Could cry about my hair!! What can I do with it? (pic)

[PerditaMacleod]

I have always had really nice hair (long, thick, blonde) and I have always had lots of compliments about it.

Now though, since DC, it is just looking worse and worse and I don't know what to do! I have used L'oreal casting in a blonde shade for years and years, but I haven't done it for ages and my hair is not the cleanest in the pic which admittedly doesn't help, as it does look darker when it's dirty. But I have so much grey now and the worst thing is the greys are so wiry and stick up all over the place and it just looks really bushy and awful

Can anyone who knows about hair tell me what I can do with it to make it look better? I've never had bad regrowth with the colour that I've been using, so have been wary of doing anything that will give me really obvious roots, and also I don't want the expense/hassle of running to the hairdresser for a touch up every 6 weeks.

Is it time to admit defeat and get highlights or something at the hairdresser? Or is there anything else that would make it look better?

Casting is a semi permanent and it's time to move to a permanent colour to cover the greys. Use something like frizz ease hair oil or Árgan oil on wet hair. Use heat protector before styling. Hair takes a lot more time and effort when you get older.

I've just posted on another thread because my hair fell out in patches and then went to shit after babies and the only thing that sorted it was bar shampoo... but it took a loooong time to find the right bar shampoo/conditioner for my hair. Tried every shampoo/conditioner going and it's the only thing that helped to improve things. Have also started using coconut oil on it about once a week during lockdown just because I'm at home a lot and that's helped too.

In terms of greys... I have brown hair so my greys show up really vividly against it but I'm trying to keep the casting/semi permanent going for a bit longer (not sure how much longer I'll get away with that for). Are you thinking if you found a holy grail shampoo/conditioner the condition would improve enough for you to keep going with the semi-permanent dye for a bit longer? That's what I aimed for and have managed to get a few more years using semi-permanent, but depends how quickly you want to see results. Took me quite a while to get to a point where I was happy with the condition again.

Another side effect of my shampoo/conditioner success is that I now don't have to wash it as often, so not styling it as often, which I think is probably helping with the condition as well as stopping the colour from fading too quickly.

Not sure if any of that has helped in the slightest, but... solidarity... I feel your pain!

Oh and just to add that I think your hair looks lovely but I know what it's like when you look back longingly at your lovely sleek locks and wonder what the hell happened to them!

Try a gloss treatment from Josh Wood, it Will condition your hair and enhance natural colour , kinda blends the grey then if you want to dye it there's permanent dyes too but I've not used these only the gloss.

If the greys are wirey then they will be resistant so go permanent hair dye and choose one for resistant greys or pre treat with some peroxide first for about 20 mins to open them up to take the dye better...i do that sometimes.

Thanks everyone for the advice. I don't think I have the energy or patience to do as @FreshFaceTime suggests and try various things to improve condition, so I will probably just go straight for the permanent dye. I tried the Garnier try on thingie on their website and their blonde shade no.8 looks like almost an exact match for my colour so hopefully the regrowth won't be too noticeable. Will also have a look at the Josh Wood thing. Thanks!

@FreshFaceTime

Oh and just to add that I think your hair looks lovely but I know what it's like when you look back longingly at your lovely sleek locks and wonder what the hell happened to them!

Just came on to say pretty similar. I hear what you say about the grey, but your hair looks in good nick to me!

Aww thank you @SpongeBobJudgeyPants (and @FreshFaceTime)

I should wash it and I would probably feel better about it

Are you eating properly? Hair is a luxury item to the body, it gets the nutrients last as it’s not essential to life. You need a good diet to grow hair.

Aveda damage remedy is very good, expensive but there’s nothing like it for repairing hair ime.

Yes I eat pretty well, not much junk at all. I'm trying to lose baby weight so I'm on 1200 calories a day though so not much room for the good fatty stuff - but I do eat plenty of protein and veggies.

I've just spent a dull 30 mins with the straighteners to get my bushy fuzzball looking somewhere like that. Don't know what your problem is!

Try taking a multivitamin + iron on an empty stomach at bedtime. It’s hard to diet and get all the right nutrients.

Ashy highlights will help the grey blend in as it grows.

Just remember before you crack open the permanent dye that it dries out your hair terribly and you can’t ‘undue’ it.
I’m in the early stages of growing out years of box dye and it’s absolutely awful.
I think your hair looks lovely by the way. Could you hang on a few weeks and ask the hairdresser?

*undye

I would say fine and lots of them very light highlights! And some low lights it would blend those greys also invest in a good serum I can recommend rusk it’s fab for those flyaways and regular trims will do it !
(Qualified stylist ) x

I think your hair looks great but I know what it's like when you aren't happy with it. Have you thought about a serum or cream to help tame the sticky up greys?

Yes, hairdresser might be the way to go if I can hang on. I'm pretty naughty and lazy with the hairdresser in general, I usually only go about once every 6 months as it's long, straight if blow dried and no layers really so it does stay looking ok for quite a long time cut-wise.

I use Tigi Afterparty cream at the moment, which does help a bit with sleekness. I will try the Rusk serum next, as I'm about to run out!

I did try the curly girl method for a bit last year but I'm not really curly enough to make it worth the hassle. I was avoiding silicones etc for a bit but the greys were even crazier!

Thanks for the suggestions