Hair color question - would this work?

[Anonymous]

I have dark brown hair with an increasing amount of grey. I can't afford to get professional dye jobs every six weeks at a salon, time- or money-wise. But I'm thinking it's time to do something about the grey. Would it work if I used a light brown drugstore dye, one of those 30-wash kits, to turn my grey into highlights? Would it change the color of my still-dark hair? I don't like hair dye because unless it's done professionally and very skillfully, it looks either flat, or stripy. I'm hoping to keep my dark hair dark, and just color the grey a slightly lighter color than the rest. Anyone tried this?

[Anonymous]

My guess is this would not work. It would turn all your hair the color of the dye, but only until it washed out in 30 days.

[Anonymous]

If you do all over color, just do it yourself every 6 weeks. It generally looks pretty good if you do it right. Otherwise, pay to get highlights, which might mask it for a little longer til you can get back to the salon....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My guess is this would not work. It would turn all your hair the color of the dye, but only until it washed out in 30 days.

Really? If she uses a dye that is lighter than her natural color, say the color of her natural highlights, wouldn't it be invisible on the darker hairs? Or would it discolor them?

I've never used any at home hair color and have been wondering the same thing. Darn genetics that are causing me to gray prematurely!

[Anonymous]

It lightens your hair. Trust me. I have medium to dark brown hair and every color seems to be too light (despite the pictures on the box). I end up with dark roots and have to recolor often.

[Anonymous]

I am in the same situation. The salon told me that I could probably do highlights every few months (which is better than every 6 weeks) for a while to cover up the gray which is noticeable but not a ton of it. So maybe try getting professional highlights first before trying to do it yourself? I haven't done it yet myself, I'm holding out for a bit longer.

[Anonymous]

I have my hair highlighted every 8 weeks, but at around 4 weeks I go over the gray with a root touch up kit in dark blond or light brown. In the winter I sometimes use the medium brown because I like more contrast in the winter months.

[Anonymous]

I also do salon highlights -- but often let it go 3 months or so. My roots get very gray so I do the root touch up kit between visits -- it does wonders and is a great product (comes with a little brush).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I also do salon highlights -- but often let it go 3 months or so. My roots get very gray so I do the root touch up kit between visits -- it does wonders and is a great product (comes with a little brush).

Can you post a link to the touch up product you are using? Thanks.

[Anonymous]

It definitely lightens your darker hair. This is what I do now, I have darker brown hair with gray. I use a lighter brown color to lighten my whole head and cover the gray in one step. The natural darker color does not show through.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the definitive answers. You've dashed my hopes, but at least now I know! Weird, though, that a lighter dye would lighten darker hair. Do they all contain a bleaching agent of some kind?

[Anonymous]

I just wanted to add that while I find salon hair dye to be very flat, box hair dyes aren't nearly as flat looking (maybe they don't absorb as well?). I use the one that claims to add highlights (says something like "multi-dimensional), and while it does not had salon-looking highlights, it does add an element of dimension to my hair. And I do find the greys to be lighter than the non-grey hair.

[Anonymous]

Temporary and semipermanent colors won't lighten your dark hair. They also don't do such a hot job of covering gray, IME.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Temporary and semipermanent colors won't lighten your dark hair. They also don't do such a hot job of covering gray, IME.

Not true. They may not turn your hair all the way to the box color, but it will definitely change the color of your hair. It could make dark hair slightly brassy in the long run. Just FYI.

[Anonymous]

let me give you a secret, as we age hair gets really difficult, i personally bought a crayon at sally supply and use it until i see my hairdresser, also if your hair is dark white shows no matter what, try talking to the hairdresser and see if she can lighten your hair slowly and some highlights, my sister had dark virgin hair she had to bleach to lighten and have a lighter base if not she would of looked like the monsters family with the white contrast, hair color is very tricky unless someone professional who really knows does a good mix.