waste of space. I veer between superdrug's own (v cheap and good) and l'oreal.

Yay! Thank you Eric, I was beginning to think I had my invisibility shield up tonight!

(Totally agree about botanics).

Me too, I read your post. When you start going grey it's time to go lighter and get it done properly. I learnt the hard way.

DIY kits are never going to be as good as what I would use in the salon. DIY kits never end in .00 (the shade number that is) it's .00 that actually covers the grey. 6.0 is completely different to 6.00. Yes I know that makes no sense at all, will come back when I've had my much needed cuppa.
P.S If anyone knows of DIY kits that do end in .00 would love to know so I don't have to spend a fortune in Sally's every time I do someone at home!

hmm, maybe its worth trying a few different brands? i know grey hair is harder to cover but youd be surprised at the difference in fade between brands.
oh and get some decent colour protect shampoo. i had Dove colour protect which was good, no idea what i have now...i stock up when it's on offer

I hate getting a salon dye. they never do it close enough to my roots, no matter what hairdresser i go in, and all the subtle high and lowlighting is wasted on my hair [red] as im the only person who would notice. and its a rip off and a half when i can get down Superdrug and do it myself and not feel like the chemicals are eating my skin.

i do love getting a cut and blowdry though. ooohhh the tea and biccies....oooh reading Tatler and nattering about all things superficial and shiny.

It was Boots botanics that I bought! Lesson learned...

Mermaidspam, yours was one of the most informative posts of all. I missed it in my first response, because it went up in that "dead time" while I was typing out my response. (You know what I mean? You see you've had 10 replies, you start typing a response, and by the time you've finished, you've had 2 new replies go up, which your first response appears to be rather rudely ignoring.)

Anyway, I'm also going to buy colour-protecting shampoos from now on - and come back later to see what on earth Stephys is on about.

I know exactly what you mean parakeet (I think some paranoia took over last night!)