Grey hair regret

[raffle]

I've been growing out my grey...only now I don't think I like it! I'm so very very reluctant to go back to dying it dark brown (it literally needs roots doing every fortnight)

So, could I dye the whole lot a dark blonde? Obviously this wouldn't show on the remaining dark bits, but would it cover the white parts?

I'm a bit sad to be thinking about doing this as I've grown out over half of my bra-band level hair, but I just can't get used to it!

I'm also a bit overweight which I think pads me out a bit

@BusStopNumber3 I have always chosen gold jewellery? What does that mean? And should I change it now being a silver surfer?

Anyway I'm not here to throw shade or big myself up so I'm going to hop off the thread for now as soon as one person jumps on a comment the rest come piling in as usual and I'm not into that

@UpsideLeft Good night, sleep tight on your (no doubt) silk pillow

Personally, I think it looks gorgeous. But not your question. Re blonde box dye. It won’t have enough lift in it, your base brown is too deep. You’ll end up orange huni! Honestly if you’re considering colouring you need professional advice. If you want blonde you need bleach. A warm lighter brown could work, but again you’d be locked into very frequent root dyes. The other option would be a balayage type of thing where they blend so you get no grow out line but you’ve got some kind of colour through the mid lengths and ends. A colourist would be able to do this for you, not something you can do yourself I’m afraid. You could even go colourful (pic loose idea, obviously they’d work in more of your white and blend well) But yeah, this would be hours in the chair.

Ps. Solid blonde would still be the same root touch up schedule. Also not suggesting your hair has to be lilac! Could be any colour at all, but balayage etc (I think there’s different types of this but I don’t know all the technical terms) is the way to go for blending and no root growth, then you could refresh on whatever schedule you want to. But I echo others, i reckon it’d be a great idea to get your wardrobe/makeup colours done & see if it makes a difference to how you feel about your beautiful natural hair before spending tons on hairdressers xx

@raffle , you don't have to change your jewelry color if you don't want to. Maybe you are warm-toned after all? Just being dark, and never blonde, and I think the danger is that you are cool toned and it just won't be what you like.
I am very cool toned, but I wear both silver and gold jewelry - I like both, and as it isn't a lot (like a whole shirt of gold, say) right against my face, both look fine. I do, however, know that any color that is, say a warm cream, or a warm mustard, or an orange, is going to look horrible on me! You probably have a good sense already of what colors suit you.
I love the photograph @Serendipityrain posted - gorgeous, and a good hair-dresser could definitely do it - but agree that it is lots of time in the chair, lots of cost, and really regular maintaining.
I must say, though, I feel more okay about spending money on hair than on other things, just because I have to wear it every single day. If you think about how much you might spend on a perfect winter coat, and then wear it for a few months a year, well, hair is going to be four-season, every outfit, every day.

I think , as mentioned above, brown lowlights and blonde highlights will really look good on you. Here is an example

@Ruthietuthie “I love the photograph @Serendipityrain posted - gorgeous, and a good hair-dresser could definitely do it - but agree that it is lots of time in the chair, lots of cost, and really regular maintaining.”
@raffle
Balayage is the least regular of all hair colouring techniques. If done right, and blended in with natural root colours well, as long as you don’t mind the dip dye effect with the blended grey & dark browns at the top you could go months inbetween sitting in the chair as there is absolutely zero demarcation line.

@Serendipityrain, you are right on the balayage, of course. But to maintain a cool-toned blonde, plus to blend the roots, wouldn't that take more maintaining? My thought is that the photograph looks like really expensive hair.
I would love to be wrong on this :)
The photograph is fantastic and would really suit OP, I agree.

@Ruthietuthie It depends how it’s done. If there’s enough blending and enough slices of both natural hair colours running down deep enough into the coloured parts you could literally grow it out like that if you wanted to. As said there is absolutely no demarcation line.

The photo I used was only a very loose illustration and suggest there isn’t enough of the natural colour showing through in that particular one. Any colours you want should work with this.

If you want a cool toned blonde to stay cool toned, that’s a different matter entirely and nothing to do with what colouring technique you use, that’s to do with the actual colour. Cool blonde will always warm up to some extent as time goes on. So that would likely need toning every so often, or at least a violet shampoo/condioner.

prices would depend on area and salon. But yes, pro colouring is never very cheap is it! And never very quick. But at least with Balayage techniques you could go months between visits if you wanted to.

That's really interesting, @Serendipityrain, thanks for taking the time to answer.

I am in my 50s and have no idea how much grey I have as I have blonde balayage every 6-8 weeks and I also have long hair way past my bra line so breaking all the supposed rules for my age! I haven't actually worn it this long since my 20s but I lost all my hair when I had cancer in 2018 so now I just am glad to have hair, have fun and enjoy it. My adult children (my harshest critics) all really like it as does DH. I think blonde balayage would look great on your hair - although it can be pricey. But I am very pro-morale and have decided to be as glam as I want.

Coincidentally I am getting it done tomorrow, so let me know if you want to see a photo.

I went grey very young (twenties) and decided to ditch the dye when I turned 40… one of the first things I had to do was get rid of all my lovely grey tops & grey cashmere jumpers! I used to love wearing grey but now it just washes me out. Jewel tones (emerald, sapphire, ruby), solid black and pure white all look really great, though.

I also began to pay attention to my eyebrows, started to wear tinted lip balm when not wearing lipstick, and dab a bit of cream blusher on my cheeks every day. Currently using Jones Road Miracle Balm which is absolutely fantastic - makes me all glowy and healthy looking. Now I don’t feel washed out. My grey hair is often complimented and (at 45) I certainly don’t look anywhere near 60! 😆

@UpsideLeft I also thought 60s. @raffle But in my defence, I’m sitting in the dark and my phone brightness is completely turned down. I thought the lines on your forehead were deep wrinkles, but on turning my brightness up it seems to be a few stray hairs?

@raffle Don’t understand the bitchiness though in the later comments. People have different perceptions of age.

I think your streaky hair looks amazing. Very cool. I don’t think blonde would suit your colouring.

It might be best to ask your hairdresser to suggest the right shade maybe something with low lights would work. 1st photo.

Also, I would fill my eyebrows more like in this photo as plucked thin eyebrows are aging.

I just spent many hours and ££ in the salon today grey blending. It is not bad but still feels like the best of a bad choice. I don’t feel nearly as good as I felt when I left the salon with lovely blond dye but hope I feel better in two weeks when I don’t have thick white roots. Home box dyes are not for me.

She added a gloss which I understand is like a grey improver. I will need to redo it every 8-12 weeks but much less maintenance than full highlights that only last 2 weeks.

I now have what feels like ambiguously grey hair. Kind of platinum. Kind of grey. I am probably not helping here - but feeling generally bummed about how much money I’ve just spent undoing years of highlights to arrive at the same place I’d never done them. Re-consider going back OP. You’ve done the hard work.

OP there are apps which allow you to take a selfie then try on different hair colours and styles.

I grew my hair out during Covid . Now grey/silver. I’m now bored with it and wanting to do something different. I had blonde highlights years ago but didn’t think they particularly suited me. Highlights /lowlights might work or a semi permanent that washes out. I don’t know where to start. My hairdresser discourages me and just does the same thing every visit. I’m bored and feel the gray ages me.

Sorry probably not very useful... but I like it as it is
Even with most of the face blanked out - I can see you are attractive and do like to look after yourself
I think the grey looks nice - maybe just visit a make up counter to see what could brighten you up and rethink some clothing ?
I had to do that when I started to go grey but I admit to still wearing my same clothes and no make up so looked like a washed up nobody 😂

I think it suits you, but know how it makes me feel.

An option is to do a mix of low lights/high lights that soften the grey and then, rather than getting the hard badger’s stripe at the roots, you simply touch up the highlights? The effect is softer and more natural that way. It’s what I’m planning as I’ve been doing my temples 3-4 weekly as my greys are soft like yours. Had hoped to have a striking widow’s streak like Cruella de Vil to contrast dramatically with the brown, but sadly it’s just a blurring of greys. :(

OP, I decided to ‘go’ grey a few years ago and haven’t regretted it once — although I realise that doesn’t mean you have to feel similarly. (I went from long hair to very short at the same time, and actually short hair suits me better than long, so that helped, I think.) My hair is also very coarse though — apparently it just happens for some people as they go grey. The big thing I did though, was completely revamp my wardrobe so I didn’t feel too frumpy. I know others have suggested a bout of clothes shopping and I just wanted to say that it worked for me. Lots of colours and dresses, whereas before I was always in trousers and greys/dark colours. (I still catch sight of myself in photos sometimes though and wonder who the old lady is!)