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Original poster

Best dye for greying hair?

37 replies

trulyscrumptious43 · 06/09/2011 01:10

My real colour is mid brown, I've been getting away with different deep brown permanent dye kits to cover the grey hairs, but they tend to wash out to orangeish hues which look appalling next to the emerging greys. I loathe this look and now I've got it.
One of my clients is in her sixties, and is enviously trim and petite with a dark brown bob and never a grey hair in sight; but frequent visits to Cheltenham occur, where, I suspect, lurks a prohibitively expensive colourist. I dare not enquire after the fountain of youth in this case as it would surely break the bank.
A friend told me to use semi permanent dyes as they don't wash out to orange; however they don't seem to tackle the grey very well.
Any suggestions gratefully accepted (but I'm not going blonde!)

OP posts:
spiderslegs · 06/09/2011 01:21

Right, how much grey & how old are you are my first questions?

silvestro · 06/09/2011 03:43

watching this with interest.

I am 38, only recently ( within the last yr) got a a few grey hairs. I tried one semipermanent colour ( the name of which I forgot but I think maybe Garnier) which worked well.
A few weeks ago tried a L'Oreal one which was a disaster. Orange overtones and my hair has been like straw ever since... sorry... hijacked thread... but at least bumped to the top ;-)

shelscrape · 06/09/2011 03:52

I am 41 and have been using hair dye for about 12 years. I am very grey :(

About 6 years ago my hairdresser happily told me she would need to use permanent colour all the time as I was more than 50% grey .... aaarrrgggghhh!!!

So, I use permanent dye. Hairdressers doing a proper coloiur is best and you will need to use proper conditioner and shampoo for coloured hair to preserve the colour and use a UV filter spray to prevent it going orangey.

The best way to cover grey is to bleach it. Must easier to bleach off what is there than to try and add a colour to the hair

Original poster
trulyscrumptious43 · 06/09/2011 22:07

I'm 45 and the grey is maybe...10-20%? It's hard to say, it might be more. I haven't had my real colour in 10yrs since the first greys appeared.
Actually the only time I've had my hair coloured in a hairdressers, the girl (she must have been new) got it all over the skin at my hairline and it looked worse than when I did it myself at home. Couldn't believe it, was too embarrassed to complain, went home and scrubbed face with brillo pad!

OP posts:
cerealqueen · 06/09/2011 22:20

OP, I am very grey and always looking out for the best grey coverage... there was a recent thread on this issue and lots of people mentioned Perfect 10?

I used to dye my hair dark brown being medium brown but now I'm so grey, find a shade just that bit lighter than my natural helps with coverage.

I sometimes use a semi perm (like casting or boots botanics) in -between doing an all over dye job with a permanent colour.

HTH.

Georgetta · 06/09/2011 22:49

Cerealqueen,if you mean Castings by L'oreal, then that is a permanent colour. I've been using it for years and it lasts me about 9-10 weeks.

cerealqueen · 06/09/2011 22:53

Georgetta, it is in the semi section at Boots but yes, I think they are called demi colours, they say they last 24 washes, not true semi!

cerealqueen · 06/09/2011 22:55

Actually OP, given your %age grey, on of those demis might work best for you?

PercyPigPie · 06/09/2011 23:04

I've given up on semi-permanents and have never tried permanents. Semis make my hair too uniform in colour and add about 10 years to my face. I've found a local hairdresser working from home for lowlights and it looks (and I look) better than I have for a long time. I pay £35 and go every 2 or so months. If I had to give up all my personal expenditure, this is the last thing I would give up as it makes me look so much better/younger than a block colour.

paddingtonbear1 · 06/09/2011 23:09

I've got a fair bit of grey and dye my hair at home (well, MIL normally does it). I use Perfect 10 in a light brown (my natural colour was dark brown, but home dyes tend to come out darker). It comes with a rich conditional which is nice. It is a permanent colour - semis no longer work very well!

millie19 · 07/09/2011 21:16

I swear by Clairol Root Touch Up in Dark Brown. Cheap enough (I think about £4 and even cheaper if you get it in Boots when they have an offer on!) to keep me going if I can't get to hairdresser for my colour to be done properly (if I had the time and money I'd get my colour done every 5-6 weeks to give you an idea of how long i last/how grey I'm going (am mid 30s but hair colour inherited from my dad who went grey at 24 so was never going to go well!) And even hairdresser thinks it's good and also a good colour match - she never comments on how I've applied it though Smile.

Azure · 07/09/2011 21:28

My hair started to go grey / white when I was in my 20s (mid 40s now). I shudder to think how small my coverage of natural dark brown is now. I have to dye my hair every 3 weeks, otherwise the roots really show. There's no way I could afford to go to a hairdresser that frequently, so do it at home. Permanents are the only ones which seem to work, and I now use Perfect 10, which is very quick, not too messy and works.

Original poster
trulyscrumptious43 · 09/09/2011 18:25

I'm using Nice n Easy root touch up in mid brown, which is great (have to get DD to apply it to the back of my head, what will I do when she goes off to Uni?)
I'm interested to find out what actual colours work best for other MNers, particularly those which don't fade to orange hues when daylight is applied!

OP posts:
Original poster
trulyscrumptious43 · 09/09/2011 18:27

Also..dark browns make my sallow skin show up, even darling mother has commented (via DD) that my hair is too dark for my skin tone!

OP posts:
SparklyCloud · 09/09/2011 19:29

Superdrug Sensations semi permanent in 6.7 chocolate brown is not only cheap at £1.99 but is the best one i have ever used, not too dark like a lot of permanents. And its not animal tested like every other brand like perfect 10 etc.

spiderslegs · 10/09/2011 01:42

I was going to say I'm 37, nearly all grey, have been on the turn since I was 16', have decided to stop with the dye.

Am going to go gloriously.

jellybeans · 11/09/2011 16:47

Lush brown henna is great if you are dark brown and have a few greys here and there. They go a light/coppery blonde and it covers most the grey and lasts 1-2 months in between goes. It makes the hair lovely and shiney too! It is messy to do and a faff but worth it!

cat64 · 11/09/2011 16:59

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

stmumschool · 11/09/2011 17:17

I Mix 2 of clairol's nice n easy (as their colours went odd when they changed it) I'm dark blonde and mix 103 and 103a. Doesn't last long though as washes out quickly on me.

CakeandRoses · 11/09/2011 19:36

jelly i was wondering about henna. hairdressers always say it can make hair brittle - have you noticed that at all?

CakeandRoses · 11/09/2011 20:02

jelly i was wondering about henna. hairdressers always say it can make hair brittle - have you noticed that at all?

jellybeans · 11/09/2011 21:18

Hi, no my hair is in the best condition ever, the shine is amazing! It used to be dry! It's not expensive either, about £7-8 from Lush and it lasts ages, I only use 1-2 squares (out of 6) each time, sometimes less if just doing roots.

ElsieMc · 12/09/2011 11:31

I have a lot of grey and now have to use a permanent. I used to go to a salon, but I found my roots remained gingery, so resorted to home colouring.

I have the problem with yellowish roots also. I tried Perfect 10 but it did not cover well enough so went back to traditional colourants. I am currently using Nutrisse Light Brown but this is not covering the roots on the sides now and has a yellowish tinge I hate.

I have found that Excellence Creme 6.13 frosted brown is pretty good, because there is no yellow tinge. However, it only seems to be stocked at larger supermarkets such as Asda who have more shelf space. This is supposed to be light brown, but does colour up a strong medium brown.

Its trial and error and I have found my hair becomes "used" to colours and I need a change to bring back the shine and condition.

Original poster
trulyscrumptious43 · 12/09/2011 22:46

I used to love Lush's henna, maybe should start using it again - it does do wonders for your hair condition. Don't you get red hairs shining through in the sunlight though, jellybeans? I seem to recall my problem was that it washed off my temple v quickly leaving the ginger/grey problem.
Tis v exciting with all these colours to try (just so I can achieve mud brown, haha!) I will get some superdrug 6.7 chocolate brown next time I'm in town, SparklyCloud.

OP posts:
CakeandRoses · 13/09/2011 08:56

i actually have some lush henna that i bought ages ago - i reckon i'll dig it out and give it a go.

how long is your hair jelly? and how long do you leave yours on?

sorry to hijack your thread op but hopefully this is helpful to you too!

afaik, the greys do glint more but if you don't have too much grey they just look like pretty highlights. perhaps worth having a look online at different results with various % of grey? eg this site is interesting

i would really look at all of your options before you go down the perm colour route as it can become a bit of a pain up-keeping roots so they look natural. i've just had a couple of months of disastrous attempts with perm colours (too light=much rootage then too dark=gothic) before using ColourB4 to get back to almost my natural colour (albeit a bit lighter and dryer) and i'm now spending some time working out what to do next.

also, look for the right colour to match your skin tone (warm or cool). browns which suit others might be too ashy or too warm for you which will make you look hellish.