Mousy hair - do you go blonde or dark?

[Seenobody]

I have mousy hair, now with a bit of grey at the hairline. I have had blonde highlighted hair for 30 years and so fed up of the roots, I started to grow out the highlights in lockdown.

The hairdresser has dyed it ash brown with a few blonde streaks at the front and I don’t like it. It’s too stripy and neither one thing or the other.

Shall I go blonder (hassle) or dark all over (easier to maintain roots but not sure if it suits me?)

If you are a lovely shade of mouse, what do you do?

I’ve done both.

Usually now I go for a lighter balayage, so that my root growth isn’t too noticeable.

Last time I went proper blonde (my usual hairdresser wasn’t available and I asked for ‘lighter’). I hated it. Everyone else thought it looked fabulous.

I am naturally mousey blonde and spent years bleaching and highlighting it. I loved the look but got fed up with the amount of maintenance it needed and the cost. Ended up getting my hair dyed brown (almost my natural colour but a richer tone) and then had balayage put in so that I still had blonde but it is so much easier to manage and maintain. I had my hair done in January and only needed it redone in September, so I got a good 8 months between colouring sessions. So I would say, go dark and get balayage!

@willowywillow

Mine used to be mousy / dark blonde. As I got greyer/ white streaks it is more blonde. I now make a tea up from camomile, turmeric, redbush tea and instant coffee and use that to stain my hair and it takes the grey tones away so it is pretty much blonde now.

@willowywillow can you tell me proportions / amounts of these things you mix together , how long you leave in your hair and do you do it every time you wash it ?

@shinynewapple2020, 6 camomile teabags, 2 redbush teabags, half tsp instant coffee and tiny amount of turmeric (half the size of little finger nail scooped with flat handle of a teaspoon). Leave to brew in a teapot until water is cold enough to apply to your hair. Saturate the hair with it, comb through and leave in. I do this every second wash but it doesn't fade completely, can leave it longer. Do a strand test and dry to see if you like the colour on your hair first!

Camomile gives golden tones, slight lightening effect from what I've read online.
Redbush red tones
Coffee brown tones
Turmeric gold tones but very powerful. People use it to turn their hair a 'cartoon yellow'.

Oh and I put the tea on dry hair to ensure complete saturation.

@willowywillow that's brilliant thank you

@willowywillow sorry another question do you rinse it off your hair or just leave in ?

I just leave it in.

Blonde, but I'm light mouse naturally and keep to a lighter version of my natural
Colour. In fact people are usually shocked if i tell them I dye it.

My sister is a darker mouse and she alternates between brown and blonde.

I go red if I dye it. Although mine's mousey in artificial light sunlight changes it to light auburn, now with the odd silver hair.

Bumping