Getting hair dyed to cover the grey, what should I have done?

[CaptainHarville]

I've never had my hair dyed and my hair is currently fairly long and going grey. Its not lots of grey but it's definitely there. My natural colour is brown.

I've booked to get it dyed but no idea what I should get done. I don't think I need my whole lot doing as not that grey. So presumably that means highlights but what colour? How do you choose?

I keep seeing balayage on pinterest what's that?

I am going to boost this as in exactly the same position. Actually seeing my hairdresser soon and she suggested something so when she reminds me what that is I will be back to share!

You could either get an all over tint or highlights. I used to colour my hair myself but opted for highlights last year. I first got t-bar highlights (along parting and front of head) then got half head (top of head down to ear level with underneath back area left unhighlighted) and last twice got full head highlights. They highlights were all done with foils

I just googled balayage and I think thats what my hairdresser recommended.

Semi permanent all over with T foils on top of a lighter/redder colour to break up the semi permanent.

Balayage won’t help disguise greying roots though as it is painted on down the hair shaft but not close to the roots

So a full tint means the whole head.

Then foils can be done T-bar, half head or full head.

I often wear my hair up so the T-bar and half head foils wouldn't hide the grey underneath so I'd either need whole head foils or whole head tinted and then foils.

Alternatively I could just cut all the long hair off?

Not sure if I should go more blonde highlights or more red. Hair has a definite auburn tint in the sun. I am so indecisive!

Once you start dying to cover grey it is a process that requires upkeep.
The need to dye and cover the grey roots will be quicker and quicker. Are you sure you want to be tied to the dye bottle?
Colouring your hair should be for fun not a chore.

How about cutting your hair/possible restyle, and adding some red highlights to tone down the grey, but not totally eliminating them.
If you have a full head of colour, whilst it will look very nice, it will be harder to keep up to.

I'm in much the same place OP. Currently just using a semi permanent in dark blonde, which sort of works. Probably need to.go down the highlights route though don't want to spend the cash!

I’ve been dyeing my hair to cover grey since I was 27. I wish I had just left it, tbh. I will have to stop sometime, which presumably means having very short hair at the start.

Whether you get a full or partial colour, they dye your hair.

Having highlights means that the roots take longer to become unacceptable.

I used to get my hair done every six weeks at the salon, which was about two weeks too late for my roots. It was expensive in terms of time and money.

Now, I just do a box of Clairol every 4 weeks, and infil any emerging roots with coloured dry shampoo.

They dye all your hair.

I'm going grey gracefully. I'm hoping I get my gran's colour, the best way to describe it was a blue grey with silver highlights.

If you have specific spots of grey some hairdressers will do a dye job on the specific patches only. They paint it on. I think it's called a smudge.

it only really works if you have localised grey and not if you have fine threads of grey all over.

Unfortunately I do have fine grey hair all over. It really isn't very noticeable and I could still pull the more prominent ones out. But I'm going to take the plunge and get it properly dyed probably close to my natural colour and then caramel highlights.

I'm going to get a decent length taken off too. At the moment I couldn't dye it myself it's too thick and long. I'm early 40s so feel I've been lucky not to be much more grey than I am - my brother was very grey by late 20s.

Ask your hairdresser for advice, they are really the best people to tell you what the options are.

I was quite late to colouring my hair as I didn’t really have any grey and had a nice natural colour and I was quite anxious about doing it at all, but the hairdresser gave me good advice and now it’s nothing. I went for a block colour at first as it was a less dramatic change than highlights. Remember nothing is permanent, it can always be changed at your next appointment.

I'm a similar age to you but my hair is very dark and I've noticed a few white hairs recently. I've also noticed that my overall colour is fading and I'm getting natural ginger highlights. My hair seems to be going brown with copper highlights before going grey.

I've decided to try hairprint next month, it's a none toxic hair colour that restores your hair colour to it's natural tone.

www.myhairprint.com