Managing greys in dark hair

[Smallfry79]

Hi

I'm 42 and have dark brown hair naturally but Im getting increasingly grey. Have been managing this with brown box dyes at home but now im needing to do thus more often, greys are resistant and more plentiful and my once healthy shiny hair is drying out.
I dont have a regular hairdresser i can chat to. Infact i haven't been in almost a year so def overdue a cut too.

I feel when i call to make apt they will expect me to know what i want and the troublevid i don't.
Would highlights help hide ir blend greys better?
I think I want the imposdible, a colour that will keep me largely brunette but help some of the greys bkend in but yet is not so light as to cause very obvious root regrowth.
I feel I will eventually go naturally grey/platinum but Im not there yet and think with my colouring it would be aging and besides im still mostly dark.

Any suggestions from hairdressers/colour specialists or fellow mumsnetters with a similar problem? Do I need a full colour then highlights? Will just highlights work? Or are they a waste of my time just causing another issue with roots?
I really dont have time or money to get hair done every 6/8 weeks.
Im a pretty low maintenance girl preferring a more natural look but at the same time like to look well and not like I dont care or have let myself go completely.
I attach some pics but lighting isnt great and frontbif my hair is dry and faded so i feel in reality im a bit darker than the pics suggest.

Thanks in advance for any advice. Really need to get an apt made but keep putting it off as dont know what to ask for.

Apologies for all the typos! Hope you can still follow it.

In exactly the same boat! My hairdresser tends to lighten around the front and crown with cool highlights and then fix the roots when i go.

In between times i use professional colour at home (buy from sallys) and i do the roots.

Even my hairdresser says its a thankless task but i cant justify the maintenance to have it highlighted regularly. Watching with interest to see if someone comes up with a better idea ..

No advice OP but I’m watching with interest as I could’ve written this exact post! I’m wondering about getting a balayage but like you I don’t have a regular hairdresser so I don’t really know where to turn for advice!

I got fed up of the greys. I had a pixie and bleached it. Probably too much maintenance for what you’re asking though. When I was a dark colour (natural brunette), I’d get grey through after a couple of weeks and I just couldn’t stand it. I was also fed up of paying for my hair to be coloured in a salon and then getting regrowth so quickly.

FWIW, the grey is a lot less noticeable now as it is hidden by the bleach, even when I need a root touch up.

I also have the same challenge. After trying the highlights, foils etc I went low maintenance. My hairdresser can just colour the roots only, matching my hair colour exactly. A junior can handle this and they have a self dry area (cost about £40).

I also get hair colour from esalon which is the same concept only it is a DIY effort. As they can also match my hair colour exactly I can DIY it without the need to be too accurate where the colour goes. Cost £30.

Hairdresser is handy if I also need a fringe trim. Sometimes they offer me a free blow dry if one of the juniors fancies a bit of practice.

I have lots of grey hair. I have never dyed it and never will.
It doesn't bother me at all, and I don't care if other people don't like it. I know most women can't bear the thought of going grey but to me it's a natural part of aging. If society accepts grey haired men, why not grey haired women?

I'm not judging people who dye their hair by the way. Just putting another point of view out there.

Mine is very dark with some grey hair, probably 10% but around temples and front. I have lowlights every third cut, just a T section so not full head. It works for me. I resisted until I was 52. I'm really happy with it. Will see if I can find a photo.

Have you tried John Freida defy grey range? I was having to colour my hair every 4 weeks so was using a box dye as it was getting expensive at the hairdresser. I started using the John Freida shampoo + conditioner to try and go longer between colouring my hair (as I bloody hate doing it) but have so far gone 9 weeks and haven't felt the need to colour my hair yet and am going to see how long I can go. What it seems to do is make my grey a dark blond/light brown which is blending it into my existing colour. Because it's summer I am hoping I can getaway with my hair looking sun kissed, and so far I don't have a line of coloured/ not coloured hair. Long-term I think if I continue with it my grey's will look like highlights. It will probably depend on hair type as to how effective it is but it maybe worth a try, and is cheaper to buy on a boots 3 for 2. I recommend it to a friend who has never coloured her hair but was getting grey's and it has toned them in really well.

I’m in a similar boat, except mine are keeping scattered through my hair individually and luminous white. I’m wondering if I can keep my nerve and just go with it? I have never coloured my hair and, like you, would prefer to stay low maintenance. My hairdresser did one “gloss” treatment, which seems to be basically a semi permanent , translucent colour to match my own, but even that could get to be a tie (did help restore shine, though).

X post.

That sounds like it might be a “gloss at home” type thing. I’ll have a look.

I am blonde but stain my greys (about 50%) very effectively with a tea I make up. If I were you, I would try combing a strongly made instant coffee through on the grey streaks on clean dry hair and just leave in. Then style as desired. It should really tone them down. (Coffee is in the blend I make for my blonde hair but I've more golden toned kitchen ingredients in there too.) The stain I make lasts a couple of washes. You can easily test on a strand of hair.🙂

@Gingerella55 I wouldn’t have minded but it’s the fact that it was so unevenly distributed through my hair. I just hated seeing the roots a completely different colour to the rest of my hair.

I decided a while back to just let my greys come through naturally. I’m probably only about 40% grey but I was just so sick of being a slave to the dye. My hair looked so flat and dull. With the silver coming through it looks really nice.
A hairdresser attempted to help blend my balayage hair in with the silver but it didn’t work the way I wanted it too. My ends have an orange tone which I hate but I’m just roughing it until it all grows out.
Sorry realised this doesn’t help you out much! Highlights always take on a warm tone in my hair so never blended well with the greys coming in.

Thanks for all the replies so far. I'll look into the suggestions for sure. I like the idea of the John Freida shampoo and conditioner to stretch out the time between colours. This could be useful whatever I choose.

Maybe if I get a salon colour I might then be able to buy that for home use and do just root touch up myself. I always end up colouring my full head as afraid of looking patchy and it is really starting to take its toll on my hair.

I'm not a hair dye person - I'm very dark brown, 35, and haven't dyed my hair properly since I was 17 and had a bright pink dip dye. I just cba with the maintenance.

However I've started going grey and wanted a very low maintenance fix.

So for the past 6 months I've been putting a semi permanent, dark blonde box dye on my hair (all over) every 3 weeks.

It obviously does nothing to my brown hair but colours the greys in dark blonde and they blend in sooooo much better. Lots of my grey hairs are towards the front, framing my face so it kind of has that 'hair that's lightened a bit in the sun' appearance if you look closely.

No idea how long I can get away with this but I'm liking the low maintenance and low cost results so far!

I’m 58 and have at least twice the amount of grey that OP has
my hairdresser matches my hair colour exactly - just does the roots and then combs the dye through rest for last few minutes
I also have a trim but no blow or finish
used to be able to get away with going every 8-10 weeks - now it’s 6-8, and I prefer nearer 6 otherwise I spend 7-10 days being unhappy with my hair
However it costs less than £40 and is well worth it for me

I use the defy grey range. 51 yes old brunette, my greys are scattered so no particular areas have more. It works pretty well at blending yhem in

Oh this is interesting! Can you recommend a brand and shade please? I'm tempted to try this!

I do this (more of a mid brown than dark blonde) and since I switched to a sulfate free shampoo (a nice shea butter one you can buy in superdrug) it lasts a couple of months rather than 3 weeks!

Yes! I have done the same with dark golden blonde box dye in a natural brand (which tends to go on darker) - great for greys, but just adds gloss to my natural hair colour. I can’t justify the hairdresser maintenance as it would be so frequent now!

If anyone is interested just checked and I use Tints of Nature 7N natural medium blonde (not dark golden blonde)

And I am naturally quite dark brown. Sounds odd like an odd combination, but it works!

I but the bullet at about 45 and grew out my grey. I have darker hair than yours. Best thing I ever did. As you say, dark hair + grey is difficult to colour.

I think where you are going grey is AWESOME!!
I would actually have a salon turn the roots into grey stripes. I think such a look is really gorgeous. Lots of similar looks found this on Pinterest as to how I’d think you’d look.

I’m in the no-dye crowd. If men can be silver foxes I don’t see why Women should be expected to pour chemicals on their heads at great expense regularly! To me it’s a form of sexual discrimination! If you truly choose to do it because you yourself prefer it dyed then fine but if it’s because ‘you’ll look old’ and fear of judgement then it’s a different matter all together.