Hair dyes to cover grey for more than a week!

[DrizzleHair]

I have a few greys. Quite a large 'few'
I'm late 30s, probably more grey than average for my age, but very thick hair so plenty of my natural brown too.

Whenever I use a box dye it seems to only last a couple of weeks. Are any better at lasting a little longer? I like dying my hair chestnut type ginger so any nice colour recommendations which also cover grey much appreciated

Bump

Following for suggestions.

I find the LIVE colours the best. I have masses of grey and always use this now. Chocolate something its called - it's actually dark brown lol

Clairol nice and easy age defy - it's got this stuff you put on pre dye that makes grey hold colour , I find it I need to redo after six weeks or so ( in reality I redo after three months!)

Nice and Easy semi-permanent lasts well for me, though I only wash my hair once or twice a week so maybe that helps.

Do you pre-soften? That will give the colour much more grab. You put some peroxide developer on the greys for 5-10 mins, wash and dry the hair and then apply the colour. It's a faff but it will last longer.

I used to touch up the greys around my hairline so I'd tie my hair back, apply some developer, 10mins later wash my hairline just leaning over the bath (hair still tied back), towel dry and hairdryer for a few minutes and then apply colour. If your hair is more evenly distributed it's more of a hassle.

Even with hairdresser dye my roots only last a couple of weeks then I need to redo them. It depends how quickly your roots grow really, not the dye.

Sorry I meant if your greys are more evenly distributed, not hair (tut).

Depends how much you have to cover - if not much then use “just for Men” —I cant get the bloody stuff out—

I find the L’oreal Dyes last the best on my hair. Clairol ones don’t seem to cover the grey in the same way. Mind you, a lot of the cheaper dyes like Boots and Superdrug seem to do a reasonable job, too!

It depends on what the problem really is. If the colour is growing out then that's unavoidable, but if the colour is lifting and the greys reappearing the hair needs to be pre-softened.

It's because grey hair is different to pigmented hair, the cuticle is more resistant and needs coaxing open to allow the colour to penetrate, otherwise colour will just lie on top of the hair until you wash it off.

You could colour your hair more often, but the non-grey hair may grab the colour while the greys remain resistant, which is why you sometimes see ladies with very dark ends.

L’Oréal Preference but it would probably look better to get a half head of highlights if you can afford it.

You mentioned that you have very thick hair, are you getting good coverage all over? If not use 2 boxes
HTH

If your grey is distributed along your hairline then in two weeks it will show as it would have grown around 1/4 of an inch. A lot of shop bought dyes are pretty useless though. My grey hair is very resistant and I ended up having to double process it in order to make the dye stick- you might have a similar issue.

The best method I found and one that left my hair in best condition is the professional dye Majirel. Lots on info on here if you need to know how to- it is very easy. In terms of colour look up shade 5.35 and google images to see if that is about right.

I have stopped dyeing mine though as I was having to do it weekly to keep on top of it and I no longer wish to engage in all that faff.

Forgot to add the Majirel is more cost effective too because you can measure out exactly what you need to do a root touch up.

Peroxide developer is essential before colouring. Or 'Grey Magic' although I'm not sure if that's as good as Peroxide - Amazon sell GM so you can read reviews on there.

I used to use live permanent colours, until I got to 50% grey and it wasn't really covering them any more, then I switched to loreal preference permanent which did a great job on the grey. Then I got bored and dyed it purple with special fx semi permanent - it's great because the greys go purple, and the brown hair goes dark, and you get a lovely effect! The bright semi permanent dyes do colour your shower as well though, so avoid if bathroom proud!

I use Daniel Field colours and find that they gradually fade out, so the stripe effect isn't quite so harsh. But you do need to do them a bit more often than a standard box-dye.

Thanks for all these replies. I'll read through and digest and try a few out.
My problem isn't root regrowth, it's the grey not holding the colour. Really good to hear this is a well known effect and there is a far too time consuming for lazy me solution.

I can second the recommendation for Majirel. For good grey coverage mix it with a matching base or deep base colour i.e. 50% 5.35 + 50% 5 or 5.0

I have gone back to doing my own roots after spending £££ at the hairdressers with disappointing results. My colour was fading after the first wash and roots always looked ashy.

I know from bitter experience that L'Oreal Excellence Creme does not budge. I'm still trying to fade out a disastrous box dye job where I ended up Bingo Caller flat dark brown dead crow on head.

Olia is fab I use 4.0 dark brown is great