Red head going grey

[Blastobotherations]

At 50 my red hair is starting to grey. I’ve been using a L’Oréal permanent colour on it for w few years but my hair grows really fast so I have roots within three weeks. It also seems to wash out of the grey strands really quickly. I can’t use henna as my hair already has colour on it so I’m wondering the best way to get a coppery red that covers the greys for longer. I don’t want to let it go grey, I’ve always been a redhead.

I'm a bottle-redhead but colour at a salon rather than at home... do you have a parting? I have my roots done all over one month, then 4 weeks later I get the "t-zone" done (hairline and parting), which lasts another few weeks, then the whole lot again... and so on! It's not cheap :)

It may be that a salon colour would be better at sticking to the grey? I use L'oreal Inoa 7.43 (both at salon and home during lockdown), which is a lovely copper red.

And a colour-conditioner might help retain the copperyness between permanent colouring as red is notorious for fading...

I thought it was ok to use henna as long as it's natural. I am a natural redhead and have a few greys. I use a champagne blend which looks like highlights.

As long as you’re using all natural henna and henna-herbal products, you won’t have any problems. Problems can occur when nasty additives are placed into a poor quality henna powder (Metallic Salts) and they may react with the chemicals in the synthetic dyes (Ammonia). Brittle hair and unpredictable brassy colors may result if using poor-quality henna. That’s why it is so important to do your homework, research, and purchase safe, all natural products. Hunt for a reputable company, and buy the best. You’re 100% Safe Here: We use ONLY the finest, top-quality Henna & Natural Herbs.

How grey are you? After a while, a solid box colour can be ageing. Would you consider allowing some of the greys to just “be”?

I grew mine out, starting from about 4 years ago. I used semi permanent every few weeks at first but It wasn't too bad because after a few months the red tones had pretty much faded out of the ends of my hair. My hair turned out to be not as grey as I was expecting to be and the grey mixed with what's left of my natural coppery colour looks kind of blonde and it's really not too bad.

I'm a natural redhead and love my hair, which is just beginning to grey. I think this needs approaching carefully, as it seems to be that bottle-dye in red shades looks really harsh against older skin. MIL does an all-over red dye and it looks bloody awful, despite being near her once-natural shade. I'm planning to gradually go more strawberry via highlights

I'm a redhead in my mid 50s and just starting to go grey. I'd been wondering about getting my hair dyed and I've asked 3 or 4 different hairdressers and they all advised me not to do it. I don't know if its just my particular shade, but they all said that it would be impossible to get a perfect match and that it is really hard to make dyed red hair look good. So I've decided to go grey gracefully. At the moment it just looks like I've got highlights but I guess that won't last long!

I agree highlights interspersed with the greys and your natural red colour might work best. Block hair colour just looks so unnatural.

Superdrug red shampoo is your friend. www.superdrug.com/Hair/Hair-Colourants/Wash-In-Wash-Out/Superdrug-Colour-Effects-Wash-in-Wash-Out-Hair-Dye-Rich-Red/p/751851

Second the superdrug shampoo. I only use it about every 4th wash and only have a few greys around my hairline so far but it blends them in really well and doesn't look dyed at all if you don't use it every wash.

@choppolata I came on to say colour effects - it is brilliant. Covers all my greys and gives a lovely colour - I get lots of compliments on my hair!

@Chrysanthemum5 me too, it's fab isn't it? All the red colours look great on my hair.