Going grey - how to do no more dye? Temp ? Toning?

[Holidaymodeon]

As the title says, I’m going grey after dyeing for the best part of forty years. I started going grey very young, precocious puberty and I’ve been dyeing ever since.
i stopped for a while in lockdown and that was my original cue to stop altogether but I got halfway there and vanity gave in.
i have now decided I don’t have money or time to go through expensive cuts and dyes, the dye affects my hair condition and I actually want to see what happens when it comes through completely.
i just don’t know how to deal with this stage.
I’ve had it cut much shorter and hairdressers says it’s much easier to grow out because I’m curly but I still don’t like this demarcation….

what do people do, what have you done? Is it just a case of grin and bear it?
can I tone it?

I switched my parting over and it’s so much less demarcation, not sure how long I’ll get away with it, will try some of the toning ideas over the weekend 🐣

My curls are so much nicer since I stopped dyeing and did the main chop

I stopped colouring my hair during lockdown and have not gone back. Weirdly my hair has come through much darker, I used to be a proper brunette, brown with natural red tones and when I got some white coming through I used to use a semi-permanent to cover the white. 6 years later it is now dark brown but with lots of individual white hair scattered like seasoning! As it is wavy the white sort of blends into the waves. Where the dark hair has come from I do not know but I googled it and apparently it can happen to some people as they age. I do recall my dad having very black hair all his life even though he got pretty bald, something that luckily has not happened to me. Sometimes I pine for my old hair just as I pine for my once young face, but I just focus on keeping it clean, styled and well conditioned

I had highlights put in to start with then gradually grew most of it out over lockdown. When the hairdressers re opened they put a toner on maybe two or three times then I started using the purple shampoo and conditioner. My hair is in much better condition now and I get lots of complements. Its naturally curly so I alternate between curly and smooth hair.

My mother did something similar to these headscarves/turbans during her obvious demarcation phase. It looked cool on her, she pulled it off by wearing lots of jewellery and cat eye glasses, always with makeup on. Not for everyone but figured I share anyway

Your hair sounds gorgeous! I so wish I’d stuck with the grow out during lockdown!

Thanks, these are gorgeous, i sometimes wear things like this, i used to wear them much more when i had bigger thicker hair and they’d look great, I haven’t tried it since my barnet was so reduced

Is your hair short? I had mine cut super short. It grows really fast and all the dye was gone in 8-10 weeks.

Directions slate gray should tone over the bleached bits and also wash out over a few weeks.

It’s just at the nape of my neck, i was very long before, mid back.
I don’t want to go any shorter just because it really doesn’t suit me short but I know it would speed things up

Ooh thanks ! I’ve gone with a blonde Demi (?) that someone suggested up thread, I’ve only just done it so got to see what it looks like dry, it seems to have calmed down the whiteness and demarcation, not sure if I want to keep dyeing but it might be something I just have to do in the interim, non permanent, hopefully fade rather than grow out?

My hair is completely grey now. I got through it by using a spray temp root colour to get rid of the demarcation line for as long as possible then just braved it through the rest. Once it had passed my ears, I was fortunate to be able to tie it back. My hairdresser advised me not to try and dye my hair as it would require making it light first and a lot of maintenance. She cleverly cut layers through it to get rid of the line growing in. There are times I miss my dark hair but I've been going grey since in my early 20's. I'm lucky. I've a beautiful silver colour with dark brown streaks. I'm glad I no longer have the upkeep of dyed hair. I've had many compliments and try to keep my hair in tip top condition. I now use a black conditioner which is great for toning down any yellows from heat styling without adding a purple tone to my hair.

Also beware of temporary dyes to get rid of the demarcation line. In my experience they are not temporary and have you back where you started growing your roots out!

I grew mine out 5 years ago and tried so many of the things already mentioned which actually only prolonged the process. When I finally went cold turkey I found out that I had far less grey than I thought and the so-called slunk line was just the contrast between unnatural dye and healthy hair. Now my hair has never been healthier and every time I vist the hairdresser they compliment me on my awesome hair colour and condition. Go for it! You will be amazed.

This is my worry. I’ve got an ammonia free dye which supposedly just fades but I don’t want to be back where I started, constantly dyeing it

Thank you 🤩 I veer between temp solutions for demarcation and just leaving it, I wish I could make it grow out magically fast 🤣

why don’t you just get the lengths bleached and toned to somewhat match the roots? This is what my friend did when growing our grey and it looked great

As I’ve said up thread I can’t do anymore bleach otherwise I would have just done this the ‘easy’ way which looks good. I have dual heritage and incredibly porous hair which has just got worse and more strawlike as I’ve got closer to menopause. I’ve cut out loads of bleached ruined ends and don’t want to restart that cycle

Ah sorry, I missed that

It took me years to grow out because I kept getting highlights to ‘blend’ which just went yellow in the end. Best thing was to get ever shorter hair cuts and just grow it out grey again. It’s now bra length, curly and 60% white with some brown.

It’s fine! Honestly if I could I would but it was dire, so frizzy and dull. The condition is far nicer now I’ve cut it but it’s just the interim growing out that I hate.
To help with the greys incoming, Ive gone shorter than I’ve been in about thirty years, it was a big deal to cut it off but also it doesn’t suit me any shorter because of my linebacker build

Ooh sounds lovely. When you stopped getting highlights how long were your natural roots and how long did it take to grow through to the length you wanted?

It looks like in 2018 I got a crop and all natural. Between then and now I’ve not done more highlights and i stopped having it cut into a chin length bob maybe 18 months ago and just have layers for reshaping.

I think you dont have a.major difference in the two colours. But to counter the inevitable brassiness of the leftover blonde and keep grey looking fresh, I'd go with a purple shampoo - Clairol Shimmer Lights is good. I've been grown out for around 3yrs now, hair is just longer than shoulder length - my hair is a mix of light brown and pure white, some very obvious white streaks! I love it, would never go back to dye and want to grow it longer for the summer. I think once your hair gets past the ears, it looks more intentional. I was growing out blonde and it looked quite nice once it got towards the ends.

Plantur 39 brown shampoo and conditioner could well be your new best friend… it definitely is mine! I’ve gone from blonde, salt and pepper and brown to a lovely caramel colour. Takes about 10 washes to really see a difference but now I just do it once a week while the blonde grows out as I refuse to get it cut shorter!