Can anyone help with my hair dye issues

[jumpyjan]

My natural colour is dark blonde and I have always had blonde highlights to lift it a bit. Noticed I was getting lots of a few grey hairs back in January and fancied a change so I decided to get my hair professionally dyed firstly red (lasted about a week) and eventually a light brown colour.

Anyway turns out my hair is either very porous on unporous (can't remember which ) but basically they attempted with the semi permanent colour 3 times and it faded after about 10 days (a lot) and in the end I went for permanent. The permanent has lasted better but 8 weeks on my hair looks a bit of a mess - very faded with grey roots.

I dread to think how much I have spent at the salon this year. I also bought the salon shampoo last time as they thought my regular shampoo (Aussie) my have been stripping the dye - it made no difference.

I am trying to decide what to do next. I have an appointment booked next week but it will have to be my last for a while and am considering home dying which I am a bit nervous about.

What I need to know is - is it damaging to keep permanent dying my hair (original plan was to stick to semi perm)?, is salon dye any better for your hair than home dye?, how can I match the colour used in the salon with the home dye kits?, what are the good home dye brands (the salon use Wella)?, will I end up dying my ears/forehead/bathtub?

Thanks .

If you are happy with sticking to one shade you could try henna or a plant based dye. You can get brown shades and mahogany shades. I know because I have the same issue as you. Henna dyes stain the cuticle instead of trapping artificial colour molecules, so they take much longer to fade:

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GLORY-HENNA-HAIR-DYE-Black-Light-Brown-Chestnut-Brown-/130934562123?pt=UK_Health_Beauty_Hair_Care_Hair_Colouring_Dyes_PP&var=430160826420&hash=item1e7c4edd4b

Thanks Pudding. I have heard about henna via s&b - might have to look into it a bit more - hear its messy though .

Do permanent ?

Have read a few threads on here re henna and it does sound like a possible solution. Problem is as a home hair dye virgin I am a bit scared!

Is it likely that the hair dye kits you can buy in Boots would react the same as the Wella stuff my hairdresser is using or are they all different?

Just want to rule those out before I go down the henna route as I am chicken

I have dark hair with white roots. Once you get the greys/whites coming through, you need to keep touching up the hairline frequently. Being blonde your greys may be less noticeable. In my case, I have to retouch every fortnight, forever. Boy do I resent it. So for that kind of regular investment, salons are unaffordable for me. So permanent home dye it is. I go for the 'natural' brands, with low/no PPD and ammonia, in the belief that this is less bad for me. And I just do it on the roots rather than knackering the whole length but repeated dyeing.
Hope this helps

It does help sergeantmajor - thank you. Do you find your hair is in ok condition/does the regular dying seem to cause any drying or anything.

Also do you mind me asking what brands you use?

Henna makes your greys luminous!!

Try hendigo - apparently it doesn't make greys luminous!

Try www.hennacat.com