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Original poster

Hair dye for dark hair with a lot of grey through it that only dyes the grey...

47 replies

LousyLandscaper · 07/01/2021 15:08

Hi,

I am wondering if there is such a thing as a hair dye for dark hair that will dye my grey hairs ( think actual white rather than grey and don't take dye very easily) so that i can maintain my overall natural hair colour but completely get rid of my greys? Does that exist? I dont want to change my natural colour at all but I really need to do something about these white hairs as they are ageing me massively. Semi permanent does not work in my hair to dye the white hairs. Hope this has not already been answered, I did have a search but couldn't find anything quite in right in this topic.Smile

OP posts:
Madwomanuptheroad29 · 07/01/2021 15:15

No, does not exist to my knowledge. All permanent hair colours have hydrogen peroxide in them. So when you apply it to your hair it will due every hair it is applied to and make it look quite uniform / unnatural. Alternative could be to get highlights/ lowlights done by hairdresser but again it will be impossibly to individually dye every grey or white hair.
Also no matter what way you dye your hair, there will be the tell tale stripe every few weeks. I would consider to just let it go grey naturally.
Once you dye you are kind of stuck. It took me two years to completely grow the colour out.

Snorkelface · 07/01/2021 15:27

Not sure if this will work on really stubborn grey/white. I've been using John Freida Defy Grey shampoo and conditioner since the first lockdown - I'm a brunette although not that dark a shade. It's definitely 'blended' in the greys (and some definite whites) and hasn't altered my natural colour. You can just use it like normal shampoo/conditioner, so nothing permanent if you don't like it. If it doesn't work it fades away again after a few washes with normal shampoo and I found Nizoral will strip it out straight away as well if you leave it on for a few minutes.

PlanDeRaccordement · 07/01/2021 15:46

I’d look into henna hair dyes.
mybest-gb.uk/6922/

Henna is a plant based natural product and it basically is a translucent tint. So it will hide the grey/white hairs but also not obliterate your natural hair colour. It also fades so you don’t have the glaringly visible roots problem.

Madwomanuptheroad29 · 07/01/2021 18:32

I did use henna when much younger and tried it as a less damaging alternative when I was going grey. Henna on white hair is fairly glow in the dark type orange. So as I had quite a bit of grey and white it was quite bright (and that was the dark henna)

BarryWhiteIsMyBrother · 07/01/2021 18:40

Do not use henna on grey/white hair as it will turn bright orange! I have dark hair and my greys are around the hairline so very visible. I now colour my hair every six weeks. I find that generally grey hair makes you look older and tired. Some people rock it but they are a small minority.

BarryWhiteIsMyBrother · 07/01/2021 18:51

You may also want to check out the thread 'Has anyone else fully embraced the grey but then reneged on it? Or is it just me?!' as that has people discussing whether they were happy switching to their natural (grey) hair.

PlanDeRaccordement · 07/01/2021 19:21

I think they’ve improved the henna hair dyes because the ones for dark hair now have indigo in them so you don’t go bright orange anymore.

www.morroccomethod.com/blog/covering-grey-hair-with-henna/

Ginkypig · 07/01/2021 20:51

www.boots.com/sitesearch?searchTerm=grey%20hair%20shampoo&brand%5B0%5D=Just%2BFor%2BMen&brand%5B1%5D=John%2BFrieda

What about one of these?

I know someone (dark haired) who uses the green just for men and gets on fine with it. Just make sure to rinse off the shower and curtain quickly after as it doesn’t show until later once the air develops the colour so sometimes it leaves a vague stain.

With this you can use it more or less depending on how much cover you want too.

Original poster
LousyLandscaper · 07/01/2021 21:17

Ha thanks everyone, will maybe give the henna a miss.
I dont actually mind dying it regularly but I have just never found a colour I like as much as my regular colour and I really hate the redness that you seem to get in permanent hair dyes. Definitely don't want to embrace the grey, I am certain of that!
Has anyone found lovely brunette hair dyes that don't have any red/orange tones in them?

OP posts:
Original poster
LousyLandscaper · 07/01/2021 21:24

I just read up about the John Freida stuff so am going to give it a go I think! Will report back in a few weeks with how it is going Smile

OP posts:
Theimpossiblegirl · 07/01/2021 21:25

I've just given up on henna as it didn't seem to list as long on greys. I used the lush stuff and it was great when I just had a few grey hairs but no as effective now.
I just used a nice and easy mid brown to get a colour near to my natural colour and to hide the greys. Seems to have worked and both of my teens complimented me so that's a good sign.

MattWanksock · 07/01/2021 21:31

Just for men advertised that they only get the grey hairs many moons ago. I'd give it a go...

PaulHollywoodsLowHangingFruit · 07/01/2021 21:55

Majirel cool cover but a shade lighter than you think you will need- dyes it all but with cool options

AcornAutumn · 07/01/2021 22:18

@PaulHollywoodsLowHangingFruit

Majirel cool cover but a shade lighter than you think you will need- dyes it all but with cool options
I think this is what I use

But I am a bit confused about what you want

I only dye the greys, the rest I leave, so I don't cover all the hair with dye.

Ginkypig · 07/01/2021 22:57

@AcornAutumn that might not be an option if the op is anything like me there aren’t particular areas that are turning grey but rather increasing but completely random single silver threads spread throughout the whole head but still lots of the natural colour so they stand out against the dark background.

YoureBreakingMyHeartCecilia · 07/01/2021 23:21

This is me too OP!

I have mid brown hair with an increasing sprinkling of whites! Not grey, white. Also weirdly (?) I don’t go white/grey from the temples outwards - mine are just white along the entire strand, apparently overnight! So I have these very bright white strands, not many of them but increasingly visible, scattered throughout a thick head of brown hair.

I hate the colour my hair invariably goes with dyes or semi permanents. Hate it. I like my natural colour!

I might try the John Frieda shampoo too, sounds good, does it make much change to the ‘natural’ hair colour?

A friend uses a kind of colour felt tip thingy to colour in greys but a) that sounds a lot of faff to do daily and b) I don’t know if it would really be doable on hairs that are white all the way along the strand. Hers are greying from the temples so easier I think to daub a pen thingy over little sections in that scenario but not sure it would work for me.

Thanks for starting the thread OP! Would love any and all advice people can offer.

Snorkelface · 07/01/2021 23:26

@LousyLandscaper - I found I definitely needed both the shampoo and the conditioner to get the best result and the shampoo on it's own worked with the greys but left my hair feeling a bit dry. There's also another conditioner in the range, called Brunette Visibly Deeper which also added some colour to the greys as well.

AcornAutumn · 07/01/2021 23:28

[quote Ginkypig]@AcornAutumn that might not be an option if the op is anything like me there aren’t particular areas that are turning grey but rather increasing but completely random single silver threads spread throughout the whole head but still lots of the natural colour so they stand out against the dark background.[/quote]
Tbh that's kind of me

I do the obvious areas that are kind of blocked together, around temples and parting, and don't worry at all about the odd one showing through.

But if i did, i'd use sectioning clips to limit the dye as much as possible.

AcornAutumn · 07/01/2021 23:30

Btw someone mentioned Just for Men

If you mean the shampoo, one of my friends tried it. He's never allergic to anything but he stopped using it as he got a really sore scalp.

middleager · 07/01/2021 23:34

Short of embracing the grey, I've only ever found highlights, just a T section, on top of a base colour to be my friend.

They are costly and my hair needs doing every 5 months, but they work better than anything.

In lockdown I reverted back to dyes. I was using Majirel 7, but the roots were going too light due to being white.
I find only a shade 6 permanent really covers them, but it's too harsh and goes darker and darker.

Now, I have a 6 dye but with highlights - this involves bleach however, and during lockdown I'll just have to keep dyeing the roots.

middleager · 07/01/2021 23:35

Sorry, my hair needs doing every five weeks, not months!

Snorkelface · 07/01/2021 23:35

@YoureBreakingMyHeartCecilia - It didn't really change the natural colour but as I've got greys scattered throughout it looks darker now they've blended in by default. The greys blended in fully with a few washes so don't be put off if it hasn't given the desired result after the first go. They looked a bit yellowish the first time I used it but then they just disappeared after that.

middleager · 07/01/2021 23:38

Oh, it's not only a 6 that covers my roots. I once went the other way, blonde, it looked terrible though!

GoldfishParade · 07/01/2021 23:39

Why is that even supposedly "cool" brown shades, even done by a hairdresser, look REDDISH? What's up with that?!

GoTellit · 07/01/2021 23:45

The John Frieda Defy Grey really works, it makes my white/grey look quite blondey caramel and it blends in well.. I'm actually not crazy about the blonde tones it gives me but it's a nice change from my grey streaks (I don't dye) and it's not permanent anyway.