How to dye hair grey?

[Mummyy07]

My mum doesn't keep very well and can't get to hairdressers often and so has decided to let her grey go but instead of waiting for it to grow wanted to maybe strip it and dye it grey to blend in better with the roots.

We gave this a go yesterday using stripper and a smokey grey box dye but it didn't take too good. The stripper didn't strip as much as i think it possibly should have.

Can anyone recommend products? I've been looking online n mentions a toner etc after stripping/bleaching but no specific product and I'd like to get it right for her.

Thanks

I did this at the hairdresser, she used something to strip the previous colour, then bleach to lift it all, then a silver dye over the top. It took hours, and she was really careful on timings to minimise damage to the hair. It's been completely worth it, but no way would I attempt it at home.

Hairdresser. This is not a diy job unless you are properly trained.

Yeah, I'm all about the 'look it up on YouTube and then DIY' way of life (I bleach my own grey hair at home), but this is quite specific and I think you might be better off going to the hairdressers.

If you did want to try it yourself then you probably need to bleach the hair (possibly more than once if it has box dye on it) and then tone. Don't use Jerome Russell etc bleach from Boots, it's awful! I use Schwarzkopf Blonde Me, it's quite expensive but really good and has bond builder in it to limit damage. And then for a very ashy grey toner, Loreal Dialight in 9.11 might do the trick. You can get these products online. I get my bleach from Sally's and my dialight (not that colour but I use dialight for toning) from ebay. I would research around this though before trying anything if you really don't want to go to the hairdresser! Look up Olaplex as well!

Thank you for the replies.

The thing about hairdressers is she wasn't quite well enough to go but perhaps that might be the only option to get it done properly.

@CallofDoodee thank you for all the info, I'll look into it and see if I feel its too complicated 🙈 so the toner goes on then the colour? Would you recommend any colour? Does the toner need mixed with anything? If I go to Sally's they should be able to advise? If it seems too much we will just wait till she is well enough but I just thought it would have been nice if possible to pick her up. Thank you 😊

@CallofDoodee sorry I think you may have already told me which colour and just another dialight for toning

Get a mobile hairdresser to visit your mum

The bleach is for lifting the existing colour - in your case it will be lifting the dye out (which is why it might take more than one go), in my case its to lift the dark hair I have in my grey (hair is never actually grey in colour, it's either pigmented or not, and it just looks grey when dark and white colours are mixed).

Then once you have bleached you have a more uniform colour, and then you put the toner on to get it to the right tone. Dialight 9.11 isn't a 'grey colour' it's a very blue toned toner (if you look up Loreal colours, the first number if the level of lightness and the numbers after the dot are tones: 1 is blue, so 11 is a very blue tone which will cancel out orange and yellow - however, obviously blue mixed with yellow makes green, so this is why if you go very ashy it can make a green tinge - hence the advice to go to a hairdresser, it can be a bit of a gamble!) It depends on the colour of the hair after it has been lifted with bleach as well. Dialight needs to be mixed with a developer - I bought the specific dialight developer, and I bought it in the lowest volume I think as that was the advice if you are toning.

The bleach also needs to be mixed with developer, you can do 20, 30 or 40 vol. 40 vol is not recommended, it is very strong! Despite my dark hairs being very dark and needing a lot of lifting, I use 20 vol and leave it on for longer. Apparently low and slow is better for the hair. I'm not gonna lie, my hair does have some weakness and breakage (it's very short at the moment, although I am trying to grow it) and takes a lot of conditioning/protein but I think that would be the case if I got it done at a hairdressers as well tbh, because if you want very blonde hair when you are not actually very blonde, that's what happens.

If she is planning on going grey and this is just a transition, it could be worth going to the hairdressers as a one off. I only do mine at home because I don't want to pay however much to get my roots done when I could just do it at home, plus I hate going to the hairdressers!