Hair - grey or highlights?

I have really coarse thick hair, which is very curly and darker(light brown) on the bottom half of my head and much blonder on the top half and just wavy rather than curly. On the very few occasions when I have been to a hairdresser they have all said that it's like having two entirely different sets of hair to work with.

My biggest problem though, now that I have grey hairs by my ears, a splodge of grey where I had a bad bump years ago, a narrow fringe around my face and along my parting, is what will take and stay on my hair. I currently use an applicator with a sort of plastic brush at the end and just sweep it through my hair where it looks greyest and until recently used Naturtint, as I could apply it as often as I liked without it drying my hair. However, it does colour well enough or for long enough anymore.

Which colourant do you think lasts the longest? I need a mid to dark blonde really, that I can streak through my hair in various places to act as a lowlight for the top half and a highlight for the bottom half.

Ridiculous, isn't it?

ha ha just read Agus

I am so far past the grey that someone thought I had dyed it silver! Best transition tip I did to disguise grey roots was just having highlights along my parting every time I had a cut - so it all sort of blended in after a while.
I do miss the two red streaks I had half-hidden at the sides, but then saw a much younger person with lovely very pale/bleached hair and little pale blue streaks at the sides. May allow my daughter to play with her hair chalks on me...

Nanabelle your post re a career in hairdressing reminds me of when I told my mother I wanted to be a hairdresser. She was horrified at the thought of me washing dirty heads! She was very happy though when, instead, I chose a career in Nursing, whereby, I washed a lot worse than dirty heads!

Nanabelle, regarding eyebrows if you want to disguise the white hairs Benefit do an excellent eyebrow gel brush, a bit like a small mascara brush, it's very good.

There is a good silver toned hair mousse by Insette for grey hair it gives nice silver tones to any hair and is easily washed out if you change your mind.

Sounds as though Hairdressing should be a recommended career by schools, as lots of us use them for colour and cutting. I was worried about doing my own hair colour, in case the white/grey bits go ginger, which can happen with colouring. I am impressed with those of you who do your own, and also with gillybob and her gorgeous vibrant colour.
Etheltbags1 how exciting to have the purple. Does it last long or wash out?
And Nonnie, my eye brows sadly have got a good few white longer hairs in them - I pluck out the worst ones!
I have a cut booked for Friday - layers - so will discover how much grey shows then and may decide to go back to colour, though I tend to agree with Chloe1984 - I find the cost quite high, especially if you make sure the roots don't show for long! I have been on the same journey as you Chloe - trying to accept the grey. I haven't tried the special shampoos yet so will give them a try.

My hair is still dark brown except for an eskimo ruff of grey/white around my face, very unflattering. Fortunately, I have a thick fringe and long bob that falls forward over most of it and I just colour it using a colour a shade lighter than my natural colour. Because so little of my hair is grey I get away with only doing it every three or four months.

Caramel low lights every 3 months. I do my roots at home every three weeks or so, hubby obligingly does the back.

Anyone else discovered Colour Wow root retouch kit? a bit like block mascara. It's quite good for touching up grey regrowth if you don't want to go the whole hog and faff about with the real messy stuff. I believe there's now a Charles Worthington spray for root re growth but every time I go to Boots they are all out of mid brown, clearly a lot of us mousy people around!

"Arn't these new hot air driers awful when you have thin wispy hair"!
Never mind, the EU will soon see to that grandma60!

I would love a layered bob, but I said on another post that it ended up as a thatched roof (according to DH).
Changed hairdresser since then, now shorter but not too short, and now my lovely new hairdresser is emigrating!!

Comment from someone in the ladies at work today. "Arn't these new hot air driers awful when you have thin wispy hair"!!

You are very kind Marelli but my hair has never been "lovely" it is quite thin on top and thick at the back and sides (weird) and seems to have a life of its own most of the time. After my recent "colour job" I am shocked every time I pass a mirror !

gillybob, your hair is lovely - well, it was when I saw it a few weeks ago, anyway!

I have recently been dragged kicking and screaming to a hair salon by my sister. I absolutely hate the hairdressers as I do not have fabulous thick glossy locks. I also HATE looking at myself in the mirror. So a visit to the hairdressers is like torture. However my recent visit resulted in a quite pleasant choppy bob (that's what she said it was anyway) and a rich shade of auburn/red which I am told suits my coloring.

Used to have the whole highlights thing done but when I retired thought I would economise. So for the last three years have allowed my naturally dark hair to follow its own course. I therefore have lots of hair which is now a silvery grey. I use shampoo/ conditioner for grey hair and have it cut every six weeks into a shortish layered bob. I would rather still have the highlights but really do not feel comfortable over the cost and it used to take less time to grow out etc. I am therefore embracing and working the grey as best as I can.

I have a layered bob, and have blonde highlights done twice a year which keeps the grey at bay.

Mine is still brown with just a tinge of silver; however my eyebrows are half and half white and black. Very odd.

I was hoping to inherit my paternal Granny's white hair like yours Marelli but unfortunately inherited my maternal Granny's silver at the front but iron grey elsewhere.

Instead of highlights at the hairdressers which I have had done for years, I decided to buy Garnier Belle Colour, naturally dark blonde last week. It is still waiting in the bathroom for me to pluck up the courage to give it a go myself!

I too have let my hair grow to shoulder length as I have always found it easier to work with than short hairstyles.

I am also wishing for silver/white but such with grey (darker at the back) and blonde (Nice n Easy) nearly grown out. Does anyone know if it is possible to dye it a lovely silver at home?

Honestly purple or pink looks lovely

I have streaks of white amongst my silver locks! Very subtle

Went for highlights when I started going grey but now my natural salt and pepper- and proud of it.

I have grey at the sides of my hair and it is noticeable after about 5/6 weeks of colouring,I have always kept mine a blonde shade and have been a fan of Nice & Easy for years and depending on the time of year gone between no.s 99 & 101 any colour that I have had previously at the hairdressers has slid off my hair after a week or two so I decided to do it myself and can leave it for about 8 weeks between treatments as I wear it up most days because of the length (waist length) I also look out for special offers as I have to buy 2 x boxes at a time due to amount of hair,I must add though that hairdressers are much more approachable than they where years ago and they are trained to very high standards not just your "one style suits all" they do listen to what the customers says she wants.

I put streaks of purple in mine