home hair dyeing to cover grey - advice?

[MizZan]

So I have gradually been letting my long-ish hair go - used to get highlights etc but simply can't afford the time or money any more and haven't had them in about 2 years now. the charming thing is that basically what was perfectly normal light brown hair with blondish streaks has now become light brown hair with two white streaks right in front where the natural blonde highlights used to be, and plenty of grey coming in around my face though not really in the rest of my hair. was kidding myself that the white streaks could sort of masquerade for blonde and/or look distinguished, until male friend of 20 years popped up the other day after not seeing me for a few months and said "Oh, you've decided to just let it go grey then (!)" - gee thanks. Clearly, something must be done...

So I'm wondering if anyone with similar colour hair/streaks can recommend semi-permanent dye or highlighting kits that I could do at home, without disastrous results. Am open to trying something I could put on my whole head (though not sure how colour would look as presumably the white streaks are going to go a completely different shade from the rest of it) or to doing some kind of highlight kit. any suggestions on what's worked for you? thanks.

daniel field

anything with two bottles to mix together will have a bleaching agent in it, even if you are going darker, which buggers up your hair.

i wouldnt do home highlight kit as they dont put strong enough peroxide and they end up orange i would say whole head to cover grey you would just need one with red in it so mahogany red as the red puts the pigmentation back into the grey
not sure if you wanted to go blonde then you could maybe check out model nights at salons and trainees can give you highlights for fraction of price safer to do that then pay loads of money correcting orange hair

I have long hair, and colour it with Nice and Easy. Match the colour to your natural as far as possible, and then you can do one full head colour, and then a root touch up along parting and around your face in alternating.

I have a pure white streak, and this is completely covered, and my hair hasn't been ruined at all

Fishie, I like the sound of Daniel Field colour. How do you find which one to buy?

I've got brown/grey hair and my current hairdresser used a permanent that is actually a very dark blonde but comes out brown on my hair!

The prices look very reasonable, I suppose I could buy a couple and do a strand test.

been colouring my hair 12yrs omg. best tip (and I always forget to do it and always wish i had) is to put vaseline aroud your hairline to stop it staining your skin.

Wow that Daniel Field link is brilliant Fishie

(er, is that THE fishie I wonder?????? - quaking knees emoticon)

Seriously, the info contained on his web site is invaluable for anyone who is contemplating home colouring for first time. Best article I have ever read on the subject.

Am tempted to go for his products or Clairol LLoving Care which he recommends. May have to change my name at this rate

DF ecommends applying milk to any dye stains on skin btw

Good luck with it MizZan!

no counting, i am a random other fishie, THE one is on hols.

yes daniel field stuff is a revelation for me, i have got fine curly hair and anything with bleach in really upsets it.

i need a blue or red based colour myself so tend to stick to the radiant reds - it can give a rather dramatic result as all the greys go crimson or purple. i also leave it on for ages as those colours fade the most.

if you email them or ring they will give you advice, i have found they usually go towards the cautious side so bear that in mind.

oddly the dye does not stain skin, or it washes off very quickly, do not know how or why but also helpful not to have purple ears for a week.

Phew Fishie! (Stops quaking!)

Thanks for all the tips: will indeed phone them! Your hair sounds great btw!

Sorry - didn't mean to hi-jack MizZan!

hi ladies thanks for all the advice. was also thinking daniel field (as like the idea of "natural" though am sure it's all chemicals anyway). but a bit put off by the fact that you can't seem to see how the colour actually comes out so it seems there would be a lot of guesswork.

I can't go red - hair is light brown/ash blonde with no red whatsoever in it, and I have very pinky skin (and red tired eyes...) so need to avoid anything too reddish.

will also look at nice n easy. seem to remember my mother using that, long ago...

If you look on the side of nice n easy boxes there is a scale with cool at one end and warm at the other, find one that's at the cool end, an ash blond probably and that will cut down on the redness.

here's the shade chart

Also Aveda do shampoos and conditioners for colouered hair which will keep away the redness. this would be the one you would need.