What can I do about my grey hair please?

[kbx201]

I'm only 27 and started going grey at 15 and it's now really affecting my confidence. Not sure what to do. I currently box dye every so often but greys are showing again within 2-3 weeks. Whats the best option for concealing greys with dark brown hair? I use a root spray sometimes but hate the way it leaves my hair feeling and always transfers. My hair is quite broken especially at the top and I feel like it just hangs because it's quite long. I don't mind the length but not sure what haircut would best suit my face type? Help please

I have about the same amount of grey as you. Used to get a demi done at hairdresser but so expensive so started doing a box dye demi which was lovely and all but I got frustrated with how quickly greys would be visible again. Also didn't want to use permanent dye as I like being able to be relatively noncommittal and change tactic easily.

I started using John frieda defy grey shampoo and conditioner a couple of months ago. It's in no way got rid if the grey but has definitely blended them in better and now they're more very dark blonde. My hair is also super shiny and lovely now too. Warning - the conditioner ia really runny so be careful and clean any splashes off your bath/shower quickly to avoid having to scrub. Doesn't stain hands at all though.

You have 2 options:
Stop dying it and allow your grey to shine, check out silver sisters on fb.
Or look to highlight it so that your grey is blended with blond and isn’t as noticeable, but that’s going to take money and commitment.
I’m 43 and I stopped dying just after my 40th I wear my hair in an angled bob.

I started going grey in my late 20's. I decided to go blonde and have a full head of highlights every 8 weeks or so. When I do get root regrowth, it's not nearly as noticeable.

Firstly I’d said it’s not as noticeable to other people as it is to you. I’d have to be looking quite closely to see your greys. I know I sometimes look at mine close up in the mirror and when I’m shocked how much they’ve come through I step back from the mirror and realise they’ve disappeared
I’ve got friends and colleagues who worry about their grey coming through and genuinely I can’t see it unless I was really studying it and looking for it.

That aside if you do want to make it easier to cover I think something to break up the colour in your hair would work. It looks more noticeable in dark hair especially dark hair that’s one colour all over. Like others have said highlights etc just break it up visually so you don’t see the greys against a dark background in the same way.

Are people deliberately being dim here?? The OP has dark hair not blonde! She even attached photos and said what's the best thing to do when you have dark hair! The suggestions of blending her hair in with blonde is obviously not applicable here.

OP I have dark hair and got greys around the same age and I am sick to death with it. I have had no other option but to have my roots professionally dyed every 3-4 weeks. In between that treatment I have a dark root spray-on for any greys that pop up!

My hair is the same colour as yours and has the same number of greys. I use a shampoo called Plantur 39 for brown hair. It's great! I used to colour my hair every few weeks but now this shampoo colours my hair so I only dye my hair every couple of months now. It turns my grey to a kind of light brown/auburn colour and it blends in well with my natural brown.

I started going grey at 16, so you have my full sympathy! I have started recently starred having highlights done at the hairdressers, a light brown as the base colour and then a full head of ash blonde highlights. It seems to blend in a lot more. I also recommend checking out Sali Hughes hair - she is a beauty journalist and she got fed up of her grey roots so has gone full grey - she looks amazing. I'm not quite ready for that yet but that's what I hope
to do eventually so that I don't have to constantly go back to get my roots done every few weeks.

I’d roll with it! Grey hair is a huge trend now. You have lovely thick hair, you’re 27 and wrinkle free make the most of it and get it cut really well!

@SallyWD

My hair is the same colour as yours and has the same number of greys. I use a shampoo called Plantur 39 for brown hair. It's great! I used to colour my hair every few weeks but now this shampoo colours my hair so I only dye my hair every couple of months now. It turns my grey to a kind of light brown/auburn colour and it blends in well with my natural brown.

Is the plantur one relatively easy to get hold of in the high street? I like my John frieda one but like to switch hair products every so often so have been looking recently at alternative brown shampoos. Hadn't noticed this one!

I get it on Amazon. They sell it at my big Boots. I've tried all the shampoos for brunettes and this one is definitely the best at colouring my hair.

I would have your hair cut - the bottom looks darker than the mid lengths. Unless it's a trick of the light, that indicates you've been using box dyes over the whole length rather than just the roots.

I'd get it cut into a long bob - a 'lob' if you will. Have a look for some pics.

And then if you want to carry on with dye, learn how to just do the roots. It's fiddly at first ngl, but within a couple of months you'll be a dab hand.

Same as @BobblyBlueJumper, I would just touch up the roots when they appear. I do a box dye full head permanent maybe once a year then just the roots every month or so. I mix up a small amount of dye and just use that. If you redo the lot every time its very hard on your hair and condition will be poor.

@TarcasticSwat

Are people deliberately being dim here?? The OP has dark hair not blonde! She even attached photos and said what's the best thing to do when you have dark hair! The suggestions of blending her hair in with blonde is obviously not applicable here.

OP I have dark hair and got greys around the same age and I am sick to death with it. I have had no other option but to have my roots professionally dyed every 3-4 weeks. In between that treatment I have a dark root spray-on for any greys that pop up!

I don’t think anyone is being dim @TarcasticSwat - they’re suggesting that the OP add in some highlights or go lighter as greys won’t show on lighter hair.

@TarcasticSwat dark brown hair here with grey, I have gone the blonde highlights route. Regrowth blends in and it's more manageable, however has destroyed the condition of my hair. I'm going to try half a head rather than full head and let the grey come in more. I am older than you though.

Before I did the blonde I started dying with light brown to lighten it up from roots down.

Marking place….exact same problem as you but I really can’t afford highlights so need to stay down the box dye & shampoos route.

I let it grow out, the condition is so much better, it costs me nothing, and it now looks like silver highlights as opposed to blonde trying to blend in with silver grey and dark. My hair is the same length as yours.

Looking at the much darker section from below your chin, I'd think you've been using a box dye in too dark a shade and the only way to get rid of that is to cut it off. I'd cut it and then have some shorter lengths cut in at the front to lift it, OR have it cut into a long bob length.

I'm grayer than you, started in my teens, and use a salon dye that I mix at home. It's really easy, mix 50:50 the cream dye and a liquid developer (in a small bowl on kitchen scales to be exact) then apply it with a hairdressers dye brush. Make sure you use the same brand post-dye neutralising conditioner after to neutralise the dye.

I use Wella Illumina, buy it on Amazon, and the Wella website can help you find the right shade. Cheaper than box dye and much better for your hair.

Mine is as dark as yours with similar amounts of grey.

I have mine dyed all over a couple of shades lighter than my natural colour and full head highlights in caramel dirty blonde
Looks nice when it’s done but the regrowth comes in after a few weeks and I don’t find it blends in. I think it’s really noticeable. Superdrug do a cheap and cheerful conditioner called colour effects which covers them up a little bit.

I used to Chuck a box dye over it once a month but decided to start have it done properly as a treat coming out of lockdown and now I’m a slave to my highlights.

A good cut and conditioning treatment will make a big difference.

I got my first greys at 19 and had dark btiwn hair.
I spent my early 20s plucking and then box dyeing before moving to a mixture of (costly) highlights in my 30s and 40s.

Multi coloured highlights done at a salon were the best for concealing root regrowth - albeit the most expensive. I was having the top section done to save on costs, every five weeks.

I'm late 40s now and grew out my silver last year. Best decision I ever made. My hair is healthy and I am saving £££s. However, I am much older than you!

I would say embrace it, but I wonder if I would have been ready at your age? By my late 30s and 40s I was touching up the roors weekly with spray/powder and fighting a losing game.

@TarcasticSwat

Are people deliberately being dim here?? The OP has dark hair not blonde! She even attached photos and said what's the best thing to do when you have dark hair! The suggestions of blending her hair in with blonde is obviously not applicable here.

OP I have dark hair and got greys around the same age and I am sick to death with it. I have had no other option but to have my roots professionally dyed every 3-4 weeks. In between that treatment I have a dark root spray-on for any greys that pop up!

People are not being dim. My original hair colour was/is as dark as this but I have blonde highlights on a base colour that is lighter than my original.

Are people deliberately being dim here?? The OP has dark hair not blonde! She even attached photos and said what's the best thing to do when you have dark hair! The suggestions of blending her hair in with blonde is obviously not applicable here

No one's being dim but you're being rude

The suggestion was to highlight / have a blonde base which is a very good one.

OP it's easier to go lighter so the grey's aren't as noticeable, I only need mine doing 3x a year now.

At 27 I would dye it and use root spray in between. Yes, it is a pain in the arse, but I suppose it's no different to the many dark haired women who choose to be blonde...

If you were 20 years older it might be time to embrace the grey but at 27, unless you are extremely stylish and naturally blessed in terms of skin and eye colour, I wouldn't go down that road.

I forgot to add that before highlights, I had my base colour done to match my original dark brown (which was as dark as OP's) then different bleached highlights. Every 5 weeks we'd either top up the roots with base colour or highlights, alternating.

I have fine hair though and the bleach was very damaging.

OP, you also asked about style. I used to keep mine layered above shoulders. Layers will help if you do go with highlights. I'll try post some pics.

Personally I’d go grey and cut a huge amount off the length

I posted about this weeks ago :

I went with a semi perm - nice and easy and also use blue colour enhancing shampoos for dark hair !

Feel much better - I am also late 20s