Another Hair Color Question

[Disney Ella]

Coloring my hair at home wasn't keeping the white hairs colored long enough, so I went to a salon. Now two weeks later, the white hairs are visible again. I thought the salon color would last longer and am a little disappointed I paid a lot more money to have the same problem. Isn't hair color at a salon supposed to be better?

What does it take to color white hairs and have them stay colored? I notice that a lot of older women don't have white hair, but have very dark or red hair. Do you need to go dark to make color stick to white hair? I would ideally like to go a shade or two lighter than medium brown since I have such pale skin, but I would like the whites to stay colored, so I am wondering if that is even an option.

I have read about having hair highlighted to blend in gray/white hairs. Does that work and look good if you have brown hair with about 10 percent white hair?

 

[kacaju]

No idea as I don't color my hair, but the same thing just happened to my sister in law.

 

[golfgal]

Where are the "white" hairs? I haven't had any issues with an all over color keeping my gray/white hair colored but the regrowth does show after a few weeks. If your hair grows fast you probably need to go in for a touch up. My color schedule is to get an all over color with highlights (she does 2 colors for the highlights), 5 weeks later go in for a root touch up, 5 weeks later another touch up (in the winter) and then an all over color in another 5 weeks. In the summer I need to go for an all over every other time because of fading with sun exposure.

 

[GoodFairies]

Are you talking about regrowth? Or is the color actually coming off the hairs? That shouldn't be happening and you should go back to the salon. If it is regrowth, it's not the salon's fault how fast your hair grows. I would suggest getting 1-2 shades of highlights, it really helps to blend the grays. If you don't want to deal with the maintenance of highlights, I echo the previous poster in scheduling root touch ups.

 

[Disney Ella]

No, it's not regrowth. It's long white hairs throughout my hair. I have some white hairs sprinkled throughout my head, but more at the temples. I am just wondering if it is the type of hair color used because I was surprised to see the color just disappear from the white hairs so soon. I thought by getting my hair colored at a salon, those white hairs would stay colored (except for new growth, of course.)

 

[GoodFairies]

Ok, I would suggest going back to the salon. Talk with the stylist about color that works on stubborn grays/whites. If they are any good they should touch up for a discount if not free. If not I would continue the search for a stylist who is experienced with hair like yours.

 

[antmaril]

My hair is white at the temples. I color my hair at home (L'Oreal Preference) and have discussed this with my hair dresser. She tells me that the gray/white hairs are very resistant to the color. She says that even if she does my color, there is really no guarantee that the color at my temples will take. I have decided to just live with it. The cost to have it done in the salon is just too much and, again, it may not solve my problem anyway.

 

[kacaju]

My hair is white at the temples. I color my hair at home (L'Oreal Preference) and have discussed this with my hair dresser. She tells me that the gray/white hairs are very resistant to the color. She says that even if she does my color, there is really no guarantee that the color at my temples will take. I have decided to just live with it. The cost to have it done in the salon is just too much and, again, it may not solve my problem anyway.

Really?? WOW...That is exactly where my grays are... I have already decided I did not want to be bothered trying to cover my grays...after listening to my SIL complain about how her color didn't take and now this...I know I have made the right choice for me...

 

[KiminChicago]

What kind of shampoo do you use? That can also affect how long the color lasts. My hair dresser recommended that I use a shampoo made for color treated hair -- I use Suave and it seems to work just fine.

 

[antmaril]

I use a L'Oreal shampoo for color treated hair.

I want to add that my hair (the dyed color) is a natural blond (my real hair color is a mousy brown now mixed with gray), so the difference between the white at my temples and the rest is not huge. It's not like my hair is dark brown and my temples are white.

 

[LuvOrlando]

I have a few gray hairs and they won't keep the color no matter what I do. I haven't gone to a salon because everyone I know pays a fortune and ends up in the same place which would annoy me sooo much, besides there aren't enough to really be a bother... not yet anway. I think I will go the route of highlights when the hairs get to be more noticeable, it's what all the women in my family have always done... I think angry grays are inherited.

 

[Disney Ella]

Thanks for your replies. It's good to know that I'm not alone. I will ask my stylist next time if there are any other products she uses that might be better to cover white hairs. I just assumed that having the color done at the salon was the answer to my problems. Oh, and I do use shampoo for colored hair, but for some reason, it didn't help in my case.

 

[mckryan]

It took my stylist a few tries, but we finally got a mix that takes care of my gray hairs with none of it fading off. It is worth every penny to me because drugstore hair color would not stay on my gray hair, and I'm way too young to go gray! I just wish my hair didn't grow so fast!

 

[shannonh]

According to my studies, white hair has no pigment and in turn is very resistant to accepting color. There is a process that can be done to try and get the color to "stick". It involves putting the developer on the white hair first, which may rough up and open the cuticle of the white hair, which would then allow color to seep in. After that, the color would be applied.
It may or may not work, I've seen both.
My mom has white hairs and the rest is blonde, I've found that by adding highlights her white hairs blend in and look like highlights.

 

[zoemurr]

and unfortunately my hair has been completely 100% snow white for almost 10 years.

It did take my stylist a few times to find a brown that would "stick", so I wouldn't give up just yet. If you call now they might even re-do it for free. I know she has the color sit on my longer than most people before she washes it out. Maybe that would help?

My hair does grow very quickly though, and the part line shows (to me anyway) after a week or so. I use the Clairol root coverage inbetween and it works quite well for me.

Good luck! I'm not at all ready to go white, and at this point I'm not even sure how I would let it grow out if I did want to.

 

[kinntj]

I'm 40 and not ready to go gray yet either. I do have a touchup schedule of 5 weeks at the salon. I do one color through the winter and get highlights during the rest of the year. I feel it's worth the expense.

I have done at home coloring before with Loreal and that worked fine, but it was such a pain to do it myself and make sure every hair was touched up.