Gray hair - best natual solution ?

[mom17]

I have very poor quality, thin, very low volume hair, almost all turned gray because of dye usage. I am using Loreal and every time I use it, it leads to lots of hair fall, irritation on scalp, eye site weakness but I don't know what all natural products are available ? All this is leading me to depression, my hair started graying at the age of 14(probably because of head injury !!). Please help me find out any good, less damaging n possibly natural solution.

[CMOTDibbler]

Go grey.

I've been going grey since I was 18 or so, and embraced it at 38. At 43 I have lovely white/grey hair, and love it.

[VulcanWoman]

I want to do this but the grey isn't the nicer type of grey if you know what I mean, It'll put ten years on me I'm sure it will.
mom I go to my local college which is cheaper and they just do my roots, I think if you use the home kits you cover all of the hair every time, is this correct? thus dying the bits that don't really need the colour on again.

[bonzo77]

Another one saying go grey. I did at 35 having dyed for 20 years. Condition hugely improved. If you are used to the coverage you get with loreal products (I remember it being the best) you will be very disappointed with "natural" products. Actually it sounds like you are reacting very very badly, maybe dangerously and should stop dyeing anyway.

[HeadDreamer]

It sounds like the OP is allergic to hair dye. Don't think a local college person can help with this. How about henna? Have you tried it?

[soupmaker]

Another one to suggest going grey. Get yourself a really good cut and keep it well maintained. Allow your hair and scalp to recover from all the dyeing.

[Kazzawazzawo0]

I use Brazil surya henna cream, bought online. I'm not completely grey, but it covers the grey I do have well and leaves my hair in excellent condition.

[mom17]

I tried Henna but that red color looks so awful and I hate it when people just keep on looking at your hair and few recommend to dye it. Actually I used to do henna only but once parlor lady said Henna is as damaging as colors so I thought why to have bad look then. Looks like I need to atleast go back to Henna if not gray.

[NorbertDentressangle]

Another saying .....go grey!

Keep your hair well conditioned and get a good cut regularly. I also find that using straighteners helps mine look better as it tames some of the wild grey ones which can go a bit crazy at times

( and yes I can confirm that CMOTs white/grey hair does looks lovely! )

[Kazzawazzawo0]

The henna I use comes in different coloyrs, I use the dark brown and it's not red at all, just looks like my natural hair colour.

[Stevie77]

Which henna do you use kazza and how good is the coverage?

[MyVisionsComeFromSoup]

my hair is in a million times better condition since I stopped dyeing it (and that was without your issues OP) - give it a go, you might find that once you get past the just grey roots stage, it looks much better than you think.

[TheCountessofFitzdotterel]

Obviously it's your choice but I do think grey looks very cool these days, even if simply because it's so unusual. I love mine, especially now I have had a good short cut, but younger people with grey can really rock longer cuts too.

[ppeatfruit]

I have a good exercise for thinning hair (if you're interested) and i use rosemary essential oil, when I do the massage. (2 drops in half a cup of softened water) BTW if you soften your hair wasting water that immediately helps the condition of your hair.

I use a naturalish hair colour that is lovely.Wouldn't touch any advertised products, they're designed to make a huge profit for their manufacturers! I have recently discovered the best totally natural shampoos etc. by a firm called Mistry made in London. Not at all expensive.

[VulcanWoman]

local college person it's a proper salon, yes they're trainees but the trained hairdresser watch over them, I've been going for years, I've saved ££££££, yes they take a bit longer but for roots done from £10 to £17 I won't be going back to a regular salon. The reason I suggested it was to save putting the dye over the entire hair.

[elQuintoConyo]

I am 6 months down the line to going completely grey. I am about 80-85% platinum. I have it cut regularly (every 6 weeks) but apart from the smart up-to-date cut, it looks like shite! But honestly not as shite as when I dyed it. I look back at photos of me now and just think LEGO

My hair is already vastly improving in quality - it is thicker, healthier, shinier etc. Should have done this years ago (I'm 40, started going grey at 18).

(However, everytime someone says I'm doing it for 'fashion', I put them on my 'jealous wanker' list )

[HeadDreamer]

vulcanwoman it's still a hair dye, which is what the OP is allergic to. Unless you are suggesting her to get a trainee that uses henna?

You can just do roots in home kits. That's what the instruction booklet says.

[VulcanWoman]

What did you do while waiting for it to all grow out, just suck it up, did it feel a bit crap. I need to do this myself, not quite ready yet though.

[Notonaschoolnight]

Have a look at Naturtint I haven't been able to use salon dye for years but can use this as much lower levels of ppd

[VulcanWoman]

Oh, that's fair enough, I've never done home hair dye you see.

[bonzo77]

Yes, just sucked it up while growing it out. Had very regular hair cuts so it didn't look worse than necessary, and a toner to deal with the brassiness as the colour on the lengths faded.

[MyVisionsComeFromSoup]

I stopped dyeing at the same time as I had two consecutive lots of surgery, so was stuck at home for 8 weeks each time. I made DD1 keep cutting chunks off my hair to get rid of the dyed ends, then had about 6 months of tying it back in a ponytail to minimise the two-tone look, followed by an expensive restyle at the hairdressers. Probably about a year in total, maybe slightly longer as I never went very short. A pixie cut when you have about two-three inches of grey would get you there a lot quicker .

I'm now experimenting with growing it longer, to see how that looks - I'm almost shoulder length, and I'd like to get to bra strap length. If it looks too "witchy", then it's back to chin length.

[VulcanWoman]

Yes, I need to start sucking it up. Good tip re toner.

[SpiceAddict]

Lush henna hair dye comes in brown and black. I use this as I am allergic to pdp.

[lionheart70]

I've used Surya henna as well. It comes in different colours, only I find it doesn't last long.
Look up Daniel Field Water Colours. I love this hair dye. Salon dyes and most other home dyes irritate my scalp, but not these.

[Naicecuppatea]

For those growing their grey out, do you have pure white hair in places? My white hairs are completely white, not a silvery colour. However I still think I have about 30% of my original dark brown, obviously a guess though! I always thought those who look best going completely grey are the ones with a lot of silver, but is that a mixture of white and other colours, or is the hair strand itself silver?

Yep I have ended up thoroughly confusing myself so please feel free to ignore!