Anonymous
Post 12/16/2025 13:40     Subject: Re:How much do you spend on your hair??? Specifically coloring?
I have very dark brown hair and guess that I'm ~15-20% gray at this point. I color my hair every 6 weeks or so w/ Wella Color Charm demi-permanent. Costs ~$10-12 per tube plus whatever pennies for the developer (it a giant bottle for like $10 and lasts for many coloring sessions). I can't be arsed to get to the salon for multi-hour coloring sessions when it is so easy and cheap to do at home.
Anonymous
Post 12/15/2025 21:32     Subject: How much do you spend on your hair??? Specifically coloring?
Zero. I'm letting the gray come in.
Anonymous
Post 12/15/2025 20:44     Subject: How much do you spend on your hair??? Specifically coloring?
I have medium blonde hair and got full highlights most of my life for about $275.
I’d go 2-3 times a year.

Then I got tired of going a couple years ago around age 50 so it’s natural now. About 10% grey/white. I’m calling that my highlights.
Anonymous
Post 12/14/2025 09:26     Subject: How much do you spend on your hair??? Specifically coloring?
I actually went to a different person and salon for color and cut. I just couldn’t find one person who could do them both well (curly hair). My color was $120 every 6 weeks (single color glaze just to blend grays, not full coverage). Haircut is about $100 every 4-5 months. But I stopped coloring my hair about couple yrs ago…it just wasn’t worth my time.
Anonymous
Post 12/13/2025 11:55     Subject: Re:How much do you spend on your hair??? Specifically coloring?
Anonymous wrote:I color at home about once a month. I use 2 boxes each time, so about $30. Loreal Excellence has the best gray coverage.
If you want to try it with a little more support, you could look at eSalon, I use them from time to time.

I was a blonde but would be all-over dark gray if I grew it out. Light brown hair looks good on me, but it's too hard to maintain (grays come back too fast) so I dye it blonde, and then I dye "soft silver" over it to make it more beige than yellow. If my natural hair would ever go silver/white, I'd grow it out, but I don't like the dark gray.


That’s interesting. I have darker hair and my grays are white/silver. I always thought people with dark gray hair had some type of black or darker brown hair naturally
Anonymous
Post 12/13/2025 11:48     Subject: How much do you spend on your hair??? Specifically coloring?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I do my own highlights every six weeks and I tone again once in between but with just a semi and conditioner (no developer). It works out to $10 per job and I control the look completely. At this point I know exactly what I’m doing and how to fix it if I mess up. This is because, after the pandemic, when I went back to my regular salon (Dessange in FH), they quoted me $650 (plus tip) for cut, partial highlights and a bonding treatment. I left literally laughing. It had been $250 in 2019 and they were already pushing it a bit.

I have had a good experience at Ferro downtown since then but they do too much (too many highlights) for my taste. I think the woman who did it goes by the handle dcblondie on social media. If I were to get back out there, I would seek her out.


Can I ask how you do your own highlights? Do you mean foils?


I used to do foils and it’s doable but I find I have more control if I paint them on with very thin paint brush.

Recently I tried this and it worked like a charm (don’t laugh too hard):

https://www.target.com/p/between-teeth-interdental-brushes-mint-trial-size-up-38-up-8482/-/A-88946835

Anonymous
Post 12/13/2025 11:45     Subject: How much do you spend on your hair??? Specifically coloring?
Love the suggestions including non ammonia Clairol treatments and powder touch ups, which I might have too much grey for.

Is Madison Reed an over the counter
Anonymous
Post 12/13/2025 11:40     Subject: How much do you spend on your hair??? Specifically coloring?
Anonymous wrote:Zero! I stopped coloring this summer, and my hair is shinier and healthier than it’s ever been. I had to come to terms with my real color, which to be honest is more white than gray, but I accept it now.

I do miss having brown hair, but I don’t miss the hassle and expense of coloring my hair one bit.


Hi. Op here. I wish I could do this, but I am post menopausal and my hair is dry and flyaway and not the same hair as I had in my youth. But it’s wonderful if this works for you.

Anonymous
Post 12/13/2025 10:55     Subject: How much do you spend on your hair??? Specifically coloring?
Anonymous wrote:$340 including tip every 6 weeks for highlights, lowlights and cut.

Non-negotiable for me.


Doesn’t your whole head end up highlighted if you get them every 6 weeks?
Anonymous
Post 12/13/2025 10:54     Subject: How much do you spend on your hair??? Specifically coloring?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I love reading that 30-somethings are letting their hair be natural.

I hate reading that husbands don't like it and women go back to coloring for them (at any age).


I love to hear it, too, but a caveat… gray in your 30s can be sleek looking, but when perimenopause hits in your 40s, the texture of your hair can completely change. And not in a good way. The gray doesn’t look as cool when your hair is the texture of straw. (And no judgement to women who don’t care.)


DP. highlights or lightened hair looks much more like straw eventually than grey does. especially if you swim a lot.
Anonymous
Post 12/13/2025 09:56     Subject: How much do you spend on your hair??? Specifically coloring?
$340 including tip every 6 weeks for highlights, lowlights and cut.

Non-negotiable for me.
Anonymous
Post 12/13/2025 09:55     Subject: How much do you spend on your hair??? Specifically coloring?
I’ve just gone gray - white, really. I can’t stomach salon costs and I have very fast growing thick hair. Even at home just totally annoyed me. It absolutely makes me look a lot older, but I’ve decided I care less about looking older than I do about the hassle and fuss of dying my hair.

I wandered into a gift shop attached to a salon in Potomac the other day and looked up to find myself in line with the salon’s customers. They were all my age with tight faces, long smooth dark hair, and the same black puffer jacket. They were also all 6 inches shorter and much skinnier than me. I felt like a penguin in a crowd of sparrows. It was very weird!
Anonymous
Post 12/13/2025 09:41     Subject: How much do you spend on your hair??? Specifically coloring?
I use Clairol natural instincts in a shade a little lighter than my actual color. Pretty happy with it though may not work as well when I have more grey.
Anonymous
Post 12/13/2025 09:39     Subject: How much do you spend on your hair??? Specifically coloring?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I have (had) medium brown, straight hair, just below my shoulders. It's slowly going more grey. I had never dyed my hair or gotten highlights and trim the ends myself in less than 5 minutes, so I'm very low maintenance when it comes to hair.

I use Clairol Natural Instincts no ammonia hair rinse. It's the non-permanent type of hair dye that says it rinses out in 28 shampoos. However, now that I'm going more grey, I use it every other week, for about $8 a box. I mainly put it on my center part and temples and along my hair line. Wait 20 minutes and rinse out.

I was using a clarifying shampoo, as I have oily hair, but I think it was stripping the dye color out faster, so now I use mild Suave shampoo every other day. After rinsing out the dye, I use Suave to get that squeaky clean feel.

I also found a powder compact for root touch up (no odor), so if I haven't had time to do the box dye, I can quickly cover up my center part or along my temples. I put a slim comb under the hair line to keep any powder off my face.

So I spend about $16 a month for color, and total time is under 30 minutes for each box. I get them at Walmart and alternate between 6 and 6G.


Can you tell me more about the powder compact? I didn’t know about that!


Clairol Temporary Root Touch-Up (Medium Brown for me). I always make sure to shampoo between using the powder (it's like eye shadow) and the color rinse dye. I think the rinse needs plain hair without any product to work most effectively.

https://www.amazon.com/Clairol-Temporary-Touch-Up-Concealing-Medium/dp/B078KGJ6WR/ref=sr_1_1_pp?crid=2HDEC6BG7Z3CI&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.arh8w6AAGnysBUTWUE1-JFNmYLvf02hi_nT5qhr0GUoWpkdVPO_5Ye6Y-Aw3nbKOQ_b2e4atDzKyJDILvqedJhHk0OcbJBN8W3PSiJywVRVofQar_P5efWyqQwFATwX-2I6pJRy437_mOGENBsozAbDSw_en7OfVOm4BqBgQ4Nk6mcfSNOzxsowp2wpr4oqsFFvO7Fv3c_vzi_S69qx_oBBR3N9yL2tPwgASChH8xQLxevU4lUs6DdGZMqTy9xeU1E6M-igr0AUMsAIyzZ3wB7fK2odLJTKEz51Bcf5CIOk.Bq62mLLgZFrN97kRddxbV3ruEj4lyP0AniNYnZN_SLA&dib_tag=se&keywords=clairol%2Broot%2Btouch%2Bup&qid=1765628185&sprefix=clairol%2Caps%2C165&sr=8-1&th=1



I use the Madison Reed powder compact and think it works welll. I have light brown hair and it makes the grey look more like just highlights. It stays in and doesn’t run although I guess I’ve never stood in pouring rain with it.
Anonymous
Post 12/13/2025 09:19     Subject: How much do you spend on your hair??? Specifically coloring?
Anonymous wrote:I love reading that 30-somethings are letting their hair be natural.

I hate reading that husbands don't like it and women go back to coloring for them (at any age).


I love to hear it, too, but a caveat… gray in your 30s can be sleek looking, but when perimenopause hits in your 40s, the texture of your hair can completely change. And not in a good way. The gray doesn’t look as cool when your hair is the texture of straw. (And no judgement to women who don’t care.)