I’m 51 and suggest going to a salon and having it professionally dyed dark and then touch up your roots with Madison Reed in between appointments . Yes it’s time consuming but gray ages you faster than anything else.

Could you get the kind of highlights that blend with your natural color when the roots grow out? So much less maintenance. It doesn't look quite as good but it's much less money and realistic maintenance.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm 56 and do it myself. Since I've started taking a few supplements, I'm noticing less gray though. It's weird. That said, I do it every 5 weeks - I'm a redhead that washes once a week.
I'm not sure I'll ever go gray but lighter red. Its not hard to do it yourself - I also get highlights twice a year that add depth to color. My hair is super long though.

Which supplements?

collagen from Hum, milk thistle, vitamin E and a probiotic. No idea which one is the culprit.

It depends on your coloring. some people can pull this off. I am one who can't.

Gray hair can be beautiful- go to a talented colorist who can speed up the process and make you all gray. The growing out phase is torture.

https://instagram.com/jackmartincolorist?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Anonymous wrote:Don’t go gray until another 10 years.

I agree. Somehow it seems fine after 60 and/or whenever you retire from corporate work. This is my plan.

Don’t go gray until another 10 years.

Anonymous wrote:can you get your whole head dyed gray just once to see what it would look like? I can't imagine walking around with 2 inches of gray roots.

This, but also have it treated so that it looks silver (doesn’t have any brassiness)!

I used box color during the pandemic and my DH, who NEVER comments on my clothes or hair, suggested I make a salon appointment when things started to get better 😂. Once I saw it under the bright lights it was awful - it was uneven, the color was fading in some spots, etc. I was kind of embarrassed that I hadn’t noticed! I’m sure most people can do it successfully, but I just don’t have the attention span or skill to get everything evenly on the back of my head.

Anonymous wrote:Don't do it. Almost nobody can look good gray (of course there is an occasional exception). It's aging and will make you look decades older than you are. Dying is so easy and worth it.

Agree. Just dye it yourself. Forget the highlights if too pricey. I love Revlon colorsilk hair dye. Probably $5

Have you found a stylist that blends highlights with the grey? I wonder if you added some depth to the grey in a more low maintenance way if you can tolerate it better. (I’m a blonde and my stylist does this technique where i only need to see him like every 10-12 and it doesn’t look grown out / clear demarcation etc)

Anonymous wrote:I have black hair and just color at home with revlon or L’Oréal. It’s super easy and cheeeep! It takes 30 mins or less. You can buy the root touch up kit or just use the regular dye and focus only on roots. I use a bristle bush/comb thingie to help. REM to put Vaseline around your forehead and ears to avoid staining.

I’ve seen someone try to dye their grey hair black using box dye and they ended up with purple roots.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm 56 and do it myself. Since I've started taking a few supplements, I'm noticing less gray though. It's weird. That said, I do it every 5 weeks - I'm a redhead that washes once a week.
I'm not sure I'll ever go gray but lighter red. Its not hard to do it yourself - I also get highlights twice a year that add depth to color. My hair is super long though.

Which supplements?

+1 - Which supplements?

I have black hair and just color at home with revlon or L’Oréal. It’s super easy and cheeeep! It takes 30 mins or less. You can buy the root touch up kit or just use the regular dye and focus only on roots. I use a bristle bush/comb thingie to help. REM to put Vaseline around your forehead and ears to avoid staining.

Anonymous wrote:I'm doing this now (except I'm only 31 and have been graying since high school) and I follow several instagram pages and facebook groups to support people who are transitioning to their natural gray. Everyone seems to say that they were the most conflicted when they had gray that was noticeable but not quite to their ears yet, which it sounds like is where you are. There are some techniques people use for blending sometimes, like getting lowlights to blend the roots without having a really noticeable demarkation line. I might go that route in a couple of months when I have more growth.

+1
This is when growing out grey hair looks absolutely weird (for now!). Keep at it. It looks different to you because of how you’ve viewed yourself for most of your adult life and because of silly people who say things like “no one looks good in grey hair”.

There was a character in one of the last episode’s of David Suchet’s Poirot (Dead Man’s Folly) who had a pronounced grey streak and it was stunning. I think you just have to have a level of sophistication and inherent intelligence to make grey hair look good. I tried to find a picture of her but couldn’t.