Gray Streak or Color?

[Aubkabob]

Currently growing hair out from pixie to ... terminal, if I can focus long enough! My first goal I'm excited for is the ability to pull all my hair back in a single ponytail. Currently, if I desperately need to get the feeling of hair off the back of my neck, I have to sport what I call my kickstands - two small pigtails at the nape of my neck.

My hair is currently 100% virgin, but I have been interested my entire life in fabulous colors. Unfortunately, until the last couple of years, I always had a job that would not allow fun colors, just "those found in nature" (once, I tried extremely hard to convince a boss that purple was, indeed, found in nature in flowers and the policy did not specify the nature needed to be found on the head of humans and be natural, but alas...)

I'm now 45 and a nurse, and can do literally whatever I want with my hair.

I have this fabulous silver streak that is developing through the left half of my bangs. I'm torn between keeping it and finding a fun color that will especially take to the white hairs. On a whim (I seem to be full of those), I bought a box from the drugstore (I can see you all cringing!) a year ago that was supposed to be semi permanent and dye my hair dark blue. Unfortunately, it was perma permanent and dyed my hair ... black, with blue you could SORTA see in certain lights. Sigh. The great thing about pixie length hair, though, is you can cut mistakes out fairly quickly. During the time my hair was black, I also greatly missed my streak.

To make a short story long: Any ideas of something that wouldn't be too harsh and would accentuate the grays/whites with the color brilliantly instead of cover them? I've Googled all over tarnation and haven't had much luck.

Thanks, all!

[MusicalSpoons]

There are deposit-only dyes which are supposed to wash out. I would recommend strand testing though with shed hair and repeatedly washing for some days afterwards to make sure it actually does wash out. Some people even with blonde hair have found deposit-only dyes do permanently stain (not necessarily the same colour it gives in the beginning, either) so unless you're willing to take the risk of growing out a faded colour, strand testing would be safest. On the other hand, some people find the dyes don't really take and wash out pretty soon afterwards, so the only way to find out would be to give it a go (ideally on shed hair first!)

Brands of this kind of dye include Manic Panic, Arctic Fox, Adore ... err, I can't think of any others now. But a search for 'deposit-only dye' will bring them up :) they don't have any developer so are completely non-damaging, they are literally a single tube of colour.

[Aubkabob]

Thank you! I actually have a bottle of temporary Arctic Fox around somewhere. They had recommended trying that and seeing how I like it before I switch to a more permanent color with the same brand.

[GoddesJourney]

I've used manic panic. It was super fun. Maybe you should give it a go while it's still short. I had an issue with residual colors here and there, but that was probably due to bleaching and coloring over and over again. Anyway, if you don't like it or you lose interest, it's easy to wash out for the most part and move on. If you like it, there are so many colors...

[hennalonghair]

Grey streak AND colour. One of the joys and having pure silver grey is that colour pops. The temporary colours are really fun and they wash out so you can wear lots of different colours. I’ve got pink, red, blue, purple, green, rose gold and silver. I’d like to add turquoise soon. It’s an idea you might consider. I use L’Oréal spray colours.

[mermaid lullaby]

I seen Disney Brave and I can picture you with the Queens hair so, I think you should keep the grey streak because the thought is very pretty sounding.

[akurah]

If you've got the money to spare and want to preserve the streak, honestly, it might be worthwhile to have a hairdresser do it. I've had deposit only/temporary/wash out dyes hang on like they were permanent (I've had purple patches in my brown hair as a result, which looked cool at least, but was also annoying) so I'd be cautious with that if you want the streak to either stay or come back after you wash it out.

[Alexandrina]

Currently growing hair out from pixie to ... terminal, if I can focus long enough! My first goal I'm excited for is the ability to pull all my hair back in a single ponytail. Currently, if I desperately need to get the feeling of hair off the back of my neck, I have to sport what I call my kickstands - two small pigtails at the nape of my neck.


KICKSTANDS!! :laugh: Oh man that is such a cute name for them

[Simpscone]

My experience with semi-permanent dyes is that they never truly wash out, there has always been a tint left behind.

A good alternative for something that is much more likely to wash out (mine always has!) is to get a temporary hair spray or chalk. These generally wash out in one or two washes and are good if you want a pop of colour. A few years ago when I had platinum blonde hair I used the Loreal Colorista spray in blue on the ends, it was as bright as my hair is now but it washed out completely in two washes! Definitely good if you wanted to try something out on the strand. I've also used hair chalk on my niece's blonde hair before and it came out easily too.

Like with all things, if you aren't sure definitely try a strand test before going all out! Everyone's hair reacts differently to things so it's best to see how yours reacts if you can.

[Obsidian]

My experience with semi-permanent dyes is that they never truly wash out, there has always been a tint left behind.

Exactly this, very few temporary dyes actually fade all the way. I have a pink tint that absolutely will not budge, even bleach didn't remove it.

I have hair chalk, its a really fun way to add color on a whim and it washes right out.

[Aubkabob]

OMG Simpscone - the color in your avatar is beautiful!

For the spray or chalk - everyone is mentioning a couple of washes, does it come out on pillowcases?

I'm learning there's an entire world of haircolor out there and I've been completely unaware!

[Jo Ann]

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Exactly this, very few temporary dyes actually fade all the way. I have a pink tint that absolutely will not budge, even bleach didn't remove it.

I have hair chalk, its a really fun way to add color on a whim and it washes right out.

That's why I have so many colors on hand--I use the hair color wheel and "neutralize" a faded tint with a light version of the opposite color. For example, I'll fade a green dye until it's almost gone, then use a heavily diluted pink dye to counterbalance the green. With practice, I usually end up with an off-white or light purple, which suits me just fine.