here's an article I found that might be helpful to you!
WHEN YOU ARE GOING BACK to gray hair after coloring for years, it can be a challenge.
When I decided three years ago to let my hair go gray, I thought I could relatively easily strip the existing color out in one easy salon visit. Little did I know that going back to natural gray hair after coloring involved a lot more than just un-coloring. It required a complete rethink on hairstyles for gray hair, and ended up in an unexpected hairstyle makeover for me.
Of the two steps, choosing hairstyles for gray hair vs. successfully growing out the color, choosing a hairstyle is by far the easiest.
At first I focused on hairstyles that kept my longer-than-shoulder-length-hair intact. But as it turned out, a short hairstyle for my gray hair worked for me. It felt fresh, and once I got the cut, it made the process of going back to natural gray hair after coloring much less burdensome.
I have to say right off the bat, growing out color is not easy. When I naively announced to my colorist that I wanted to do just that in one salon visit, it was all she could do not to laugh. She very patiently explained what I didn't understand.
Each time I'd had my roots done with my single-process color, that inch or two of hair had absorbed the color differently from the inch or two below and the inch or two below that. And the few times a year when I'd had the color pulled all the way through my hair to deepen the faded ends had only exacerbated that problem. Evidently, my transition to a gray hair was not going to be easy.
My hair was a patchwork where each strand had not only absorbed the color differently; each inch along each individual strand also had a slightly different color. If I were to strip the color out, she told me, my hair might end up looking something like a hyena's hide. And trust me, if you've ever seen the patchy, scraggly way a hyena's fur looks, you don't want to go there.
It turned out that thereís only really one option available to a person who is considering going back to natural gray hair after coloring. And to let their gray hair grow in without cutting down to their roots is to begin to add lighter (or depending on your hair coloring, darker) colored streaks to your hair, so that as the roots grow in, the highlights work to blend the line between the old colored hair and the new non-colored hair.
I had the highlights put in about every three months and each time my colorist added those, she would add a toner to further blend in the colors. It was not perfect. The difference between my old dark color and my new gray hairstyle was still visible.
The ends of my hair also began to look really dried out. After about a year - yes, a year - I decided to cut off several inches and speed along the process.
Having now adopted a hairstyle for short gray hair and gone back to natural gray hair after coloring, here are my tips:
1. Like any renovation project, going back to natural gray hair after coloring will probably take longer than you estimate or want - but it's worth it.
2. Work with a professional colorist to help you manage the transition - and if your colorist isn't keen to partner with you, get a different one.
3. There are plenty of hairstyles for gray hair. So consider cutting off some of the length, once you've made progress - and get a cut that makes you feel fresh.
