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Style & beauty

Covering up the grey

(44 Posts)
Allsorts Fri 06-Aug-21 12:40:32

I am 50 per cent grey and quite lined it, looks as if I have had streaks. Now I want to go blonde, has anyone done this themselves, I don’t want to sit in the hairdressers every six weeks

Smurf52 Mon 09-Aug-21 12:51:09

I love my silver grey hair. I'm done with expensive hair colouring. A lot of young girls are sporting grey hair dyes these days out of choice, so I feel I'm in with the in crowd to quote a lovely 60s expression!

Jaxjacky Mon 09-Aug-21 12:53:17

Allsorts I use nice n easy as well, it’s not too harsh or expensive and colours well. I’ve been using it for years, The mid blonde, same as Coolgran.

silverlining48 Mon 09-Aug-21 17:15:39

I have used the clairol medium blond semi permanent too, and am considering giving it another go. There is a limited colour range and the next one is a very light blond.

Have noticed that semi permanent colour has all but disappeared off the shelves and almost every manufacturer except Clairol only does permanent, which I don’t want to use as it leaves grey roots as it grows.

Esspee Mon 09-Aug-21 17:38:37

I have used Preference by L'Oreal for about 45 years. I love the condition it leaves your hair in and the multi tonal colour. It seems to lift your colour a few shades leaving your natural gradations of colour whereas hairdressers seem to strip all the colour out before replacing with the new colour. If you wish a natural look streaks need to be added making it a very expensive operation.
I have a shoulder length bob and use half a box of Preference about every 4 weeks so it costs me about £6 a month. The conditioner they supply lasts about 4 shampoos.

Katyj Mon 09-Aug-21 17:46:00

Esspee. How do you use half a box. Do you mix together the two bottles and then save half for next time ?

Esspee Mon 09-Aug-21 18:39:26

No Katyj once mixed it has to be used or discarded. The first time you need a full box, clean and keep the plastic applicator bottle and next time when doing the roots pour and squeeze half the peroxide and colourant into the old bottle.

Ailidh Mon 09-Aug-21 18:58:02

I'm going blonde at the hairdresser's next week. The nice young girl assured me that she would make it look natural. I assured her I didn't want to look natural, I wanted to look Wow.

I've been hoping for years that my grey would come in - but all I've got are fuzzy patches of grey hair, and the rest of it is just looking dusty and sad, not even a decent salt and pepper.

SpringyChicken Mon 09-Aug-21 22:31:29

I've coloured my hair myself for years - at the suggestion of my mobile hairdresser. I use Nice n Easy dark blond (shade number 7) and every time she cuts my hair, she mentions how natural it looks. It is amazing how it turns out with different tones, not one flat colour. Once I have applied it to the roots, husband checks it over for missed patches. I leave it to 'cook' for 25 minutes, then apply the remaining solution and comb it through to the tips. After another ten minutes, it's time to rinse off. Over the weeks, the colour gradually lightens to quite a light blond (I have a lot of white hair). For convenience, I colour it in the utility room and put down old sheets to protect the units, just in case.

NotTooOld Mon 09-Aug-21 22:42:26

I used home dyes all through lockdown. It looked ok but what a palaver. I even managed to get dark dye on the sloping ceiling of the bathroom so that my DH had to repaint the whole lot. I was very glad when I could get back to the hairdresser. So was DH. grin

NotTooOld Mon 09-Aug-21 22:46:22

My hair is long and I'm thinking of letting it go grey. At the moment it is dyed brown but with lighter streaks and the grey roots show about half an inch. Yes, I know, it looks awful. I'm thinking of asking the girl to put dark streaks in it next time and leave the roots to come through grey. Has anyone tried this? Will I look like Tyrone's grandma on Coronations Street?

Esspee Tue 10-Aug-21 08:33:46

Can't understand what you found such a palaver NotTooOld. I squeeze a tube of colourant into the bottle, give it a shake, put it on my hair, wait the required time, comb it through then 10 mins later I wash it off and apply conditioner. Adds half an hour onto a normal hair washing but hardly difficult.

silverlining48 Tue 10-Aug-21 09:08:40

DIY colour on long hair must be more awkward so could be messier.
Not too old would think blonde highlights might be better than dark, but your hair dress er would advise.

silverlining48 Tue 10-Aug-21 09:09:12

Hairdresser ?‍♀️

Skydancer Tue 10-Aug-21 09:17:28

I was always dark but started dyeing my hair lighter once it went grey. Most people liked it. My daughter hated it so I dyed it dark and she said how nice it looked. My GS took one look and was horrified. Now it's a mix of grey, white, sun-bleached yellow and brown. It looks awful no matter what I do and, because of Covid, I'm scared of going to a hairdresser.

Hetty58 Tue 10-Aug-21 09:26:11

Allsorts, I'm the 'other way round' having been (mostly) forever blonde, I find I prefer the grey - so I'm dyeing the remaining blonde streaks 'Steel silver'. It's a darker grey with a metallic sheen and a purplish tinge.

Like Esspee, I find it quite easy to apply, wait the half hour - then jump into the shower to rinse and condition.

timetogo2016 Tue 10-Aug-21 09:35:13

I`m going grey and just going with the flow.
Strangely though, the grey is coming through very very wavy.

NotTooOld Tue 10-Aug-21 09:41:16

Esspee - can understand why you should say that but, as Silverlining suggests, my hair is long and that makes managing the dyeing process more difficult.
Thanks for the suggestions. I can't go to the salon at the moment as my DH is shielding prior to a hospital op but as soon as I am free again I will be making an appointment.

Katyj Tue 10-Aug-21 15:05:26

Esspee. Thanks for the tip , I never thought of that ?