Going grey from darkish brown - not sure what to do

Highlights are the answer. I have 3 colours put in- a dark blonde, brown & red ( very red - although it does fade).
I have about 20% grey but most by my hairline near face. The die works very well.
I expected to go grey early but I didn't- my grandmother was pure white by the age of 16! She had waist length hair too. Apparently it looked stunning. Her hair stayed pure white until she died in her late 80s. Never any grey. My mum died quite young but dyed her hair blonde anyway.
I'm not ready for salt & pepper or grey yet.

I was also dark brown thick wavy hair but started going greyin My 30sNow in my 60s I do think grey is ageing for me so go for a lighter brown and highlights at the hairdressers every 3 months or so and do the roots myself in between with a roots spray when needed ! Too vain maybe! I suppose there will come a time when I’ll have to give in !

Have your hair cropped it's very fashionable, and you will have no transition period. No long length with white roots, and you can always grow it back.
I also have dark eyebrows and lashes and my hair is nearly all white.
Time for a new you ?

I had my first grey hair when I was 16 and was completely grey by the age of 30. I dyed it till I was about 50 - and didn't like the process at all. So I let it grow out (didn't know you could get it bleached!) and since then have been very happy to have silver hair. I do hope the OP will find a happy transition - lots of good ideas here.

go for brown highlights and rely on your fading eyesight to fool you when you look in the mirror

I have lots of grey and used to colour it myself but it started to go brassy blond very quickly instead of mid brown. Now have a shorter cut with highlights and low lights and a light brown main colour. I started to let the grey through but hated it!

Oh I barely know the colour of my hair except for badger...

have dyed it myself for last 60 odd years ... one colour or another and currently using 7.3 for those of you who recognise the codes ...
once a month I re-dye it ... almost as easy as a shampooing with half an hour wait before washing it out...

at almost 80 I am led by Joan Bakewell ... she’s a bit older than me ... when she stops dyeing her hair so will I ....

123coco I was thinking the same thing. I used Regaine a couple of years ago and it worked quite well but I think the regrowth wasn't very strong because it is thinning again the same place. I hate it. I wouldn't mind being grey if I could have thick hair.

I allowed myself to go grey at 60, by just not using any more semi-perm colours at home, and my hairdresser just cut off more and more colour, every time I went. It was fine, so long as I kept it in good condition and, most importantly, had a good modern haircut. But now I'm a bit bored with it, and so have recently had some lowlights put in (foils). They look very natural and have just added some colour and warm back in (mainly mid-brown/ dark blonde). In your shoes, I'd go down the lowlights route - you have to accept some grey (and why not ??) but it can "transition" you to a time when, perhaps, you want to go completely grey? A friend of mine is 72 and grey, and she looks stunning. (Dont' forget, as we get older, our skins get lighter and we need a slightly lighter hair colour).

I had my hair cut really short, a few highlights, a holiday in the sun and have never looked back. Get lots of compliments on my healthy grey hair and enjoy the extra cash in my purse to treat myself to some occasional beauty treatments.

After a lifetime of dying my hair, when I retired I decided to go grey. The top is a gorgeous, glossy white but the back and sides are a dark, pepper and salt grey and I think I resemble a badger. Fast forward to last week and after 8 years of grey I had three shades of blonde foiled through. No one has noticed, not a comment and definitely not as shiny as my natural colour and so, I am going to gradually grow it all out and spend the small fortune I will be saving, on something lovely for myself! Grey is sophisticated!!!!!!!

Sorry Coco, you're quite right.... when I think about it, I am happy to have my hair, whatever colour it is !!

it's complicated - last time I dyed my hair myself it went far too dark and I had to have the colour taken out, which wasn't that successful. I have had grey coming through for years but decided to not put any colour on and see what happens. I had my hair cut recently, so that's fine. And I am learning to live (and like) the grey coming through. You have to decide whether you want to spend a lot of time and money over the next few years or just let your hair do it's own thing, with regular trimming and styling as necessary. Thanks goodness grey is fashionable!

I couldn't care less. I'm not out to impress anyone and just feel sorry for those poor souls who've lost their hair to chemo.

Go grey. Abandon the dye. I had fine brown hair that I dyed to cover the grey. I thought it was patchy and dreaded looking mouse. My hairdresser retired and the new one said “grasp the nettle”. She cut it slightly shorter, stripped out the colour, bleached it and so I emerged blonde. I didn’t like the blonde but most friends and family seemed to like it. The grey and white grew through, and on one occasion I had some highlights put in to make the divide between bleached and new less obvious. But, since then FREEDOM! To my surprise the mixture of grey and white looks good, the colour suits me and I am asked if I have had streaks put in. My hair is in better condition but very fine so I indulge in a lot of product to give it volume. And the occasional cut. Phew.

I really loved being dark red but was getting so fed up of having a white parting so went blond.
I really didn’t think it would suit me but everyone says it does. I still have to have my roots done but not as often and it doesn’t look so bad when it is getting near to hairdresser time.
I will when I feel ready let the blond grow out but happy with how it is at the moment.

I had the same as the OP. My hairdresser said my hair is 85% grey which I covered for years with permanent and then semi permanent dyes.

Was fed up sitting every two weeks getting my white roots done.

So I decided to cut off half my hair (it was past my shoulder and is now a very short bob) stripped the colour out as much as I could and ended up with a dark blonde/light brown colour.

I don’t particularly like it - but people have said it really suits me.

I use colour sprays to cover my white roots. Spray it on dry hair or even better wet hair, and then dry it with the hairdryer. It looks much more natural.

I use a dark blonde and a light brown spray. It looks very natural - like highlights!

I found my colours in Superdrug - and they were selling off the cans for £1 each so I brought the lot which will keep me going for a long time!

Yep it’s a bit of a pain trying to make sure I’m ‘covered’ until my white hair comes through enough to let me be free of all colours, dyes and sprays... but on the plus side, I only have to wash my hair twice a week now (was every day before) and spruce it up with a bit of dry shampoo...

It’s made a huge difference to my life. For the first time ever I can get up, and if I haven’t washed my hair just brush it through!

Give it a try. It’s very easy

Let it grow out and don't be so vain.

I'm currently in the process of growing out the dark brown dyed hair to see what colour I really am now.
I thought about all my options over several months and finally decided to have my thick, wavy mop cut short in order to speed up the process.
I'm 10 days in and judging by what's showing of my grey hair, I appear to have more silver on one side of my head. I suspect I'm going to look a bit like Cruella de Ville!
I have a fat, round face and have always been very pale skinned. In fact, my natural hair colour looked so odd with my complexion that I was often accused of colouring my hair in the days when I didn't need to. I also have dark brown eyes and and eyebrows too.
I chose my new short hair style based on a combination of a couple of photos of Judy Dench and Julie Walters and decided to have it done now as I thought I could wear a hat in public if it looked too awful!
I've had lots of positive comments regarding my new look and the fact that the grey is more noticeable doesn't bother me.
Must admit it's a bit chilly round the back of my neck at the moment though!

Thanks for all the ideas, it's really interesting how many ways people deal with this. I know I look older generally now so I just feel wrong with dark brown hair.

I know one girl probably only in her late 30s, who has similar hair to me. She has a wavy bob of dark brown shot with silver. Honestly I think it makes her look older, but she's a very attractive warm person. I admire that she's accepted her natural hair. Also she's saving tons of money and time.

Well, for now I have used a Superdrug shampoo with very temporary colour in warm chestnut. That has pepped up the faded look a little but not covered the grey roots. I will NOT use any more permanent colour, nor any darker browns.

I think I will let the grey grow out more, it's only about 1 inch at the moment. I may resort to the colour spray on roots at times. I'm hoping the dark brown will fade a bit soon.
Using the local college is an idea I will investigate too thanks.

You need a hairdresser you can really trust. I went through all the natural dark brown, start of grey, dying, but I decided that to keep it up took a lot of time, and money, so I have gone ‘au naturel ‘ and love it. I still have dark brown hair mostly, but my grey is natural highlights - people even ask me where I have it done. Dyed hair rarely looks really natural as skin colour changes also.

Ask your hairdresser for help! After years of struggling with roots and highlights mine suggested a very short pixie cut from a long bob when all this started happening to me. People noticed the shock cut much more than the change of colour, and by the time the length had grown in again no one remembered my original colour. Very smooth. Now love my maintenance free hair, no more colours. Very liberating.

Sea cliff... I like all my siblings and father ,went grey in our late twenties early thirties. My son did as well and my daughter refuses to acknowledge this and has died her hair since 14!!! My son has never bothered with hair dye , but I like my daughter have always died my hair. Until three months ago.... I wanted to find out what sort of grey I had become in my ‘old-age’ (68) I Decided if I liked the colour, I would just let -it- be! Now all the dyes have grown and been cut out by my excellent hairdresser ..... I have glorious silver locks.... cut into the neck at the back, with a natural ‘kick’ upwards.... my hairdresser loves it and says she wishes more people would allow their real colour to shine through .... try it.... you might surprise yourself. Now instead of a cut n colour costing me £70 every 6 weeks.... my hairdresser comes to me and charges £10. The best decision I ever made about my appearance .

That’s it isn’t it JMitch. It’s liberating.

I was in exactly the same position as you. I had been dying my hair dark brown for years and the white roots looked awful. So, fed up of dying and root dying I went to the hairdresser and budgeted for three sessions to get my hair right again.
I had lots of lighter highlights put in first and then two more lots of this until it was looking good. I have now got a darkish blonde with a few highlights. The re-growth hardly shows at all.
The lighter colour suits my age more and I would never go back to dying it myself. You could do your own roots a few times and then have a hairdresser appointment every few months. Should keep it in shape for you.