Tired of dying hair; going gray economically

[asafko]

I have box dyed my hair for years (I am 48). I have gray roots that I have to retouch so often that I am just sick of doing it anymore. The color of my dyed hair is medium to dark mahogany brown. I am considering using Color Oops to get back to my natural color and then go from there. Trying not to go to the salon for a costly and lengthy transition. Any thoughts?

 

[Shughart]

I would just let the grey grow out honestly. I'm in my mid 30's and I have friends who are starting to go grey along the edges and they are embracing it. I know people SPENDING a ton of money to go beautiful shades of grey. What would the benefit be of going back to your natural color? Just curious.

 

[wendow]

OP, if your dyed hair is on the darker side, I can see why you would want a 'gentler' look as you let the gray grow. Could you begin highlighting with a lighter color to lighten up your hair overall? I use an at home kit to highlight my hair. I use a blonde but sometimes I lowlight and add dark. You could do whatever color you want, even eventually adding some gray in.

 

[kaytieeldr]

What would the benefit be of going back to your natural color? Just curious.

Simplification. I colored my gray hair for many years. Not coloring is easier.

 

[yesdnil]

Boxed dye on top of boxed dye can turn some really wonky colors, so I would hesitate to use more dye, bleach, or color corrector/remover on top of hair that's been through so many layers of boxed dye.

If you're willing to go through a gradual transition, with an "ombre" effect as your hair coloring gradually fades and grows out, you can use some natural products to help the dye fade. I've used vinegar in the shower as a final rinse to help draw out dye. You can also scrub hair with a little bit of salt (works even better if you can soak your hair in coconut or olive oil beforehand). Violet-toned shampoo and conditioner (they sell these for grey and blonde hair to counter brassiness) would help counter the reddish undertones from the mahogany brown coloring so that the transition to grey looks more natural.

If you don't want to go through the transition period and want to dye your hair now, you'll need to use a bleach kit to strip and lighten your hair, then choose a color like an ashy dark blonde that's similar to your grey tone and use that after bleaching your hair. Then you'll still need to let it grow out to return to your natural color completely.

 

[DLgal]

Get a pixie cut and let it grow back out from there.

 

[unrequited23]

Color Oops will not take your hair back to it's original color it will remove the dye that has been deposited. It would most likely result in patchy shades of orange and/or yellow. I would suggest trying to grow out your roots until you can't take it anymore, then cutting as much of your old growth off as you feel comfortable doing and then getting a half head of highlights in your natural color to blend the line between the colored and natural hair.

Also, what is your natural color and about how much gray do you think you have? 25%? 50%? 75%?

 

[Shughart]

Oh, I was confused by your wanting to go back to your natural color and your wanting to use color oops. Because as the above poster mentioned, that will not happen....yeah using color remover will likely ruin your hair and CAUSE you to have to spend lots of money and time in a salon to fix it. Let it grow out naturally. DGal's suggestion of a pixie cut would aide in the removal of excess colored colored hair and speed up the time until all your hair is your natural shade of grey.

 

[descovy]

I’ve finally done it. I’m 42, and I stopped dyeing it at 40. It’s taken that long to fully grow out my chin length hair.

I went to a salon one last time. She put in some highlights and lowlights to break up that strict line of demarcation.

And then I just waited. Cut every 2 months and wait.

If you’re brave, I saw a girl on Facebook dyed her hair blue one last time and then as the gray came it, it was a fun ombré at least!

 

[tzolkin]

I’ve finally done it. I’m 42, and I stopped dyeing it at 40. It’s taken that long to fully grow out my chin length hair.

I went to a salon one last time. She put in some highlights and lowlights to break up that strict line of demarcation.

And then I just waited. Cut every 2 months and wait.

If you’re brave, I saw a girl on Facebook dyed her hair blue one last time and then as the gray came it, it was a fun ombré at least!

I don’t plan to dye my hair because I don’t want to deal with the growing out process. I have very dark hair that has started going grey (getting “sparkly”) gradually. But... if I did I think your suggestion of a completely unnatural color would be great. I think it would appear that it was supposed to look like that on purpose rather than like you’re struggling through the awkward transition phase.

 

[willowsnn3]

I was probably in my 50's when I stopped coloring. Cold turkey, lol. My hair is super straight and grows fast so I just started wearing one of those cheapo plastic hair bands. All the hair in front of the band would be gray and the hair behind would be darker & after a couple inches growth, I would get a hair cut eventually to bring hair to all one length then when all the dye was gone I started getting shorter, layered cuts. I usually use one of the purple shampoos for gray hair & thankfully my shade of gray is like my mom's was & I get a lot of compliments on the color.

 

[asafko]

Thanks so much for all the replies. I will be returning the Color Oops I bought! My problem is I look horrible with a short cut. I have very full, thick, curly hair so length is needed so that it gets weighed down a bit. I don't know how much gray there is but on top (at the part line) and around my face comes in white. I think I will just wear lots of hats for a while.

 

[maxaroni]

I was in my mid 40s when I stopped coloring my hair. Like you, I was so tired of it all as I was gray in my temples and at the part and it was too much for me to keep up. I went cold turkey and just waited it out. I did go, as a PP said, one time to get highlights to help it.

However, I am not familiar with the purple shampoo and a bit afraid to even try it. My hair looks naturally highlighted with various shades of gray, have embraced it now.

 

[NY Pirate Princess]

You can try dying your hair with a temporary 28 day box color while you grow it out. I will warn you that the darker colors can stain light or grey hair so i would stick to the blonder shades.

I am 49 and have never dyed to cover my grey but i sure did love my jet black youth with a big manic panic red streak! I have also had women in my professional life tell me i am brave. I dont tell them i am just too lazy to dye now and thank them graciously.

 

[LovesTimone]

My mom had black hair and went the boxed route for years, finally she decided to go all in with the gray...I insisted that she went the professional route... they highlighted her hair with 2 shades of grey... I think all in all she had it done 3 times over a period of 18 months or so... Her hair is salt and pepper grey, completely natural and she is 75 years old...she gets compliments all the time about the color of her hair...she laughs when they ask who does the color she says... the good lord above is my colorist...

My hair is a medium blonde, that's my natural color.. I highlight it once or twice a year... I have a blended highlights ( high and low lights) so that you really can't see the growth. I always start looking in the grow out to see if I can spot the grey's, starting in... my stylist said that I don't really have grey's more leaning to white, which she said is easy to keep it up... My grandmother had the most beautiful head of white hair, and my Dad has beautiful white hair... so maybe I'll be lucky and get that really white hair... I'm not ready for that just yet... so I will just keep on with the highlights for a few more years...

 

[DisneyHardin]

My Mom is in the process of letting hers go gray (she is 66). She did go to the salon and have her highlight it with quite a bit of blond to ease the transition from brown to gray. It helped, but honestly right now, it looks pretty horrible. It will take some time for the transition. You will just have to be patient.

 

[wenrob]

My mom had black hair and went the boxed route for years, finally she decided to go all in with the gray...I insisted that she went the professional route... they highlighted her hair with 2 shades of grey... I think all in all she had it done 3 times over a period of 18 months or so... Her hair is salt and pepper grey, completely natural and she is 75 years old...she gets compliments all the time about the color of her hair...she laughs when they ask who does the color she says... the good lord above is my colorist...

My hair is a medium blonde, that's my natural color.. I highlight it once or twice a year... I have a blended highlights ( high and low lights) so that you really can't see the growth. I always start looking in the grow out to see if I can spot the grey's, starting in... my stylist said that I don't really have grey's more leaning to white, which she said is easy to keep it up... My grandmother had the most beautiful head of white hair, and my Dad has beautiful white hair... so maybe I'll be lucky and get that really white hair... I'm not ready for that just yet... so I will just keep on with the highlights for a few more years...

This is pretty much what I would do. If I’m going to go grey I’d rather spend some money and transition rather than wait it out. My hair grows super fast but I don’t think I’d have the patience to grow it out. Not happening for many years though. I’m not feeling that aging gracefully thing.

 

[Magical_Suitcase]

Like many others have said, I stopped having my hair highlighted/colored in my forties, best decision ever. My hair was highlighted at the time I made my decision to go natural. I had my stylist try to create a color close to my original color (that part that was growing out) and then cut my hair short. It worked, it did not look bad growing out and with being short it was soon all natural.

 

[NKHarris329]

There are a few options that I think might work for you...

You can purchase a color depositing shampoo that will lightly color your new growth so that the line isn't quite as obvious. It won't turn very light hair very dark, but it will help blend the lighter and darker parts together. I use the Watercolors shampoo about once a week to blend the grey streaks in my otherwise brown hair, but I'd probably do it more often if I was trying to blend a new growth line.

Getting highlights that blend your natural color into your dyed hair to break up the line would also be a good idea. This is one I would pay the money to get it professionally done though. It can be tricky to match, especially when working with a mix of color treated and non color treated hair.

 

[crisi]

I touch mine up with semi perm - something like Natural Instincts, while my grey gets a little longer to blend into salt and pepper. But I'm not grey, just going there