Covering grey in naturally brunette hair - is there an “easy” option I’m missing?

[Iorderedyouapancake]

Hi all, I’m mid 40s and while still mainly dark there is now enough grey in my hair to be pretty noticeable if I don’t cover it up - I’m not ready to go grey yet so recently I’ve been putting a brown box dye on it which does the job but I’m not keen on the “flat” effect I get from it. I’m open to the idea of getting it coloured professionally but worried about getting on a treadmill of constant expensive appointments, and also of damage to my hair if I get some blonde put in (which I’m assuming would be the “best” way to make greys look less obvious as they come through).

For the ladies with brunette hair who’ve chosen to cover the grey- how do you do it? Is there an option I haven’t thought of between box dye and highlights?

I use the same high coverage professional dye ( Inoa) my hairdresser uses in between appointments- it seems to cover more effectively and looks much more natural (on me) than box dyes.

I'm very dark naturally ( used to be 4 when younger) but I'm on 6 or a mix of 6 and 7 now which is described as light brown/dark blonde but still looks very brunette. The colour tends to lift in between colours from being outside, I then do the roots and take the colour in streaks down my hair, so that the lifted bits are like highlights.

I go to the hairdresser every 7 or 8 weeks and do my own colour in between. I’ve got a brush and pot and it takes no time at all, although I’m not too bothered about the back, which isn’t as grey and I can’t see!

It works really well, I have been dying for decades and not ready to give up yet!

I gave in and bleached mine. Have it topped up every 6 weeks or so at the salon. I have a pixie cut now. I’m naturally very dark but box dyes look shit and as pp said, they don’t seem to cover grey hair very well.

I used to have red hair and the greys showed through after a week or so. I dread to think what my natural hair looks like now. I’d love it if I could go silver grey all over but the greys I did have were more white and the hair seems frizzier.

A semi permanent box dye will do the job, like some others have suggested.

Because you already have grey in your hair, as long as you don't go super dark with it, your hair will still have different tones (because the grey will take it differently to the brown).

Get one that's the same as your natural hair colour or even a shade lighter.

Highlights in at least two different colours in lighter colours that blend nicely with my roots. I used to be a medium brown and am now more of a dark blonde.

If I go darker the roots are too obvious. Now I get the highlights redone every 12 weeks, but even at that point the roots aren't really obvious. I only get them redone because the lighter highlights just get lighter and lighter over 12 weeks (I've always been susceptible to going blonder in the summer), so the recolour balances it all back out again.

I still have a few patches that are greyer than others, but it's a more subtle mix that isn't obvious.

Agree with PPs who use box dye in a lighter shade than their natural hair, it works really well for me.
I used to go for a slightly darker shade, but would get the “flat” effect you mention. So now for my dark brown hair I use Light Chestnut and it looks pretty natural.
I only dye my hair completely every four months or so, and use root retouch in between.

Just coming on to agree with semi permanent vs permanent. You get more shine and gloss with semi permanent and the closer to your natural colour you go, the better and less obvious the result. I am now probably at least 50% grey and I still use semi permanent. I do have to refresh it a bit more often than I did in the past and I'm absolutely obsessive about making sure I'm really focusing on massaging it into the roots and covering them before I do the rest, but overall, it's fine.

I’ve been using John Freida Defy Grey shampoo and conditioner and it’s working brilliantly. I was about to buy a box dye as grey just getting noticeable but no need now!

I put in headline crown and parting foils but matched to my own natural colour…works a treat!

I use semipermanent box dye -usually Castings. Go lighter than you might think, if you’re not sure. I find it lasts, though, and never actually washes out completely. A touch-up spray if you need to touch it up.

I use a permanent in shade 7 which is sometimes called lightest brown and sometimes dark blonde. It turns the greys a dark blonde colour and very subtly brightens the rest but not so much there's a hard line on regrowth. The colour isn't flat because my natural hair is much darker than the dye and because the greys function as highlights. I only ever do the roots and never follow the instruction to refresh the lengths so there's no build up. It's a golden colour, no red undertones.

I use nice and easy semi in medium ash brown. It looks far better than the permanent colour-more translucent and fades to a lighter brown. Semis are far easier to work with compared to permanents. I have found that anything other than ash looks too brassy on me. Used to use Josh Wood 6.5-gorgeous when fresh but fades brassy yellow something shocking. As I have short hair, balayage would look silly-otherwise I’d have it as I think that deals with greys nicely.

Another vote for Plantur Brown shampoo and conditioner. Really pleased with the results on the greys and I hope it improve my thinning hair.

It has for me. My hair is thick and bouncy (like me) often complemented.

My hairdresser uses a quasi dye on my hair (essentially a gentle semi permanent). It colours the grey more than the natural hair and it lasts a couple of months, washing out slowly. I get it done at the hairdresser because whenever I try it at home the grey doesn’t take!

Forgot to say, I tried highlights and it looked rubbish! Unless the hairdresser is lucky and catches all of the greys in the highlighted sections (unlikely) you’re still going to have visible greys.

I'm more red than brunette but I find John Frieda radiant red colour depositing shampoo and conditioner really helps, I do have lots of different tones in my hair and the greys stay lighter but just look like natural red/highlights, they also do a brunette one but I've not tried that. I use the shampoo daily and conditioner a couple of times a week because I need a deeper condition in between (curly hair), about once a month I use it like a conditioning mask while I have a bath. It makes my hair really shiny too

I’m 60 and lucky enough to not have much more grey than I did at 40. Literally, I just have some underneath near my ears. On top I have just a bit of ‘salt’ but mostly ‘pepper’. About 10 years ago I went to a local salon for a while and the hairdresser was very bossy and did me an overall colour. It was flat, it was a shade darker than my natural colour. What happened was that every visit was an overall colour top up. So I got darker and darker and went more often to the hairdressers. I’m a kinda 4 times a year person, so this did not suit me. I got fed up and grew it out for a bit.

My current hairdresser uses a semi permanent colour underneath and then I have a few high and low lights. Not many at all. I have this done twice a year and the other 2 visits are cut and blow dry only. It basically just warms it up. Last year I only coloured it once and was able to see the grey progression in detail. Likewise lockdown. I’m still happier with a bit of colour.

The women of my mother’s family are generally very late to go grey, so looks like I follow that side despite looking like my paternal cousins in other respects

I have quite a bit of grey and developed a reaction to the stuff my hairdresser was using. I don’t like the flat colour of box dyes so ordered the professional stuff (L’Oréal) off amazon with bowl etc. it actually works out cheaper and looks better!

This is genius!

I use a light brown semi all over ( longer in the roots then all over for 5-10 mins) as I was finding a medium brown too dark for my skin tone. I alternate it with a root touch up colour. I need to do one or the other every 3-4 weeks.

I get mine dyed at the salon every 4 weeks and in between use a kind of hair mascara I think it's L'Oréal. My hair grows so fast!

Greying 50+ brunette here. Started off with highlights in my 40s, then got fed up with it and had an all over brown tint, and delayed salon sessions by using ColorWow Root Cover (or similar identical and cheaper products on Amazon).

Then Covid happened and I had to let the grey happen. Decided to leave it until the brown tint was fully grown out. Now getting high- and low-lights and only need about four sessions a year.

All in all, I've found the high- and low-lights route the easiest to maintain. But I'm probably less concerned about how attractive I look than I was 10 years, now that I'm post-menopause.

I was a very dark brunette with fair complexion. I started going grey in my teens and by early 30's probably 20-30% gray. My hairdresser dyed my hair a mid-brown - natural looking shade and We added blonde highlights. Worked well as my skin tones lightened even more over time and we increased the blonde. My hair was in great condition - a professional hairdresser tends to use good quality products and it had a super sheen, whereas gray hair is dull. The roots barely showed and I could go every 5-6 weeks for the main colouring and highlights less frequent. Clearly lockdown was tricky - inches of gray roots - so went totally blonde. It suits my colouring and clothing colours. I'm still not ready to go gray!

Thanks all, lots of good ideas here which I’m definitely going to try some of. I should have said in my op - it’s actually a semi perm box dye I’ve been using as several of you have recommended- however I am finding I still get a pretty obvious regrowth line so it’s definitely leaving some permanent colour in my hair, do you think I’m doing something wrong? Or maybe using the wrong brand - I use L’Oréal at the moment, which semi permanent do other mumsnetters prefer? I would love to find something that actually does wash out fully after a few months but this one definitely doesn’t ☹️

So-called semi-permanent dye is pretty permanent, may fade a bit but certainly doesn't wash out in a few months. Don't know of any dye that does.