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The Ubiquitous
April 1st, 2017, 02:54 AM
I'm letting my grey grow in. There isn't as much as I thought, mainly salt and pepper but white around my face with some grey streaks above my temples.
I'm growing out henna and although I don't think my skunk line is too bad (also growing out a pixi so lots of different lengths), my natural non grey hair is surprisingly cool toned so doesn't look great.
I think I like the grey but how can I make the most of it, especially against the henna?
I have some purple shampoo but it doesn't seem to do a lot. And my non hennaedl hair looks dull and not very shiny. I know some of that is because of the layers.
My hair is such a mess right now I need all the help I can get!
It is strong and healthy.
Thanks.

proo
April 1st, 2017, 05:51 AM
Recommending white vinegar as a final rinse, highly diluted, rinsed out.

lapushka
April 1st, 2017, 06:24 AM
I've seen that Hask do a purple/blue shampoo. The brand has become quite popular on here for their conditioners.

Anje
April 1st, 2017, 10:13 AM
I'm fond of the idea of sticking a blob of purple hairdye (Special Effects, Manic Panic, Adore, Directions, whatever you got) in one bottle of your usual conditioner. Then you're not limited to the purple formulas that are out there. If you're heavy-handed about it (like I would be), it might be good to have a second un-dyed bottle on hand, so you can rotate between them as needed or on a whim.

Additionally, make sure you go to extra lengths to protect your silver hair from UV. Cover your head. Gray/white hair tends to get more sun damage because it lacks melanin, and the hair isn't getting the substantial sun protection benefits of henna either.

Are you conditioning the roots? If your scalp is OK with it, maybe you'll want to, to help fight the dryness and dullness that silver hair is more prone to.

Sterlyn
April 1st, 2017, 12:02 PM
I second Anje's recommendation of purple in shampoo and conditioner, I use it with every wash. [ETA; just a small ribbon in several oz of conditioner, enough to turn it a nice lavender usually works nicely] My hair never turned purple from it, inspite of the many warnings I've read. YMMV but the usual recommendations of once or twice a month wasn't enough for me. If you don't want to go with dye, you can use Ardell Red/Gold corrector, it's found in the dye section at Sally's. I used the Ardells in the early years of natural hair but later switched to purple dye, it was easier.

Also if you are growing out your natural color, the dyed portion of your hair will cause the silver/white to look dingier and less bright. White/Silver has no color of it's own so it reflects back any color left in your hair, whether it's natural or dyed color.

It can take a while to adjust to looking in the mirror and getting used to the new look of your natural hair, be patient with yourself. For myself those first few inches looked really dingy and awful at first and my hair is fairly white. Some of it was my natural hair reflecting back dye but it was also my own issues with what I saw in the mirror. It was a bit of a process to accept the look.

Good luck to you with your grow out and if down the road you decide the look really isn't what you want, it's easy enough to change. There are lot's of healthy alternatives.

vpatt
April 2nd, 2017, 06:47 PM
I use Clairol Shimmer Lights purple shampoo and or conditioner. I don't seem to need it often. When my hair was shorter and I had just grown out my silvers I used it it every wash for a while and then I noticed my hair was beginning to get a blue or purple tone from it.....nothing terrible, but I cut back on my use. I have used it as a clarifying shampoo, too. But right now I'm playing with water only so I haven't used it for a while. When I used a shampoo with argon oil in it I thought or maybe imagined it stained my hair a bit so the purple shampoo was useful.

I was looking for that red stuff at Sally's and I found it, but the girl working acted as if she KNEW I was wrong about using to brighten silver hair, lol.

Thanks for the tip on not sunburning my hair. I will be doing some hiking soon and I will braid it and put it under a hat.

vpatt
April 2nd, 2017, 06:48 PM
Erghh...sorry for the double post.

I should say that when I noticed the purplish hue in my hair that my hair was only an inch or two long and I used a humongous amount of shampoo and possibly purple conditioner as well. I had not heard of diluting shampoo or conditioner at that point....

Anje
April 3rd, 2017, 12:06 PM
I second Anje's recommendation of purple in shampoo and conditioner, I use it with every wash. My hair never turned purple from it, inspite of the many warnings I've read.
You write, next to the pic with your hair (intentionally) dyed purple. :lol:

Sterlyn
April 3rd, 2017, 01:09 PM
You write, next to the pic with your hair (intentionally) dyed purple. :lol:

:rolling: You know that did cross my mind when I read a response written after mine....... LOL but really there was large blobs of dye and just a teeny bit of conditioner to cut it. *snort I promise a little spritz of dye in a lot of conditioner won't turn your hair lavender in one go :bounce:

The Ubiquitous
April 4th, 2017, 05:39 AM
Hi all. Thank you.
It makes sense that the henna would make my grey look dull.
I'm in the UK and have never seen Manic Panic type dye although I don't shop in Sally's (I get annoyed that I can't buy the "professional" stuff ��) so maybe I need to take a trip.
I will try another purple shampoo. I'm reluctant to change my conditioner.
I'm going to speak with my hairdresser tomorrow to see if she can do something with the henna. Maybe run some silver highlights through it or something to make it less... well just less! . It's got a little indigo in it though so I'm a bit scared! ��
I've read online recently about glosses so will do some research into those too.
I found out yesterday that apparently my skin tone etc is cool and that actually the red of henna (even with indigo) is completely wrong for me. When the consuktant held up warm and cool colours against my skin I could completely see it. I can't use box dyes and I hate going to the hairdressers and now henna is questionable so it may be that grey is my future anyway.

Reyesuela
April 4th, 2017, 08:24 AM
You write, next to the pic with your hair (intentionally) dyed purple. :lol:

I didn't want to say anything... lol

Sterlyn
April 4th, 2017, 12:05 PM
I didn't want to say anything... lol

You should have, it was kinda funny. I wrote that post the day before I dyed my hair lavender, when I scrolled past my updated pic and my original post the irony of my statement wasn't lost on me.

I guess it is a true statement that you can turn your hair purple with dye mixed conditioner :p it all depends on your ratios. Possibly I should go and edit my post about how much to use so as not to scare someone away down the road.

Sterlyn
April 4th, 2017, 12:42 PM
I see the added pics of your natural color, you've actually got some really cool looking streaks going on. I actually wish I had stopped coloring earlier, by the time I quit coloring at 46 my hair it had lost most of it's color, I missed my streak phase. Your silvers actually look nice and bright in that pic.

I can also see how that color wouldn't go well with henna, truthfully it really wasn't much different than the box dye I used to use. It was a very warm reddish brown. Good luck on the transition, I ended up pixie'ing mine to about 1 1/2" to get to natural hair.

Acid
April 4th, 2017, 02:37 PM
I'm in the UK and have never seen Manic Panic type dye although I don't shop in Sally's (I get annoyed that I can't buy the "professional" stuff ��) so maybe I need to take a trip.
I will try another purple shampoo. I'm reluctant to change my conditioner.
.

vegetable dyes like manic panic can be found in most tattoo shops and small hair shops in the UK or you can get them from amazon and ebay. i often get mine from tattoo shops that stock them as they sell off all their excess stock of certain colours quite often for only £1 instead of the usual £3-4. youll probably find brands like la riche directions here instead of manic panic but they do exactly the same job

i personally use provoke touch of silver from superdrug and bodycare for £1.80 its super pigmented so it doesnt need to be left on for more than normal shampoo and as its shampoo and not conditioner its less likely to over tone or be patchy