Coloring the Grey--Product suggestions?

[KateMcC]

I decided to return to coloring my grey after years of virgin hair. I have colored it twice, and although there is (as of yet) no visible damage, I'm not completely satisfied with what I have used. I am 'cone free, and primarily CO.

So my question to those of you more experienced than I-- What hair color (not bleach) products/brands would you recommend? And, do you have any other special tips about coloring/caring for your beautiful long locks?

Thanks in advance!

[Rini]

Hi :waving:

What colour are you looking to achieve? Your natural colour? A darker or lighter colour? Are you interested in herbal colours or commercial packet colours?

Just want to be clear before I suggest :D

[KateMcC]

Half of my hair fell out over a year ago due to health problems, and I cut off over 17 inches. It's past shoulder length now, but I want to be careful not to damage it. My siggy pic below was natural virgin hair right after we did the big cut just over a year ago. I'm over 50% grey at this point, the majority of it is around the face. The new growth and the grey is actually curly--I've heard of that happening for chemo patients, but can't imagine why mine is doing that.

My natural color is what I'm going for--I actually liked my hair color before the grey took over. My hair was a medium brown with a bit of an auburn hue to it. I've tried a couple brands and shades. The first color was a cool medium brown that my DH matched from the box to my hair. That shade actually looked very natural although it had no red in it. The second time I colored, I chose a different shade and brand. The color was a "neutral" medium brown, but it didn't look as natural with my skin. So, I think I've got the color thing figured out.

The brand, however, I'm not sure of. I did Clairol Nice & Easy the first time, and it seemed OK, but the weekly condish was full of 'cones. I'd been 'cone-free for about five years. The second time (I just did a root job, and then pulled the color to the ends for the final five minutes), I used Garnier Fructis with the more natural ingredients. The texture was like straw for almost two weeks. I'm trying to go as long as possible between root jobs, so as not to abuse my hair too much as I am regrowing it.

If there is a good natural/organic product, that would be my first choice. I opted not to henna, b/c most of the reports I found here said it wasn't very good on grey. I use Giovanni products and White Rain Extra for my COs. I'm not against a traditional coloring product once every three months, but I want one that won't be too harsh on my length.

Thanks for any suggestions.

[Rini]

Allright then...thanks for the info :)

I agree that henna would be too difficult. I went that route a couple of years ago and LOVED the colour and condition of my hair, but my silvers went pretty bright orange and I just could not maintain the roots as much as they needed (blonde/silver hair shows up big time!).

I occasionally use L'Oreal Excellence Creme on my roots only to blend in my silvers. It's an exact match for my natural hair colour (light ash blonde, 9.1 I think it is...I don't have a box on hand right now) and does not seem to damage at all. There is some info that Ktani provided about protecting lengths before colouring using coconut oil, apparently it protects hair against peroxide effects. I've found it very helpful.

The L'Oreal Excellence Creme is supposed to completely cover greys, but mine just end up looking platinum as I'm using a very light blonde colour anyway. If you used a darker colour (and they have quite a good range, with medium reddish browns as well), then I'd say you'd get full grey coverage if that's what you'd like.

I know that some ppl have had success with the more "natural" colours like Robert Craig too. Then of course there are herbs. Nightshade has an excellent article on herbal colouring which is a great read.

Personally, I'm considering giving Catnip a go. Ktani uses it to stain her greys a pale yellow colour with great conditioning benefits too. I'm still reading up on it before I give it a shot.

As for the COs that come with the colour boxes, just give them away if you don't want to go coney. I'm a COer and just use my regular CO after I colour and have no problems.

There, hope that helps you a little bit. Sorry I didn't post links, but I'm sure a quick PM to those bolded members would be OK :D

Good luck!!

[manderly]

I liked Sally's Ion Shine color. I also liked that I had control over the strength of the developer, like a salon would have, unlike box dyes which are far too strong if you're keeping the same color.

For grey coverage they recommend a 20 vol developer. Other than that just find the color you want :)

[Shorty89]

I don't think my suggestion would be helpful. If I had your hair I would use http://www.manicpanic.com/best%20hair%20color/electriclizard.html and this http://www.manicpanic.com/best%20hair%20color/electricbanana.html in some sort of layered pattern....like the top half one colour and the bottom the other :D Actually, in all seriousness, manic panic is a vegitable dye and shouldn't harm your hair. I think you'd look stunning with this colour.

http://www.manicpanic.com/best%20hair%20color/divinewine.html

[Moonstruck]

Along with the natural color type thing, maybe you'd be able to try herbal glosses regularly... as in, since you're CO-ing already, if you mix whatever herb into your condish, it might work to help at least tint your color? It doesn't seem like it'd be a ton of extra hassle (just leaving herbs in your CO bottle), though I'm not sure.

[Babyfine]

I liked my natural color, too, which is med. chestnut brown.
I'm getting increasing greys around my hairline which I feel wash me out.
I'd love to go natural, and someday maybe I will-but for now I have my hair colored at a salon every3-5 months with Redkens Shades EQ. She mixes up a mixture of red and brown. I've thought a lot about henna, or Robert Craig- but I'm a little nervous about doing my hair myself right now.( Worried about getting the color wrong, especially with henna-but also with the Robert Craig) But I may have to because money's getting tight.
the Redkens Shades is a very gentle demi-perm and I've not noticed any damage.
But I think all chemical color imparts some degree of damage.
With CO and sulfate free shampoos it may be very little, though.
the Redkens can only be applied at a salon, though,you can't buy it in a store(unless you have a cosmetoligist's licence)

[Dolly]

Garnier did not do well on my hair. I would suggest Hydrience if you can find it. It is very difficult to find in store but you can find it online at drugstore.com. My hair is waist length, thin and fine, and the coloring doesn't seem to have done any real damage to my hair (I color every 6-8 weeks).

Check out Ktani's thread in the herbal section about minimizing damage through the use of coconut oilings prior to coloring. Doing a heavy oiling prior to the dye has eliminated the dryness that I would experience in the days following a coloring session.

[ktani]

Allright then...thanks for the info :)

I agree that henna would be too difficult. I went that route a couple of years ago and LOVED the colour and condition of my hair, but my silvers went pretty bright orange and I just could not maintain the roots as much as they needed (blonde/silver hair shows up big time!).

I occasionally use L'Oreal Excellence Creme on my roots only to blend in my silvers. It's an exact match for my natural hair colour (light ash blonde, 9.1 I think it is...I don't have a box on hand right now) and does not seem to damage at all. There is some info that Ktani provided about protecting lengths before colouring using coconut oil, apparently it protects hair against peroxide effects. I've found it very helpful.

The L'Oreal Excellence Creme is supposed to completely cover greys, but mine just end up looking platinum as I'm using a very light blonde colour anyway. If you used a darker colour (and they have quite a good range, with medium reddish browns as well), then I'd say you'd get full grey coverage if that's what you'd like.

I know that some ppl have had success with the more "natural" colours like Robert Craig too. Then of course there are herbs. Nightshade has an excellent article on herbal colouring which is a great read.

Personally, I'm considering giving Catnip a go. Ktani uses it to stain her greys a pale yellow colour with great conditioning benefits too. I'm still reading up on it before I give it a shot.

As for the COs that come with the colour boxes, just give them away if you don't want to go coney. I'm a COer and just use my regular CO after I colour and have no problems.

There, hope that helps you a little bit. Sorry I didn't post links, but I'm sure a quick PM to those bolded members would be OK :D

Good luck!!

Rini
Thank you for the mention. I am glad that you have found the peroxide thread useful. You may have a problem staining your grey with catnip since you CO. Catnip does not stain over conditioner, used in any quantity, from my experience. I edited the Catnip Article because in updating it a few times, I realized that I had made some things unclear. The Catnip Article (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=118)

KateMcC
The link to the peroxide thread is my signature below. Just click on it. The first post has been set up to make it an easy reference of topics. If you have any questions, just post in the thread and/or pm me. I always reply. You can do roots only using the oils too.

[ademtce]

So, I think I've got the color thing figured out.
Thanks for any suggestions.

if you do chemically dye your hair i strongly advice you not to buy color from a box as it will be really harsh on your hair, and there's many other things wrong with them.

i suggest you read this blog for really useful information on coloring and how the process works so you can know how to correctly color

http://killerstrands.blogspot.com/

Box Hair Color post. (http://killerstrands.blogspot.com/search/label/Boxed%20Hair%20Color%20Kits%3A%20Say%20NO%20To%20T hem)

[ktani]

Garnier did not do well on my hair. I would suggest Hydrience if you can find it. It is very difficult to find in store but you can find it online at drugstore.com. My hair is waist length, thin and fine, and the coloring doesn't seem to have done any real damage to my hair (I color every 6-8 weeks).

Check out Ktani's thread in the herbal section about minimizing damage through the use of coconut oilings prior to coloring. Doing a heavy oiling prior to the dye has eliminated the dryness that I would experience in the days following a coloring session.

Thank you Dolly. I am so pleased you are so pleased with the results. Your reports, like the others, help others.

[Dolly]

Thank you Dolly. I am so pleased you are so pleased with the results. Your reports, like the others, help others.

You're welcome. Glad I decided to finally try it when I did....I did it again this time (just a few days ago), once again with stellar results. Once again, the after-color dryness was eliminated....

[Curlsgirl]

If you can afford it I would strongly suggest going to a good salon to get color done unless you do something natural which is very hard to cover 50% gray. If you do it yourself and ONLY touch up the roots as it grows out my favorite in the past has been Loreal Excellence creme. I get lowlights/highlights done at an Aveda salon and it has made it possible to grow my hair to waist so far.

(oh and if you use the box color just skip the heavy coney conditioner that comes with it and use whatever you want!)

[amandasmith911]

I am still using box color, Loreal Preference dark brown to cover the stress highlights. I'd like to switch to something gentler on my hair, but I haven't had the guts yet. But I'd like to second the comment on coloring over coconut oiled hair. It seems to have helped me as well, and it did not effect color up-take.

Amanda





if you do chemically dye your hair i strongly advice you not to buy color from a box as it will be really harsh on your hair, and there's many other things wrong with them.

i suggest you read this blog for really useful information on coloring and how the process works so you can know how to correctly color

http://killerstrands.blogspot.com/

Box Hair Color post. (http://killerstrands.blogspot.com/search/label/Boxed%20Hair%20Color%20Kits%3A%20Say%20NO%20To%20T hem)

[hennaphile]

If you don't mind permanence, I'd highly reccomend henna/indigo/cassia. Otherwise Elumen is supposed to be pretty good as far as conventional dye goes.

[Melisande]

I have a siimilar natural color (somewhere between dark blonde and light brown, with auburn or golden highlights), and I tried to keep the grays a bay with Garnier. The color was great, the harshness horrible. I switched two years ago to a natural planty dye that I love - but I'm afraid yu can't find that product in the US. The firm is called Sante (http://www.aim-naturprodukte.com/naturprodukte/sante-pflanzen-haarfarben.html), and they also make very good shampoo, conditioner and other natural cosemtics. IIrc they are Swiss.

Their plant dyes are a mix of henna, cassia, indigo, rhubarb and all kind of other plants, leaves and fruits. I use the terra color which looks completely natural on me and feels great.

For the benfit of European readers who are on the lookout for a natural product that makes your hair beautiful and strong, I add the information neverthless.

http://www.naturpflege.de/dokumente/artikel/FotoGross/104184_01.jpg

If you are lookg for herb rinses, I would recommend catnip and rooibus. Besides, you might like to take a look at NIghtshade's Etsy shop (Nightblooming). I think she sells hair coloring mixtures, too.

[hennaphile]

I have a siimilar natural color (somewhere between dark blonde and light brown, with auburn or golden highlights), and I tried to keep the grays a bay with Garnier. The color was great, the harshness horrible. I switched two years ago to a natural planty dye that I love - but I'm afraid yu can't find that product in the US. The firm is called Sante (http://www.aim-naturprodukte.com/naturprodukte/sante-pflanzen-haarfarben.html), and they also make very good shampoo, conditioner and other natural cosemtics. IIrc they are Swiss.

Their plant dyes are a mix of henna, cassia, indigo, rhubarb and all kind of other plants, leaves and fruits. I use the terra color which looks completely natural on me and feels great.

For the benfit of European readers who are on the lookout for a natural product that makes your hair beautiful and strong, I add the information neverthless.

http://www.naturpflege.de/dokumente/artikel/FotoGross/104184_01.jpg

If you are lookg for herb rinses, I would recommend catnip and rooibus. Besides, you might like to take a look at NIghtshade's Etsy shop (Nightblooming). I think she sells hair coloring mixtures, too.

I think Sante is Logona's sister company, and we have Logona colors in the US. I'd recomend regular henna for hair, I've used Logona and it's pretty weak compared to BAQ henna :twocents: