How do I know what hair colour suits me?

[toomanyducks]

I have naturally brown / auburn (when the light hits it) hair which is getting more than a couple of greys in it.

I’ve been feeling lately that it just doesn’t suit me any more and just makes me look a bit dull and flat. I really want to look more polished but am not at a point in my life where I can visit a hairdresser with any regularity.

Happy to try a box dye but I have NO idea what would suit me. Search results talk about cool / warm skin tones and I can’t work mine out!

How can I work all this out?

Hopeful bump on behalf of my sad greys…

Honestly, can you be bothered with the time / chemicals / £ of dying your hair regularly?

Is there a different way that you could feel more polished, perhaps by using hair straighteners, or updating your wardrobe a little.

My hairdresser calls my grey hairs Nordic highlights if that helps 🙂.

Don't do a box dye they never look good imo, especially on older less forgiving complexions. The colour is too flat and harsh. I would advise you to get some highlights put through instead - they don't need redoing too often, unlike an all over colour; I get about 9 weeks out of mine. Highlights will blend in the greys and you don't have to have bright blonde, I have a mixture of blond and cool ash in mine. I went down the box dye route once and it was a disaster.

I use a semi-permanent like Nice'n'Easy or Castings because it fades unlike permanent, which leaves the badger stripe.

The semi-permanents aren't good for the hair and the colour doesn't last very long unless you go darker, which isn't a good idea. The colour sticks better to the hair that isn't silver.

Highlights or lowlights might help. Wash-in colour can help, if you only want to look 'not quite greying' occasionally. Superdrug does them.

If you use a permanent box dye, use a multi-tonal one. Depending on how grey you are and how fast your hair grows it is quite a commitment.

I use Castings too. Leaves my hair really shiny and in good condition. I stick to the neutral lighter shades so it looks more natural.

They leave my fragile and feeling processed, @BurntBroccoli . My hair is quite fragile anyway and I don't trim it regularly.

@toomanyducks , In answer to your question, try to keep close to your natural colour but the colour on the packet doesn't necessarily turn out the same as your dyed hair colour. If you go darker, they're often darker than you expect.

K

I've used Castings for over 15 years. Much shinier and forgiving than permanent colour in my opinion. I've chosen a lighter shade in the last few years to what I used to use.