Dark hair turning grey very slowly

[TheRiverIsAComfort]

My hair is very dark but greys are starting to come through-not many, maybe about 10% at the most but they do stand out. I have been plucking them but now there are too many!

I want to cover them but can't go lighter because I am too dark for a dye to have an effect and don't want to dye them dark, as it will look too harsh.

Any ideas?

I alternate between John Frieda foam dye (brilliant coverage and very natural results) which is a permanent dye, and L'oreal Casting Creme gloss (semi-perm). Semi permanent is good for less obvious root growth, but I like to use a permanent in between to make sure the longer greys don't reappear.

Excuse my ignorance - but can you get highlights on dark brown hair without dying the whole head? Are they cheaper to get than a full dye?

It sort of blends the greys Grace, I wouldn’t say it fully covers them. I tend to hate hair dye though as it always makes my hair go red which doesn’t suit my skin tone.

Project, thank you

Muddy, yes, you can, I haven't done it but see hairdressers advertising partial highlights - seem to walk past many salons en route to work.

My cousin's hair is nearly black and lasts time I saw her her grey hairs looked like silver and the overall effect was amazing.

I have the same problem OP and I went for a shade lighter of a semi permanent box dye than my natural colour (casting creme), not because I was expecting it to lighten, but because my aim was to keep it the same colourish and get rid of the greys.

Actually what happened was, it got rid of about 10% of my greys (if that!) and took it a shade darker. So not what I wanted at all, given my hair is already too dark for my skin tone really.

I'm having it done professionally.

Casting creme gloss has peroxide in it, no? I would be looking for a semi that didn't have that, but then I wash my hair daily, so would need to be doing it all the time.

I did try the Daniel Field watercolours, which were great, and didn't damage my hair, but also didn't completely cover the grey (though did probably half of them, and toned the others down). It stained my walls, though. I have long hair and seem unable to dye it at home without flicking dye around the place. There's no real solution but to go the full Evelyn Glennie I feel (though getting there could prove to be less than glamorous).

@Tolleshunt the Daniel Field looks interesting, how long does it last please?

Grace I only did it as a semi-permanent, you can apparently make it permanent by using it on dry hair, rather than wet. It lasted about 7/8 washes, I'd say. Faded evenly. It was a lovely colour, and did a good job of hiding most of the greys, and toned down those it didn't quite cover. Was very easy on the hair condition, too, not at all damaging. I would think it would be a good option for a less damaging permanent dye.

For literally just a smattering of greys or individual grey strands I found the Color Wow powder useful for avoiding dye for longer (I'm sure there are cheaper ones that do the same but I haven't got into shopping around yet). It comes with a double ended brush for both precise and general application, I also use it to dab on around the finer haired bits around my hairline when I wear my hair up. (just a little). There's videos online if you want to see how it's done. I have medium brown hair and have both the light brown and the medium brown as I'm somewhere between the two. I find it stays put until my next wash, I shower every day but only wash my hair every 2-3 days.

Highlights do blend in dark hair but they have to be carefully done, not too light. You want to describe them as lowlights more than highlights if you don't want to see actual blondish highlighted strands in your hair. Highlights mean blonde to a lot of hairdressers. (I know, I know). Really you probably want a light ash brown/dark ash blonde colour rather than anything containing a lot of lift as when you get them redone, they paint on the lengths again and in time they a) build up to become a blocky colour and b) they overlap previously done highlights so then breakage starts happening, especially if they've used something with more lift (ie bleach/peroxide) than necessary. Unfortunately most (not all) hairdressers just can't resist doing highlights/lowlights with IMPACT that MUST be SEEN! instead of subtle blending to look like your own hair except with greys hidden, and also they don't care about the damage of the maintenance, they literally don't care or consider it. You think they would take that into account but I've been to all sorts of hairdressers and they only cae about the finished result as you walk out the salon door through using too much bleach, hot hairdryers, straighteners etc - not 3 weeks or 3 months or 3 years later when your hair looks like straw and is breaking off

So I would use powders, shampoos etc to try & blend out the greys gently whilst you do a lot of research as to hairdressers, hair dyes (home or otherwise) and think hard about your hair type and how strong it is as you'll be repeating what you do more as more greys come through in future.

Having said that, not everyone turns grey quickly. I've had the same 8 (literally) or so grey hairs for the last 15 years and they have not multiplied whatsoever as yet. Oh and I don't pluck them out. If I have a stubborn one wafting at the front I carefully snip it out, I don't think hair follicles like plucking and it's better to have grey hair than no hair