Blonde highlights but my roots are hideous, what shall I do?

[MissSmiley]

I normally have full head highlights every 4-5 weeks, my hair grows really quickly, my natural colour is dark brown but I'm now really grey, white even at the front, what shall I do? I'm so fed up of the roots, I feel like all my secrets are revealed :-(
I missed my last two hair appointments because of having to isolate and now I've no idea when I will be able to have it coloured again. Do I ...

A. wait patiently for my next appointment and live with the fact my roots might be five inches by the time I get it done again
B. dye with a semi permanent dark ish colour at home and hope the white roots blend into my natural colour as it fades

I'm desperate I hate it at the moment and I'm still going into the office every day so ignoring it doesn't feel like an option
(The pic with the orange face is kind of what it normally looks like, the other two are what it looks like now)

I'd try putting a silver toner on it to try and blend it more

Watching with interest. I have the same problem except my roots are dark dark brown and about 3 inches long due to me keep booking appointments which then fell during lockdowns.

It looks awful but I’m so worried about messing up the ashy blonde on the ends!

@GrowThroughWhatYouGoThrough I've tried that the last two washes with silver shampoo but it really didn't make much difference, maybe i need to leave it on for longer, I'm so tempted to cut it all off but I don't trust myself with the scissors

I second putting a silver toner on

@Turnedouttoes I suppose it depends if you're keen to keep the blonde length after lockdown
I'm almost tempted to go natural again (I'm 48) it's a real battle with the front being so white naturally now

Use a toner.
Find different ways of styling
Or if feeling brave use a hi lighter cap and a thread a few thin sparse hairs through and use bleach or box kit.
I've done this recently and v pleased with results, although had baby balayage to start with so less of a distinct line.

Try the L'Oréal purple hair mask rather than shampoo and leave it in for a good 10 mins

@1vandal2 thank you, will silver shampoo have the same effect, I tried some toner in lockdown 1 and it did help a bit, if I'd known it was going to be this long between colours I'd have probably gone for a much shorter cut and given up in the blonde for now

@Broadbeanssleeping oh gosh I'm not sure I'm brave enough for that, but it's definitely an option

@nyenc I'll try the L' Oreal one, the one I used before was bleach London

Get some Osmo brand purple shampoo from Amazon & the same brand deep moisturising treatment, use the purple shampoo, rinse then mix the treatment & shampoo 50:50 & put on well towel dried hair, leave on for at least an hour or put a shower cap on, cover your pillow with a towel & leave on overnight. It will take all the yellow out of your highlights so the white blends in, you could even put a pink colour over the top if you wanted something very different but tone all the yellow out first, Maria Nila colour refresh in pink pop is good & you can dilute with the treatment to get the shade you want.

Your regrowth isn't dark brown at all though as you said, its 100% grey/white!

Have you tried a semi-permanent like casting colours? I have some grey, and it covers it well, without leaving lines when it regrows because its not permanent. The colours wont lighten hair, but your regrowth is now almost white, so would hopefully go well. I always choose a much lighter colour than my own.

I'm naturaly dark brown, but use a chestnut or light brown. It always comes out darker, but fades after a few washes. Not sure of the L'oreal castings light colours, but pick a lighter colour than you want. They say they wash out after 24ish washes, so worst case, it will come out anyways. Otherwise, get a scarf for the front or a headband/earmuffs. Best of luck x

@Elouera I used to be dark brown (still quite dark at the back) I've had it blonde for the last two years so I've no idea how white it might be really
I was tempted to put a semi brown on all over if I can avoid a line but I've got no idea what it would do to the blonde parts

OP, I'm 47 with similar issues, grey/white but with brown base colour and highlights.

I was using a spray on root cover up in a can, but then resorted to dye on the roots. Good luck as it's a constant battle.

@Nat6999 thank you for the suggestion, I haven't heard of that brand before, I'd be happy with a much more grey overall look to blend, pink sounds great although I'm not sure I could get away with it in my profession

Can you try the spray on temporary root touch up? As it looks like 50% greys /whites which could be covered up, and would give a blending effect.

@middleager it's a bugger getting older isn't it? I wish I was still brunette but that white part at the front was showing after about 10 days in the days I used to dye brown, I gave up and went blonde

Maybe I should get a wig 🤷🏼‍♀️

@JovialNickname I've got some in blonde and it does work but I'd get through loads if I used it every day (I'm in the office full time)
I actually went natural about five years ago and loved it, but I was still married then, decided to go blonde again when I started dating 3 years ago, my bf of 2 years has only ever seen me blonde, he's a couple of years older than me without a single grey hair on his head, I'd look like his granny

There is no perfect diy answer here. All blonde root sprays are warm/golden/yellow. Brown root sprays will look too dark against the blonde and won't blend in. Home dyes typically go yellow or orange and they're unpredictable. Don't leave purple shampoo or conditioner on overnight unless you want to go lilac! Toners will blend it all in a bit and are probably your best bet. Just limp on until hairdressers are back open again. Get your appointment booked in now so that you've at least got something in the diary, even if it gets put back.

The purple shampoo mixed with the treatment won't leave the hair lilac, it will turn it more platinum blonde, with the mix of dark & white roots it will look more like an ombre finish. I've got 2 years growth of the same to tackle but I'm going pink once I've used high lift tint to even mine up. If you want to get the blonde back I recommend Wella Koleston 12/81 use as a full head with 12% developer & leave on for an hour, then wash off & use the purple shampoo then just the treatment for 15 minutes, it won't damage your hair. Amazon do packs of 3 tubes of the colour for £29, then you need a bottle of developer which is £10 a mixing bowl & brush.

Honestly, the white looks really nice-I think you should grow out your roots and stop colouring your hair. I'm considering doing the same. I'm mid 30s and nearly as grey as you. I think white/grey hair can look really lovely. My plan is to style the front so it doesn't show so much (ponytail) and use intensive purple toner treatments to get the brassiness out of my ends and wait for it to grow out. It will be painful but actually it's time to embrace the white/grey for me and stop fighting it.

@Bluewavescrashing I did go natural about five years ago, I cut it all off into a pixie cut and grew it again, I loved it but I didn't feel confident dating after my divorce with grey hair, but I completely agree with you that it can look amazing, I'm not even sure what I have underneath really it looks quite a lot lighter than five years ago

This was me during my lockdown in Melbourne last year.

I got half head of foils in March before I started a new role, then we had lockdown for 2 months so I let it grow out a bit, was surprised how grey I was as I'd been getting blonde highlights for 20 years.

I dyed it light brown, didn't like it so got the blonde cap and did my own just as we headed into another 4 month lockdown in July.

I loved the freedom and cost of doing it myself!

But went back to hairdresser in December after 9 months.

I'm 43 and have told my dh that I'll probably go grey at 50 (he thought I was too young to do it now 🙄)

@ReefTeeth it's a battle men just don't have to deal with isn't it? I'm going to be 50 next year and I still feel too young but I also feel really strongly that we shouldn't have to adhere to the social norm if we don't want to, although we're all vain to some extent

Let it grow out, your original
Colour looks amazing!

The problem with greys is often that a box dye won't cover them effectively -( whatever bullshit it tells you on the box) so you're back where you started, only the roots are more noticeable and you've either got to grow out or strip out the colour further along the line. Some greys are less resistant and will take colour but that's something you don't know till you've done it!

Honestly OP it's not that bad at all - although you could consider a wash in/out colour in a grey tone to blend everything to your root colour instead? Grey hair is still very 'in' and I had success with Colour Freedom in Storm Grey earlier this year to do exactly that.