Gray Hair and Color Help/Advice Please

[MotherofJames]

Hiya😝

I need some advice . Not sure what to do. I don't want to dye my hair anymore but I have so many gray hairs it is taking over my head. The problem that I have with that is that I am a performer in Orlando. I cannot have gray hair, I work with many other women and our contracts states we have to always look stage ready.

I tried coffee, tea, henna in 2014, which seemed to kinda mess up my hair balance(not sure why... maybe it was the brand) Those pesky grays wont withstand coffee or tea stains.

Any advice here on which color is maybe vegan, natural , safe to do, etc etc ? Which brand do you like and why? I need some alternatives :(

Thank you for the advice 😇
Happy Growing

[ghanima]

Have you tried Adore dyes? I have no personal experience with them but I've read good things here in LHC. They don't damage the hair.

[Aphra]

Sounds like a job for a direct deposit vegetable dye. They do cover grey in my experience, and while most of them are crazy colours, Adore do a nice range of natural colours. They fade quite quickly, but I've found it to be quite a natural fade, there are tricks to make them last longer (mostly involving washing in cold water), and they are safe to use reasonably often as they are conditioner based and don't contain bleach, ammonia etc. The major limitation is you can only go your natural colour or darker, but that shouldn't be an issue if you are covering greys.

[Obsidian]

Manic panic is vegan and has a few natural colors. It's safe and natural.
http://www.manicpanic.com/high-voltage-cream-formula-hair-color

[Arctic]

Elumen is a good brand too, although I admit I don't know if it's vegan.

[lapushka]

Yep, seconding the DD dyes as well; you need stronger things than tea or coffee over gray hair, especially if you need to be stage-ready (and they probably mean it too). :flower:

[MotherofJames]

I have not tried Adore , but I'm going to google that and look it up!! I think another person told me that as well too so it's gotta be great !

[MotherofJames]

Is Herbatint considered a DD vegetable dye? I'm assuming adore is better than herbatint ? Thank you for the help!

[MotherofJames]

Wow!! I always thought manic panic was a synthetic brand . That is wonderful !

[MotherofJames]

Elumen is a good brand too, although I admit I don't know if it's vegan.


I'll check that out . Thanks!

[Obsidian]

Is Herbatint considered a DD vegetable dye? I'm assuming adore is better than herbatint ? Thank you for the help!

No, its a pretty much a regular boxed dye with some added herbs.

[swearnsue]

There is an herb, like henna, but dyes hair a dark brown. I cannot think of the name of it. Similar to henna, I believe it is permanent, covers gray and adds shine. Sorry I can't think of the name but people also add it to henna to tame the red/orange.

[kittengirl]

There is an herb, like henna, but dyes hair a dark brown. I cannot think of the name of it. Similar to henna, I believe it is permanent, covers gray and adds shine. Sorry I can't think of the name but people also add it to henna to tame the red/orange.

Do you mean indigo?

[Rhoward]

Delorenzo is Vegan and they have both direct dyes (mousse cans) and permanent and semi permanent dyes (Novacolor).

Its a huge salon brand here in Australia, not sure if it is available internationally but its worth a look if you want a permanent vegan dye.

http://www.delorenzo.com.au/ranges/

[lapushka]

There is an herb, like henna, but dyes hair a dark brown. I cannot think of the name of it. Similar to henna, I believe it is permanent, covers gray and adds shine. Sorry I can't think of the name but people also add it to henna to tame the red/orange.

Buxus? That's not permanent. Amla? Not permanent either.

[Rebel Rebel]

Can you wear a really fabulous wig as a performer and save your real hair? They can be expensive though and I suppose it depends on the style your hair needs to be for your work. There are so many realistic options these days.

[Anje]

Honestly, my grays don't pick up normal Adore very well if I haven't bleached it. I've got this interesting amber-purple thing going on my unbleached hair at the moment, and the darn whites are just sparkly in the middle of it all. (Admittedly, I haven't applied it full-strength for this color, just diluted in conditioner, which is going to impact the effectiveness.) Longer time and some heat would probably help.

Are you thinking about going to a natural color, or something a bit bright and wild?

[ghanima]

Dammit! I thought it would cover the greys, I was getting all ready to use it too for that same purpose.... so henndigo would be the only natural solution?

[Aphra]

Grey coverage is a massive YMMV thing. I get good coverage from some colours, and none from others, and other people report failure with colours that work for me and success with colours that don't etc.

Only thing you can really do is try it (strand test or post strand test on your hair to see how it stands up to your routine).

[Anje]

Dammit! I thought it would cover the greys, I was getting all ready to use it too for that same purpose.... so henndigo would be the only natural solution?


Grey coverage is a massive YMMV thing. I get good coverage from some colours, and none from others, and other people report failure with colours that work for me and success with colours that don't etc.

Only thing you can really do is try it (strand test or post strand test on your hair to see how it stands up to your routine).

Yeah, it could vary a lot by person, so don't rule it out just because I'm seeing sparkles when I apply it diluted. My grays have exactly the same slick fine texture as the rest of my hair, where lots of people have grays that are a different texture, so theirs might take up dye differently from mine, too. I'd say to give Adore a try. It's like $4.50 a bottle and if it doesn't work, it'll fade out after a while. Pretty low-risk in my book and doesn't lock you in like henndigo.

[MotherofJames]

No, its a pretty much a regular boxed dye with some added herbs.

ew yuck! haha...

[MotherofJames]

hey thanks everyone! I wound up choosing a henna/cassia/indigo blend instead. I did have henna on my hair a while ago ( and didnt want to go back to it) but I discovered last night that it was quite possibly the brand that made all the difference. I researched this new one and I think its as close as I can get to what I want, which is a brown reddish color. I do understand that true henna is always red, but I need some brown in there for me so I will either add coffee or tea to it and let you know how it will turn out. I researched the other brands and I just felt they were the right fit.
hair dye and gray color coverage is such a catch 22 LOL. and to answer one of the comments, the wig thing, I was scared because another performer here once had her wig fall off mid performance and got cut from the show so I always told myself not to do that eeeekkkk ;)

[catasa]

I use a deposit only color called Santé, which contains only (or at least almost only) botanical/herbal ingredients. I use the powder version, there is a cream version as well which I´ve never tried. Most of the nuances contain henna, it washes out without leaving a nasty demarcation line but it does stain permanently a little bit, I don´t do full lengths every time, only now and then, since they get darker and darker otherwise. Note though that most of the nuances also contains black walnut shell which is apparently considered possibly toxic, though I don´t know in what amounts and conditions. I tried to find some other way to cover my grays but have returned to this color despite the walnut, as I haven´t found anything else hair friendly with a good natural-looking coverage.

I mix the powder with boiling water, apply when cooled off enough, and leave it on under a plastic cap and a knitted beanie for about two hours. It covers my grays really well, they are lighter than the rest of the hair in a quite natural looking way, but not gray at all. I usually feel the need to reapply on the grays every 4-5 weeks. Another great thing about this color is that it doesn´t stain my bathroom porcelain or tiles, it just dries into a harmless powder. It doesn´t really stain my skin the way "real" colors do either.

Logona is a similar brand though I´ve never tried it personally. They are Germans brands, but it seems at least Santé is available in the US: https://www.sante-usa.com/herbal-hair-colors-100-gm.html. I use maybe half a package for my whole (waist length thinnish) hair, and a fourth/a third for roots/canopy.

ETA: just saw that you had decided on something, I hope it turns out well!