Least damaging way to dye hair

[katieinthesunshine]

After some advice please. In my late 30s and until last year only ever had a couple of greys in my dark brown hair, but in the last year they've multiplied like rabbits, probably due to stress and illness. I dyed the greyest bits of my hair using box dye from Boots but it seems quite frazzled now. For more experienced brown/dark haired coverers of grey - what in your experience is the LEAST damaging over-the-counter way to dye hair dark? Permanent OTC dye, temporary OTC dye, or henna?

Having lost my job due to the illness I can't really afford to get it dyed at the hairdresser right now - but do people find this to be less damaging to their hair than OTC dye, or is there little difference?

I know this sounds a bit crazy but I previously tried to avoid dying my hair - ill health has done an absolute number on my looks and the only thing about my appearance I still really liked was my hair which seemed to be very shiny/soft/in good condition and never really needed straightening or styling to look good. Now it's dyed it needs blow dried/straightened etc not to look a mess. I always found dying it wrecked the condition of it when i tried in a few times in my 20s. Course the other option is just to leave the greys but they show up so strongly in dark hair!

Highlights is the least damaging as only a small fraction of hair is dyed. And when you redye you need only get the roots coloured so the hair doesn't receive colour on top of colour.

Can you find a mobile hairdresser who could give you a T section of highlights at an affordable price?

Henna, in my experience. Henna actually conditions your hair. If you use natural henna, it will dye your greys red. Lush sell henna with added indigo which gives a browner colour. It fades over time so roots are less obvious.

I used Schwartzkopf colour expert recently, it has something called "Omegaplex" which is supposed to reduce damage; it does seem to have minimised damage to my frazzled overdyed hair.

Thanks folks. LockedoutofMN, I actually only dyed strands of my hair as the grey is concentrated in certain areas, but still managed to frazzle it. I don't want to lighten my hair so used dark dye. Good idea about the mobile hairdresser. In your experience is hairdresser-dye truly less damaging?

Screamingvalenta, that's great - I actually bought some of the darker henna from lush the other day, but saw a post saying it dries your hair. I will try it if it works for you and others though - I remember using the red stuff in the 90s but can't remember whether it damaged my hair. You'd think it would be better in theory - i don't understand why most dark hair dye needs both ammonia and peroxide when the hair doesn't need to be lightened.

I don't find it drying personally, but it might depend on your hair type. I shampoo and condition as normal after the rinse out (that's the worst aspect of henna IMO - it's messy). The best product I've found for dry hair is Aussie Three-Miracle oil - you only need a tiny bit but it makes your hair shiny without weighing it down.

I'm struggling with this at the moment too. My hairdresser suggested cutting out all products containing silicone, as it coats your hair and doesn't let any moisture penetrate, so it ends up very dry.

The conditioner that comes in the box with the dye usually contains a lot of silicone, so it looks nice and shiny when it's just been dyed.

My trick (such as it is) is to cover the parts of my hair that don't need to have any dye on them (ie all of it except the roots) with olive oil. It then helps to moisturise and soften the hair, while only dying the fresh roots. Don't know if this will help you, but might be worth a shot?

Agree with henna and indigo.

Yes, I think hairdresser dye is less damaging, especially long term. You can get highlights with darker colours so that might work...maybe go to a salon to get a consultation? Or use Pinterest.

I don't know why your hair got frazzled after using a box colour. Most of them are full of conditioners etc. I'm in my 60's and have been using them since I was about 30 - hair not frazzled at any time.

Grey hairs are always going to be more wiry than your other hair - maybe you thought this was caused by the colouring process ? That's all I can think of, really.

Just a tip - don't keep trying to dye your greys a dark colour. As soon as the hair grows a bit, bingo you've got grey roots again which look very obvious. You're always better to dye them a lighter colour so the grey roots are less noticeable. Just a thought .

You can buy the dye that hairdressers use online. If you search 'Majirel' on here, there are absolutely tonnes of MN threads about Loreal Majirel which seems to be the favourite. You buy peroxide as well and just do what the hairdressers do but at home. There is lots of information about the colour system in order to select the best colour as well ('Tatty Devine' was the poster who had lots of knowledge about it).

Thank you so much for all the great advice.

ScreamingValenta perhaps I will give henna a go then thanks.

SherlockHolmes that is interesting about the silicone and great tip about the olive oil.

Birdie6 thanks. Pretty sure my hair was frazzled by the colouring process rather than me just thinking it was the colouring process as my hair was still in good condition before I coloured it, even with my new greys. Grey hair is coarser, yes, but I only have a sprinkling so far. I'm sure your hair still looks nice after colouring- perhaps mine is just more porous or something.

Thanks for the tip about going lighter - seems to be a popular choice for Brit ladies reaching middle age. I don't have enough greys to have that snowy parting regrowth problem yet, maybe in a few years I'll have to abandon the dark. It's tricky when you have black eyebrows/olive skin/dark eyes..lighter doesn't suit everyone. Might just go with the grey eventually! I would almost say most ladies over 50 are blonde now in the UK, and blonde or lighter hair does flatter most of course.

Just a tip - don't keep trying to dye your greys a dark colour. As soon as the hair grows a bit, bingo you've got grey roots again which look very obvious. You're always better to dye them a lighter colour so the grey roots are less noticeable. Just a thought .
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Avegemitesandwich Sun 11-Nov-18 10:24:11

You can buy the dye that hairdressers use online. If you search 'Majirel' on here, there are absolutely tonnes of MN threads about Loreal Majirel which seems to be the favourite. You buy peroxide as well and just do what the hairdressers do but at home. There is lots of information about the colour system in order to select the best colour as well ('Tatty Devine' was the poster who had lots of knowledge about it).

Avegemitesandwich I mean to say thank you for the tip about buying the dye that hairdressers use - another potential option