Blond to cover gray?

[Anonymous]

Complete newbie to hair color -
I have medium brown shoulder length hair with gray at the temples. I would like to go for a big change - lots of blond, with the ultimate effect of covering the gray and *looking years younger* of course.

Does this work?

If I do this, Am I doomed to sit in the colorists' chair for ever after?

I am 60.

TY

[Anonymous]

It is possible. You will have to find a stylist who has worked with gray hair before. Expect to pay about $700 for the first appt and I would expect it to take about 5 hours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is possible. You will have to find a stylist who has worked with gray hair before. Expect to pay about $700 for the first appt and I would expect it to take about 5 hours.

Ignore this PP.

All colorists work with gray hair. It is their bread and butter. Find a friend with nicely colored gray hair and ask where they go.

My coloring costs $110 or $140 if I want a few highlights in the front with it. Haircut is another $60 but only do that 2x a year.

And yes, blond is much easier to maintain because you don’t have to get retouched as often. I only go every 6-7 weeks, but my friend with dark brown hair goes every 3-4.

[Anonymous]

My friend went all silver, and she had her colorist weave in blond at the top and all blond on the bottom. It looks like she's a natural platinum blonde. I would find a colorist who an expert in blonde color and see what they recommend.

[Anonymous]

My mom did this. She had dark hair and started going gray young, which she covered with dye. Once she started going more gray, she dyed her hair blonde for less maintenance. It worked but just think about whether you would look good blonde. My mom had blonde hair as a child (I think this is a clue to whether you would look good with lighter hair) and blue eyes so the blonde looked very natural on her. She eventually grew out the blonde and went totally gray during covid, which looks beautiful on her.

[Anonymous]

I never think it looks younger

[Anonymous]

It depends on your skin tone. As a former brunette with blue eyes and freckles whose skin tended to go very pink, it didn’t work for me. I think if someone has different skin tones and the right color eyes, it can work. I ended up letting the gray come in because no colorist could get a color to work that looked natural with my skin.

Consider clothing, too, before you do this. I did have to change the colors of my clothing to make my skin and new hair color work together. So that’s something you should also consider. When I had lighter colored hair and when I went gray, I had to stop wearing black and gray near my face because that sucked all of the color out of me. I can still wear navy and light blue and unexpectedly I can now wear cream, which used to look awful on me.

[Anonymous]

I'm blonde and getting some gray near my temples - and highlights/lowlights cover it well. But the gray part doesn't hold the color as well as my other hair color. It blends pretty well though because the gray and blonde aren't that different, so I only get highlights every 3 months. However, I think with brown roots you're going to need maintenance every 6 weeks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm blonde and getting some gray near my temples - and highlights/lowlights cover it well. But the gray part doesn't hold the color as well as my other hair color. It blends pretty well though because the gray and blonde aren't that different, so I only get highlights every 3 months. However, I think with brown roots you're going to need maintenance every 6 weeks.

thank you this is very helpful

[Anonymous]

I have the same hair color as you and started greying in my early 40s. I did highlights to cover the grey and while it worked for a while, the blonde was eventually too blond, then we were weaving in brown highlights.

I finally gave up this past fall and went back to dying it brown to match my original hair color. I know this sounds silly, but I did not realize how absolutely fried my hair was. I'm planning to grow it out (I have chin length hair and am halfway there) and see what I want to do then.

And yes, it's expensive. Not to mention the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have the same hair color as you and started greying in my early 40s. I did highlights to cover the grey and while it worked for a while, the blonde was eventually too blond, then we were weaving in brown highlights.

I finally gave up this past fall and went back to dying it brown to match my original hair color. I know this sounds silly, but I did not realize how absolutely fried my hair was. I'm planning to grow it out (I have chin length hair and am halfway there) and see what I want to do then.

And yes, it's expensive. Not to mention the time.

Was it because you were lightening it with peroxide before you colored? If so, you might find that a one-step color process for just brown is much easier on your hair.

[Anonymous]

You are a slave to roots.

[Anonymous]

I have brown hair and the reality is brown hair is the worst and hardest color to dye. It's hard to dye it brown and have it look natural. It's also hard to dye it blonde and have it look good with your skin tone.

Women who have blond hair OR or who had blonde hair when they were little can pull off saying their gray easier.

You're sixty. I'd call it a day and go gray.

[Anonymous]

Loreal root rescue touch up is easy to use.