Finally decided my greys need covering

[Bella2020]

Hello everyone.

My post-lockdown haircut has made me realise that I have more grey hair than I'd thought. I've made an appointment with my stylist next month, but I'm very nervous and could use some advice. I've posted a couple of pics as my hair as it is now.

The reason I'm nervous is not liking the results of some highlights/lowlights I had done, don't know which, just for a change. I asked for a caramel shade, thinking it would be a lighter shade of brown than my own, but it just looked red. We tried again next time after the first grew out, with another shade, but that looked red to me, too. I hated it and it really didn't suit me.

I don't want all over colour and I definitely don't want to go darker. I'm quite happy with my natural colour but I dont suppose my stylist will be able to match it exactly. I guess I'd like some lights dotted around, maybe a shade or two lighter than my own, to blend in as much of the grey as possible. I don't want it to be glaringly noticeable as it grows out, either. I'm not brave! I've got to 50 without feeling the need to colour my hair and I'm really quite apprehensive.

What should I ask for? Any advice you can give me? I have fair skin and blue eyes, if that helps.

The best thing is always to take pictures. Have you seen pictures you like?

You can just get an all over colour, and ask for it to be a close match to your existing colour? Otherwise a T of ash blonde micro lights/baby lights might work?

I like the sound of baby lights, kind of like my baby steps in to colouring my hair! I've got a few photos saved that I'll take with me, and a couple of them have quite ashy shades. Thank you, @fishfrog.

Here are a couple of pics that I keep coming back to..

There is a massive movement towards leaving hair natural! Check out Jack Martin Colourist on Instagram. He actually takes clients and strips out their nasty, faded, brassy coloured hair and turns it into grey gloriousness. There are a zillion facebook page groups dedicated to transitioning to grey. The problem is, once you have a reasonable amount of grey, you end up having to touch up the roots every 3-4 weeks and it gets VERY boring, not to mention expensive. Seriously, look into it before you start.

www.instagram.com/jackmartincolorist/

Whatever you do, don't go down the route of all over colour. The regrowth will drive you nuts. Do the baby highlights in the T area only to blend it all if you must colour

Ive just had a half head of highlights and a base colour which is slightly lighter than my natural shade. Hairdresser said this would make regrowth less noticeable.

I’ve had a great result with John Frieda defy grey shampoo. It’s turned my greys to a more golden shade - still a fair bit lighter than the rest of my hair (darkish brown) but looks (I think!) like highlights. Might be worth a try if you’d like to put off the dye job a bit longer...

I don’t want to get into the debate of coloured v natural/grey hair, BUT do think carefully before going down the colouring route. Grey in root regrowth can look far more obvious and ageing than grey hair imho, so if you decide to colour be prepared to accept that you it will need regular maintenance. I thought I had a lot more grey than I did as the roots were just so obvious after 2-3 weeks. Couldn’t be bothered with it anymore. Also the colour always faded to something quite meh with brassy tones, so I grew it out (A massive ball ache btw). Turns out I’m only about 20% grey! I use coloured shampoos as suggested upthread. Doesn’t dye the greys as such, rather makes them less ashy and less of a ‘clash’ against my natural colour which is quite warm. Also whilst my natural colour isn’t the most exciting, it suits my skin tone far better than any of the numerous hair dye options I’ve had over the years. Anyway OP, you have scarcely any grey, and have a lovely natural colour.

I have half head low lights in as close a colour match to my original colour as I can. Don't go down the caramel route, it does go red and brassy. Ask for a "cool" colour. My hairdresser originally tried to put a warm colour on me as I have dark hair, but they don't work due to my fair skin and blue eyes, cool works better.

And I barely notice the regrowth, no re doing every four to six weeks, I go every three months and it's fine.

If you did want to top up in between you could put a semi permanent home dye on, they work fine and they fade out so no regrowth really.

You can get blue shampoo that helps stop the brassy redness by the way.

I made this step recently and also wanted something as close to my natural shade as possible. I literally said that to the hairdresser and she recommended an all over semi-permanent colour with a few lighter highlights at the front. She had never seen my hair before the grey started coming through, but managed to match amazingly closely. My mum didn’t even notice that it was a dye and not my natural colour.

Thanks so much for all your responses, ladies. Some great ideas and some things I hadn't thought of! I really appreciate all your advice and hearing about your experiences.

I agree with MadameBuxton - the John Frieda Defy Grey shampoo/conditioner is very good. It just warms up the "ashy" look without giving you a problem with root regrowth.

I am determined never to dye my greys.

Looking with interest at the John Frieda grey defy mentioned here.
I use a dark brown semi permanent.
I only really need it for the temples as rest of the hair is fine at the moment.
Paying a fortune at the hairdresser for an overall semi permanent.
Wondering if the John frieda color defy brunette would work for me?
Unfortunately they don't seem to do various colours.
I used to use the aveda black malva shampoo and conditioner which is sadly discontinued

I really regret starting the hair colour journey, lockdown has been my chance to go grey and i cannot express the relief of not buying and colouring my roots every few weeks, its a certain kind of freedom and my hair is in much better condition. I love your hair colour as it is and there are lots of shampoos and toners out to add warmth or a hint of colour, i use bleach London smoky shampoo and conditioner on mine, they do a whole range of interesting shades for greys.

I'd love to not have to dye it. I don't have grey roots, I think. Just lots of greys distributed throughout. Arrrgh!

The grey hairs will be grey from root to end, so when you dye them and the dye grows out it will show as grey roots.

But as long as you don't do a block perm single colour dye it won't be that obvious.

I really want to do the Jack Martin thing - I've got a good few inches of grey roots now.
But how do I find a colourist that I can trust to do something to make it all look presentable - either stripping the dyed bits and making them grey, or adding some sort of lowlights or.. I don't know.. Something...
Can anyone recommend anyone ?

I just came on to say Iove your hair the way it is now, the colour and style. I only wish I had so few greys at 50. I hope you find a solution that means you get to stay close to what you have now.

I'm 51 and have an overall colour that is a tiny bit lighter than my hair was when I was younger, I only have a few grey hairs and have my roots done each month. My hair looks good all month.

I forgot to say I used to be nervous of hair dye but the colour I've gone for is a very similar but better, shinier version of my own colour.

My hair