s/o semi-permanent dye to minimize gray

[Anonymous]

I have been growing my hair out in the pandemic. It's TOO Gray for me, but I don't want to cover completely.

Anyone do at-home, semi-permanent dye? I just want to tone it down a bit but would prefer nothing permanent.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I do this.

What is your base color? That will help me in advising you. The key is to not thinking of it as covering grays -- semi-perm just doesn't cover that well and gray hair generally does not take dye very well, which is why if you do permanent color you usually need something formulated for gray hair.

Instead, what you are looking for is a shift in tone. My hair is dark strawberry blonde. So I do glosses and semi-permanent dye in dark golden blonde usually, sometimes I go slightly redder or browner depending on the time of year. I like the Kristin Ess and Overtone glosses, and for semi-permanent color my go-to products are L'oreal or Garnier -- I think they have the most dynamic color for at-home dye, and that's what you want. Something that is going to tone and blend your grays into your natural color.

But again, it really depends on your base. I think this works really well for blonde or light brown hair. I would have no idea how to approach very dark hair with grays and would assume you'd just have to do a permanent dye, but I honestly don't know.

[Anonymous]

I get semi permanent at a salon. My hair is medium brown. I don’t have much gray though. Maybe 5% or less. In my color hair, the color fades away from the gray hairs Ian’s turns into a dark blonde- so new growth isn’t as stark against my darker brown hair. If you have a lot of gray, you may not like the color it fades to.

[Anonymous]

I do Clairol Natutal instincts dark brown, and it turns out okay. I leave the color on for 45 minutes instead of the 15-minute instructions on the pack though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, I do this.

What is your base color? That will help me in advising you. The key is to not thinking of it as covering grays -- semi-perm just doesn't cover that well and gray hair generally does not take dye very well, which is why if you do permanent color you usually need something formulated for gray hair.

Instead, what you are looking for is a shift in tone. My hair is dark strawberry blonde. So I do glosses and semi-permanent dye in dark golden blonde usually, sometimes I go slightly redder or browner depending on the time of year. I like the Kristin Ess and Overtone glosses, and for semi-permanent color my go-to products are L'oreal or Garnier -- I think they have the most dynamic color for at-home dye, and that's what you want. Something that is going to tone and blend your grays into your natural color.

But again, it really depends on your base. I think this works really well for blonde or light brown hair. I would have no idea how to approach very dark hair with grays and would assume you'd just have to do a permanent dye, but I honestly don't know.

THANK YOU!!
This is really helpful. Indeed, I am NOT thinking about covering the gray, I am thinking about "mitigating" the gray a bit and instead toning it down a bit (in other words, I don't need to look like I have no gray, I don't mind people knowing the "fact" that I have gray).
I think my natural base color is around a 5-6. The problem is I have about 2/3 of my hair (the dyed part) which is much lighter, maybe a 9 (but brassy). I did one of those L'oreal glosses (shampoo for brown hair) and it made the bottom part of my hair so dark it actually UNblended and made the gray more obvious.
I wonder if I were to try a semi-permanent dye for blonder hair - would it not do anything or turn some of the grays a blonde?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I get semi permanent at a salon. My hair is medium brown. I don’t have much gray though. Maybe 5% or less. In my color hair, the color fades away from the gray hairs Ian’s turns into a dark blonde- so new growth isn’t as stark against my darker brown hair. If you have a lot of gray, you may not like the color it fades to.

Thank you, That is my fear. My hair is much whiter/gray in the front, and I see things about how you should "take the yellow out!" at the same time I am trying to make it look blonde to blend as highlights with the browner base.

[Anonymous]

I use Revlon Colorsilk #33. its tad lighter than my natural color. It looks very natural, multitoned, shiney, but not 100% gray coverage. Maybe that's why it looks more natural. technically not semi perm though. I love the new Aveda light hair mask weekly too - green tube (go light).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I get semi permanent at a salon. My hair is medium brown. I don’t have much gray though. Maybe 5% or less. In my color hair, the color fades away from the gray hairs Ian’s turns into a dark blonde- so new growth isn’t as stark against my darker brown hair. If you have a lot of gray, you may not like the color it fades to.

Thank you, That is my fear. My hair is much whiter/gray in the front, and I see things about how you should "take the yellow out!" at the same time I am trying to make it look blonde to blend as highlights with the browner base.

I think I'd be okay with it fading, esp if it's not going to fry my hair to do it again. I just don't want the same distinct roots (really, I'd love NO roots!) I had with permanent color.
I'd much rather do it every 2 weeks because it's fading than every 2 weeks because the contrast between what is dyed and the new growth is so stark.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I get semi permanent at a salon. My hair is medium brown. I don’t have much gray though. Maybe 5% or less. In my color hair, the color fades away from the gray hairs Ian’s turns into a dark blonde- so new growth isn’t as stark against my darker brown hair. If you have a lot of gray, you may not like the color it fades to.

Thank you, That is my fear. My hair is much whiter/gray in the front, and I see things about how you should "take the yellow out!" at the same time I am trying to make it look blonde to blend as highlights with the browner base.

I think I'd be okay with it fading, esp if it's not going to fry my hair to do it again. I just don't want the same distinct roots (really, I'd love NO roots!) I had with permanent color.
I'd much rather do it every 2 weeks because it's fading than every 2 weeks because the contrast between what is dyed and the new growth is so stark.

Semi permanent is so easy to DIY. Apply to the new growth/roots only for the recommended processing time. Then apply to the rest of the hair for another 5-10 minutes. This should blend the grays in enough so that they aren't as noticeable.

My hair is ~ a level 2/3 dark brown, and I apply a level 5 ash demi-permanent to the roots to blend in the grays. Does a pretty good job and doesn't leave a harsh line of demarcation. I'm only ~10-20% gray though. I will likely have to rethink my strategy when its a higher %.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I get semi permanent at a salon. My hair is medium brown. I don’t have much gray though. Maybe 5% or less. In my color hair, the color fades away from the gray hairs Ian’s turns into a dark blonde- so new growth isn’t as stark against my darker brown hair. If you have a lot of gray, you may not like the color it fades to.

Thank you, That is my fear. My hair is much whiter/gray in the front, and I see things about how you should "take the yellow out!" at the same time I am trying to make it look blonde to blend as highlights with the browner base.

I think I'd be okay with it fading, esp if it's not going to fry my hair to do it again. I just don't want the same distinct roots (really, I'd love NO roots!) I had with permanent color.
I'd much rather do it every 2 weeks because it's fading than every 2 weeks because the contrast between what is dyed and the new growth is so stark.

Semi permanent is so easy to DIY. Apply to the new growth/roots only for the recommended processing time. Then apply to the rest of the hair for another 5-10 minutes. This should blend the grays in enough so that they aren't as noticeable.

My hair is ~ a level 2/3 dark brown, and I apply a level 5 ash demi-permanent to the roots to blend in the grays. Does a pretty good job and doesn't leave a harsh line of demarcation. I'm only ~10-20% gray though. I will likely have to rethink my strategy when its a higher %.

Thank you! How long does it take to fade? Would I be able to go back to "growing my hair out" if I wanted to, do you think (I would like to see how I like it but am afraid of erasing my progress).

I wonder what it will cover - again, even hiding just 25-50% of what I have would be totally fine for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I get semi permanent at a salon. My hair is medium brown. I don’t have much gray though. Maybe 5% or less. In my color hair, the color fades away from the gray hairs Ian’s turns into a dark blonde- so new growth isn’t as stark against my darker brown hair. If you have a lot of gray, you may not like the color it fades to.

Thank you, That is my fear. My hair is much whiter/gray in the front, and I see things about how you should "take the yellow out!" at the same time I am trying to make it look blonde to blend as highlights with the browner base.

I think I'd be okay with it fading, esp if it's not going to fry my hair to do it again. I just don't want the same distinct roots (really, I'd love NO roots!) I had with permanent color.
I'd much rather do it every 2 weeks because it's fading than every 2 weeks because the contrast between what is dyed and the new growth is so stark.

Semi permanent is so easy to DIY. Apply to the new growth/roots only for the recommended processing time. Then apply to the rest of the hair for another 5-10 minutes. This should blend the grays in enough so that they aren't as noticeable.

My hair is ~ a level 2/3 dark brown, and I apply a level 5 ash demi-permanent to the roots to blend in the grays. Does a pretty good job and doesn't leave a harsh line of demarcation. I'm only ~10-20% gray though. I will likely have to rethink my strategy when its a higher %.

Thank you! How long does it take to fade? Would I be able to go back to "growing my hair out" if I wanted to, do you think (I would like to see how I like it but am afraid of erasing my progress).

I wonder what it will cover - again, even hiding just 25-50% of what I have would be totally fine for me.

That’s the thing...I don’t think it totally fades out- meaning back to gray with zero trace of dye. You may be left with light yellow hair if you just let it go

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I get semi permanent at a salon. My hair is medium brown. I don’t have much gray though. Maybe 5% or less. In my color hair, the color fades away from the gray hairs Ian’s turns into a dark blonde- so new growth isn’t as stark against my darker brown hair. If you have a lot of gray, you may not like the color it fades to.

Thank you, That is my fear. My hair is much whiter/gray in the front, and I see things about how you should "take the yellow out!" at the same time I am trying to make it look blonde to blend as highlights with the browner base.

I think I'd be okay with it fading, esp if it's not going to fry my hair to do it again. I just don't want the same distinct roots (really, I'd love NO roots!) I had with permanent color.
I'd much rather do it every 2 weeks because it's fading than every 2 weeks because the contrast between what is dyed and the new growth is so stark.

Semi permanent is so easy to DIY. Apply to the new growth/roots only for the recommended processing time. Then apply to the rest of the hair for another 5-10 minutes. This should blend the grays in enough so that they aren't as noticeable.

My hair is ~ a level 2/3 dark brown, and I apply a level 5 ash demi-permanent to the roots to blend in the grays. Does a pretty good job and doesn't leave a harsh line of demarcation. I'm only ~10-20% gray though. I will likely have to rethink my strategy when its a higher %.

I do something similar with a similar % of gray, although there is more in front. I agree that as the % goes up I'll probably need to rethink this approach- my 60yo aunt still uses this despite a much larger gray percentage and her hair is distinctively two-toned- a dark brown and then a much lighter brown on the grays. Doesn't seem to bother her but I'd like to avoid that look!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I get semi permanent at a salon. My hair is medium brown. I don’t have much gray though. Maybe 5% or less. In my color hair, the color fades away from the gray hairs Ian’s turns into a dark blonde- so new growth isn’t as stark against my darker brown hair. If you have a lot of gray, you may not like the color it fades to.

Thank you, That is my fear. My hair is much whiter/gray in the front, and I see things about how you should "take the yellow out!" at the same time I am trying to make it look blonde to blend as highlights with the browner base.

I think I'd be okay with it fading, esp if it's not going to fry my hair to do it again. I just don't want the same distinct roots (really, I'd love NO roots!) I had with permanent color.
I'd much rather do it every 2 weeks because it's fading than every 2 weeks because the contrast between what is dyed and the new growth is so stark.

Semi permanent is so easy to DIY. Apply to the new growth/roots only for the recommended processing time. Then apply to the rest of the hair for another 5-10 minutes. This should blend the grays in enough so that they aren't as noticeable.

My hair is ~ a level 2/3 dark brown, and I apply a level 5 ash demi-permanent to the roots to blend in the grays. Does a pretty good job and doesn't leave a harsh line of demarcation. I'm only ~10-20% gray though. I will likely have to rethink my strategy when its a higher %.

Thank you! How long does it take to fade? Would I be able to go back to "growing my hair out" if I wanted to, do you think (I would like to see how I like it but am afraid of erasing my progress).

I wonder what it will cover - again, even hiding just 25-50% of what I have would be totally fine for me.

That’s the thing...I don’t think it totally fades out- meaning back to gray with zero trace of dye. You may be left with light yellow hair if you just let it go

I have been doing demi/semi permanent on my hair for about 5-6 years now. For me it really does cover the greys I have pretty much all the way (but I'm still mostly at that phase of just a few around the parts and at the temples. I would say less than 5% greys, maybe even like just 1-2% realistically. It does pretty much completely fade out for me. I have pretty dark hair so I just do a very similar/ slightly deeper in tone shade

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, I do this.

What is your base color? That will help me in advising you. The key is to not thinking of it as covering grays -- semi-perm just doesn't cover that well and gray hair generally does not take dye very well, which is why if you do permanent color you usually need something formulated for gray hair.

Instead, what you are looking for is a shift in tone. My hair is dark strawberry blonde. So I do glosses and semi-permanent dye in dark golden blonde usually, sometimes I go slightly redder or browner depending on the time of year. I like the Kristin Ess and Overtone glosses, and for semi-permanent color my go-to products are L'oreal or Garnier -- I think they have the most dynamic color for at-home dye, and that's what you want. Something that is going to tone and blend your grays into your natural color.

But again, it really depends on your base. I think this works really well for blonde or light brown hair. I would have no idea how to approach very dark hair with grays and would assume you'd just have to do a permanent dye, but I honestly don't know.

THANK YOU!!
This is really helpful. Indeed, I am NOT thinking about covering the gray, I am thinking about "mitigating" the gray a bit and instead toning it down a bit (in other words, I don't need to look like I have no gray, I don't mind people knowing the "fact" that I have gray).
I think my natural base color is around a 5-6. The problem is I have about 2/3 of my hair (the dyed part) which is much lighter, maybe a 9 (but brassy). I did one of those L'oreal glosses (shampoo for brown hair) and it made the bottom part of my hair so dark it actually UNblended and made the gray more obvious.
I wonder if I were to try a semi-permanent dye for blonder hair - would it not do anything or turn some of the grays a blonde?

PP here and yes, I would try a semi-permanent hair for a "dark blonde" or "dark golden blonde". Especially since you have bleached portions of your hair. I have had great luck toning down bleached hair to blend with dark blonde dye. I actually used a permanent dye the first time (don't remember the exact formulation but it was a L'oreal product designed for gray hair) and it was great -- just darkened the bleached portions but also toned them so they blended with my roots and the grays.

You don't actually have to worry as much about what the dye will do to your gray hair. Like I said, gray is resistant to dye and it's actually really hard to do much more than tone gray hair with semipermanent color. A blonde dye (even a permanent at-home one and definitely a semi-permanent one) will not make your gray hair look blonde. To do that you would have to do a dual process at the salon and it's actually tricky with gray hair. So don't worry about that.

Instead, figure out what color/tone you want the rest of your hair to be so that the grays blend in a bit more. Look at your new growth and aim for something 1 to maybe 2 shades lighter. Don't go darker -- as you've learned, this will only increase the contrast with your grays as the rest of your hair absorbs the dark dye much more than the grays will.

And then think about one. I always aim for warmer toning because I think neutral and cool tones wash me out as I'm getting older. Plus as I said, my true hair is reddish so warmer tones look more natural on me. But it can depend on your skin color and tone as well. Some women look great with a cooler, ashier color on their hair. For instance, if you have Nordic coloring with blue eyes but very rosy skin, this can work.

The nice thing about semi-permanent is that you can experiment. Give your hair a month between attempts, then do a clarifying shampoo and try again. Once I hit on the glosses and dyes that work for me, I just buy in bulk and rotate through them.

[Anonymous]

^ thank you so much! You know what the issue is? My hair (grown in) is 50%, let's say, gray. The brown is 5 or so. The bleached parts are 8/9. So when I try to tone down the blond, it might match the brown (in my grown-out part) but if it doesn't grab the gray = the effect of the top v. the bottom is much lighter on top. Does that make sense? I actually LIKED it better more or less but the contrast was greater between my roots and ends.

I am wondering if a stylist could help with the bottom...