So what do you do when you've got dark hair and you start getting the odd grey one?

[RamblingRosa]

Well, more than the odd one really Everytime I look there seems to be a new little blighter lurking around my temples waiting for me to pluck it out.

I've just been pulling them out so far but I've been toying with the idea of a permanent dye. My hair's it's natural (dark brown) colour at the mo and I'm a bit of a novice when it comes to hair dye.

What do you all do? At what point do you give up on the plucking and start dying it?

I started going grey just before 30 and have coloured it ever since. I suggest you start dyeing sooner rather than later as it will be less obvious than going from half a head of grey to glossy chestnut overnight!

For me, the key has been to intersperse strands of different shades, so that then any grey coming through between colouring blends a bit more easily. And I go for chocolates & caramels rather than anything with any red in it as red is a lot less forgiving of greys.

Do you go to the salon then or do you do it at home? I was thinking of getting a pack of that Perfect 10 that lots of people have been raving about.

I'm not at the half a head of grey stage yet. I just sometimes notice in a certain light a really shiny hair glinting in the light and then on closer inspection it turns out to be snowy white!

Red is not necessarily less forgiving (admits to gingerhood) it's just that anything with red tones will fade more quickly from your hair. So unless you want to colour your hair every four weeks, avoid if you can!

yes, I go to the salon - probably not quite as often as I should

I plucked when it was just a couple and then started to colour it when it became half a dozen!

I used to get my hair dresser to colour it but now do it at home as I can't afford to keep paying for it. To be honest, I don't think there is much difference if you are only having a block colour done.

I colour my own after realising it was costing a fortune to go to the salon for not neccesscarily very different results. £5 vs £50 odd. It is key to be able to have some one mind the children or to dye hair late at night so as to avoid visitors when dealing with the dye..... I am thinking of starting down the highlight route now......becasue highlights do tend to hide greys nicely.

I've also got dark brown hair and more than a few have started coming through. I think I can get away with it for a little bit longer.

Will you be doing your highlights at home also Barbsieboo?

I gave up on plucking when I started having too many short stumpy grey hairs sticking out above my dark brown hair.

Go to your hairdressers for the first hair dye. I go for dark brown with no red, because that's closet to my hair colour.

My sister is dark and has a lot of grey too. My hairdresser advised her to use a permanent honey blonde dye to soften the grey and condition the rest of her hair. He said that trying to dye and keep it all dark would probably be a futile exercise

Also, if you get the shade wrong, you'll have roots to contend with as well as the gery hairs.

I've been using Perfect ten in medium brown for about a year and, IMO, it's just brilliant. I too steer away from red tones and this is a lovely chocolatey colour..albeit quite dark, but I find all home colourants are darker than you'd imagine them to be until they wash out a little bit. I find this colour better than any salon brunette I've ever had, they really were far too dark for me.

yes don't pull them out, you'll end up with a corona of white hairs waving around.

i need blue or red based colour, anything orange or yellow based makes me look dead. i have been dying my hair since i was 13 so much trial and error here.

i like daniel field stuff, prefer to have something wear off rather than get roots.

Do you think it's true that pulling them out makes more grow back? I thought that was an old wives' tale.

I've got my eye on the Perfect 10 'Lightest Cool Brown' as it's an ash brown rather than a reddy brown and I think that would suit me better.

I do worry about roots though. And condition. And about the possiblity of dying my hands, scalp, ears...

I've used semi-permanent dye lots of times. Is it much harder than that or is it much the same?

I am in the same boat and can't decide whether to start dying or not. I had a block colour done at the hairdressers last year for a special occasion - it was supposed to be one that gradually washed out but... my hairdresser had warned me that as there was a bit of peroxide in it it might mean my hair would lighten in the sun - it did and now I have darker hair at the roots... plus it didn't actually cover the grey hairs properly anyway so as far as I was concerned it was a waste of money.

I can't afford to get it coloured at a salon regularly - but I do think that highlights would be the best to hide the grey ribs. Does anyone get them done and how long do they last?

If really not much now, try a rinse and see how it comes out - and not so permanent. Then as they increase a bit more, move to permanent - but make sure the colour is the same or lighter than your hari colour so no roots to deal with. Yes avoid red, ok to start but then turns orange on the grey as it wears out.

First of all I ignored it but then felt as if I was fading away ( saw this grey old woman in mirrors and felt sorry for her!) so did a permanent dark brown dye. Not easy to maintain because my hair grows quickly. After a while went lighter and lighter and now am blond. It suits me and is not a disaster as hair grows. have it done every 7 weeks as I'm a cheapskate (every 5 would be ideal) and would really like highlights if money was no object.

Wow, you went from dark brown to blonde? What's your natural colour?
I don't think blonde would suit me. I'm naturally mid-dark brown with fair skin and blue eyes so, if I take the plunge, I'm thinking of just going maybe one shade lighter as I know dye can look quite dark and heavy.

This happened over a few years. Am naturally mid brown.

I think do it yourself highlights might be too much so will brave the salon again!!