Hair colour disaster

[kbaby]

Help! I'm so fed up with my hair.

I'm 35 and very grey so been colouring my hair for years. I used to use belle colour light brown which gave my hair a dark blonde colour. I'm naturally a medium brown but with so much grey I'm now lighter. I fancied a change a went a bit darker. However the colours were all too dark and for the last year I was stuck in a cycle of trying to get it lighter but ending up getting darker.
So I went to the hairdressers 4 weeks ago and they stripped all the old colour out and applied a light brown colour(to me looks medium brown) anyway my roots started showing last week so I covered them with belle colour light brown but then the roots were very light compared to the rest of my hair plus the grey wasn't covered. This morning I've now added to all over my hair Loreal recital Rimini which is dark blonde. But even though the roots are now not grey they are still too light and I have a lighter halo.

I'm stuck what to do. If I go back to the hairdressers they will match up the colour again for me but at 70 I can't keep that up every three weeks and then I'll be in the same situation that I can't match up the home dye colour. Should I try a darker colour on my roots and see if I can match it again myself or should I go and have highlights done which will lighten my hair to the colour I actually want it and then my roots will be the same colour as the rest of my hair.

I'm so fed up go getting it wrong

Should say £70

Maybe you could use a high-lighting kit like Garnier multi-lights to blend it all in together?

kbaby i have had this problem, so I have had highlights done. I had it stripped, then highlights put in. I a currently blond all over, with darker blonde and a couple of brown strands. This means that as it grows out the grey does not notice quickly and, the brown roots don't look bad as its all a bit blended, and I have made it part of the look. I am able to go for 8-10 weeks before needing more highlights put in, have spent some time looking around and managed to get a good salon not in city centre, which charges £56 for half head and cut/blow dry compared to down at £80-100, which works out £28 a month if I do 8wks. I have grey flecks through my darker hair at the back but have that blended with the blonde (short, with half head of woven lights) and it does not notice.

I am having it darker next time and will likely go brown mostly all over again as that is the look that I prefer, and go heavier on mixture of highlights and low lights in the t-sections where my grey is the heaviest, but if you have all over, then you can get highlights all over.

If I have it an all over colour the grey comes through within 3 weeks, obviously, and I simply cannot do it myself any more or else get the halo.

If it is only at the front you could always add some highlights yourself?

use the salon at your local college?

I have foil highlights with a darker tint on the rest, blends the regrowth much better as it grows and I can go about 8 weeks in between. Wether you colour the regrowth yourself or have it professionally coloured, the regrowth is always going to be more obvious if it is a) dark & b) one colour.

I wouldn't advice doing the highlights yourself, you need them along the partying and the crown, anywhere the hair parts.

sounds very similar to me.

I used Belle colour in the mid brown on my dark brown plus very grey 70% roots.

Belle colour has been discontinued just recently, which was my first problem, because it had started to blend it's mid brown quite well in to my getting lighter roots iyswim.

dark brown no good for roots as regrowth so bloody badger stripe.

I used a supposed mid brown in another brand, and only put it on my roots, but it ended up way too darl, so i sort have had a dark halo--grrr.

The covergae was better than Belle colour tho. Maybe try another brand. I used Schwarzkopf Live, the new one. I will use it again but go lighter.

As others have said maybe you need to put some highlites in the crown to blend thru that dark bit, and then get an even lighter brown to do at home next time.

Thanks all. It's such a pain being so grey. Maybe highlights are the way to go to avoid the root regrowth being so obvious, plus it will help blend my light roots into the rest of my dark hair.

Is there anyway to try and extend the length of time between touch ups. At the moment I colour every three weeks, if I go lighter will that be better?

If colouring yourself you need to just do the roots, if you do the full head everytime the ends are just going to get darker and darker. Even if you put a lighter colour on the ends it will go darker as colour doesn't lift colour only highlift blonde or bleach.

I suspect you could extend the time between if you went blond, and then you would have darker roots where not grey. And, imo anyway, dark roots showing for a month are much better than the other way (but then, I quite like the trashy look myself and is what I have!)

Have been where you are. The prob is the colours come out MUCH darker than the box indicates. And being permanent its hard to rectify.
Wht I did, was find a colour I love, and just do the re growth, painting it on with a tinting brush. Then, after the 20 mins, I add about 2 inches of shampoo to the last half inch or so of colour that I leave in the bottle, a drop of water, shake it all up well and massage it through all the rest of my hair. leave for 5 mins maximum. This blends all the colour in without making the ends dark. NEVER put straight dye on anything but the regrowth as it soaks it up like a sponge making it darker each time.

The colour I use is only semi but it covers my grey here

If you want a permanent try this one here
Or if you wanted a little darker then try this one

The Superdrug ones are the best I have used, and usually true to the colours they say they are. Plus they are the cheapest and best of all they are not animal tested :)

What you need to look at when choosing colour are the numbers on the box. 1 is black and 10 is light blonde..so medium brown would be a 5. The one i use is 6.7, so even though it looks dark on the box, it is actually not a dark brown. Always look at the numbers more than the picture on the box!

If you have highlights it will be more difficult to tint the regrowth without getting colour on the highlights.

Can you really not afford to spend at the hairdressers, or is it that you feel you cannot justify spending money on yourself? I have found a reasonably priced hairdresser that does a great job at a level I can justify (just about) spending every 8 weeks. The way it makes me feel is definitely worth the spend. There is no way I could do an even half way good job on myself (and I am a hairdresser!)

black cats that Superdrug permanent one looks a good shade for me. Having had to ditch Belle Colour as it appears to have been discontinued.

I only do the roots too, could not do it with a brush tho, as my roots are all over so have to go thru every section, the back is the hardest.

So hard not to slather your neck in it, and i have quite alot of whispy greys at the back.

sigh.

lighter is the way to go tho, dark is too harsh on my skin tone now i'm getting on abit.

piratecat give it a go..I would mix it and put it in a bigger bottle with some shampoo, cover all your hair with it and rub in til it lathers up and leave it on for 15 mins. Wont be as harsh but will cover the greys.

Thanks black cat. I'm stuck really as my hair seems to be the right colour on the ends and then darker nearer the roots. I'm guessing when the hairdressers did it it matched but has faded on the ends. The ends are the colour I want which now match my roots but of course the middle bit is the darker bit so like pavlov I have the dreaded ginger light roots look.

dolly, it's the cost really. My hair grows so fast that I would need it redone at least every four weeks as a minimum and can't afford the £70 each month.

Yes I pay about that, but manage to make it last 2 months. I had mine done a month ago and if I look I can see regrowth, but because its 'blonde' no one else notices it. Also my hairstyle isn't totally flat, I have a fringe so the regrowth doesn't show at the front and its longish so it doesn't show at the sides either.

I hope you manage to find a colour you're happy with. Have you thought about getting it done at a training night or training college? I have seen some good results from both.