Advice please - dyeing my greying hair grey (with pic)

[Levithecat]

I’ve been wanting to dye my greying hair grey for a while and have let it grow out for a bit so I can see how much grey is in there. I started going grey in my 20s and I’m just fed up of dying it. The front of my hair around my face is super light but further back there is still a fair bit of dark brown/black (original colour - the reddy tone is dye). Does anyone know how much hassle it would be to dye it grey from its current colour, and how often I’d need to get it redone? Does it matter that there is still a lot of dye on the lengths? In my mind it wouldn’t look as bad growing out if it was dyed grey (better than grey roots with the darker ends). The second pic is my inspo.

Dying your hair grey is a big process, usually needs bleaching first and then it’s difficult to get a match with your existing grey. It can also need a lot of upkeep which negates the reason for wanting to grow your natural colour out. It’s tough (I know, over 18 months into the journey myself) but sometimes it’s better to just leave it.

Unless you are prepared to go a very dark grey colour i doubt you could dye it grey without stripping / bleaching the colour first but sure that someone better qualified could advise. I have just dyed my white / greige hair to try to get rid of the bits of colour left that gave it the beige bits but to be honest it has not really worked its darker and less greige but still not what i wanted.

I used toners a lot when starting to grow out my grey, they seemed to blur the lines between the natural colour and the dyed hair. that might help?
I got them put on at the hairdressers, but also bought ones online that I used at home

but worth persevering with. Started growing out my dye 2yrs ago and it is now all natural

I'm in the process of growing out my hair, I'm about 9months in. I recently had a big chop to get rid of most of the old colour which has made a huge difference abs keeping it shorter will help get rid of the dye quicker.
I talked to my hair dresser about dying it and she was quite against it as it's hard to make it look natural apparently.

Thank you all. @StepAwayFromTheEcclesCakes @Harrystylesismyjam - appreciate your insight and sounds like it would be better to try and grow it out. @ClosedAuraOpenMind your hair is beautiful! I’ll speak with my hairdresser about toner to try and soften the current change in colour.

@isettled that’s exactly how I imagine mine would look grown out! My hair is very long right now and I know that makes it look worse. Just feels a bit step to stop colouring and get it chopped at the same time!

Christ, if I had a face like yours the last thing I'd be worrying about was my hair.
You're gorgeous!

I realise that was of absolutely no help whatsoever.

What do people do with black hair when it goes grey? I can't figure out how to eventually go grey without having such a strong contrast of black and grey hairs.

Also whose cake do you hope is shit @Ihopeyourcakeisshit ?

@Levithecat I think it's hard because I still have a lot of dark mixed in and my hair is was very dark with very little warmth through it so transitioning to no dye is a struggle. I regularly think about dying it again but I've managed to hold off so far.

My hair was mid back and now it's above my shoulders it was a big jump but it has made it look better. I just wish there was a magic wand to make the old dye disappear in one go!

I’ve already managed to share my face on here today so I might as well go ahead and share this before my name change. I didn’t have darker hair like you but I know how painful the process is, I’m nearly at the end of my journey now but I wholeheartedly recommend it

Maybe try some highlights or something to break the line up a little bit, and whack some toner on.

Good luck!

I finally gave up the dye during lockdown after a couple of years of hmming and haaing. My hair was originally very dark brown, just a shade away from black and the greys started coming through in my late teens. I was covering them up regularly by the time I was 25.

I've rediscovered its waviness now that it isn't being slathered in chemicals every 3 or 4 weeks. So right now it's fairly long, with about four inches of grey from the top down and the rest is roughly the same colour as Basil Brush! It's not great, but weirdly I've had a fair few compliments - maybe because it's in good condition now and quite wavy.

Sometimes when I see an old photo of myself, I'm tempted to go dark again, but I think I'd regret it after all this waiting to see what would emerge. I don't suit short hair at all, so cutting off the Basil Brush colour wouldn't work for me. I'm just putting up with the dip dyed look and getting a bit trimmed off now and then.

Your hair is absolutely beautiful @Harrystylesismyjam

Oh wow, loving the pictures and stories - definitely think persevering and going naturally grey will be the right thing to do. I’ll book to get some highlights / toning and a cut. Thanks everyone X

It took me 2 years to grow my dyed hair out to natural silver. It doesn't grow quickly and I didn't want to get it cut short. I used to pull the front of my hair back and tie it back to expose the grey roots at the front and around my face, to make it look more deliberate, which helped a bit.

You will not regret it.

@Harrystylesismyjam ~ Yours is gorgeous! I'm about 13 months in and it's level with my nostrils. How long ago did you stop colouring it?

Im on fb going grey pages and the general option is people regret trying to blend. It has to bleached and toned and it seems to be a bit of a faff and wrecks the hair.

October 2019 was my last colour with last highlights about July last year ☺️

I stopped dying my v dark brown hair in 2014 and had it cut short back and sides and quiffed on front. Its a bit longer now and I make the most of my white stripe at side parting which I like.

When I get bored a put a semi permanent through it in red/purple/pink. Made a terrible mistake in trying an ash blonde once and it all went yellowy-orange. 🙃

Here's a pic

It looks beautiful, like you've paid to get it like that. Honestly don't worry about it, so some many people put pinks or reds through platinum or platinum grey hair.

Thank you for the lovely compliment @trytoignoreit. 😊 I rarely get them as the only other female at home is the dog. 😁

You have lovely hair as it is! I realise it's not my choice but just thought I'd say I think you should leave it. You have a young face and lovely skin, your hair actually suits 'you'

Op, that second pic is what you'd like isn't it? Not how it is now? I think some people are confused.