in two minds as to whether to dye or not.

[bratz81]

Dye my hair that is !

I've only been a member here since August 2011, and before that would have dyed my hair various colours without a second thought. Now though I've been taking better care of my hair, cutting out the bleaching, dyes, heat styling and so on.

I wanted to go back to my natural colour (it was half my natural (brown) and half blue) so managed to get it back to brown and I used a henna and indigo mix to cover bleach streaks and just get it back to natural. This was...August/September time.

So my hair has grown in natural since then, and it doesn't quite seem how I remember it. I remember my hair being dark brown but having naturally red highlights in it, which I can't seem to see any more. This could be due to the virgin hair only being 4 inches long. I also have some grey, at the front. Now, I didn't mind the grey too much at first but part of me wonders if I should cover it, being 30 and feeling 18 inside I wonder if I'm 'too young' for grey.

I don't want to go back to bleaching and mad colours, and I'd far rather use a gentle/natural hair dye. I'm not a fan of henna much in that it dries my hair for a week after doing it, although I could live with this. I wouldn't want to go really red, but I think the henna over dark hair would be a dark red.

So, basically here's the point. Should I dye my hair at all? Will it affect my growth a lot, and am I 'giving in' to cover the grey? Plus, as I get older and it gets more grey I'll have to grow it in at some point anyway, should I continue to do it now or wait? Plus can I be bothered with the regrowth?

And secondly, if I do dye, are there any more 'natural' dyes out there, or dyes that are less likely to damage my hair? Apart from henna which is a last resort for me as I still have some lighter 'bleached' streaks which might go more red than I'm willing to go right now.

[Babyfine]

Hi! I have my hair coloured at salon every 3-4 months with a demi-permanent(Redken Shades) mainly to cover some grey. she colors close to my natural brown.
I used to get high lights and low lights but I've found this process to be much less damaging, I've noticed barely any damage compared to when I did highlights. My hair is very fine and fragile, and I'm sure even a demi does some damage but I treat my hair very gently and use a gentle regimen to compensate. I've seriously considered henna, too, and I may go down that route someday I'm just not sure I want that commitment yet, as henna is a big commitment. I've also considered letting the silvers come in, too, and I may do that soon, as my whites are getting more numerous and harder to cover. But for now this works well.

ETA: Redken Shades isn't natural, but it's very gentle. There's also a gentle dye called Elumen that has a thread over on the products forum, too, you might check out.
I've considered using this myself.

[IndigoOptimist]

Your hair might not be the same colour as you remembered it because of all the dying. Hair colour also changes slightly over time too. I had golden blond before I dyed it, now it's more mouse :/
I've looked quite a bit for natural hair dyes but couldn't find much other than henna. There're things you can use to make the most of your natural hair colour. I'm going to try honey lightening before I try henna for example ;)
Personally I wouldn't mind having long gray/white hair, I think it looks great!

[bratz81]

Babyfine, thanks for the input. My hair isn't 'that' easily damaged, it's still in pretty good condition despite a lot of bleaching, so if your hair can stand dye then hopefully mine can too!

A salon is out of the question right now as money is tight, but I hadn't realised they also did demi colours so that's useful information for the future, thank you.

I only have silver hairs at the front in one streak, so not loads to hide, part of me just isn't 100% happy with it, you know?

[bratz81]

IndigoOptimist, whoops I replied posted just as you did and missed it.

I know hair colour can change as you get older, but I had thought the virgin hair growing in would be the same colour as it's only been a few years since I had it natural and I haven't dyed the top 4 inches. Can dye change the colour of my new virgin hair?

[Babyfine]

Babyfine, thanks for the input. My hair isn't 'that' easily damaged, it's still in pretty good condition despite a lot of bleaching, so if your hair can stand dye then hopefully mine can too!

A salon is out of the question right now as money is tight, but I hadn't realised they also did demi colours so that's useful information for the future, thank you.

I only have silver hairs at the front in one streak, so not loads to hide, part of me just isn't 100% happy with it, you know?

I know what you mean I have two salt and peppery streaks in the front about 2" wide. I only dye about every3-4 months so they start to show up before that.
I've seriously thought about just letting them come in and be a renegray-that's what I like about the demi vs henna is I'm afraid my silvery brown hair would be too hard to grow out against the henna, whereas the demi fades away nicely.
But I have been seriously tempted to henna, too, as I love reddish colors!

[ladyfey]

NOOOOOOOOOO!!!! :) I love natural hair, but that is me. As for looking different, it may well be that it will change as it gets longer. I grew out bleach years ago, and while the natural part was still short, it looked so dark to me. That changed as it grew out. As for feeling 18 at 30, I think that is most people, I'm 40 and feel about 25. So prepare to feel that way for a long time! Nothing wrong with some gray in your hair, you'll have it eventually unless you dye your hair forever.

[Krentje]

I have used demi-colour -28 washes- for the first time to cover a not-so-flattering highlight job of this summer. I took a darker colour than my natural and like it very much, the demarcation line is not sharp, it 'fades' into my own reddish light brown!

Besides, it was cheap and easy to do. As it is only one month ago, i cannot say anything about how it will fade. But when in doubt, it wouldn't hurt to try. It does contain some peroxide, but the concentration is super low and it didn't smell bad! Good luck on your decision.

(i unfortunately don't post pictures as i am too concerned about privacy after some unpleasant experience)

[heidi w.]

I am no expert in matters of hair dying, but if you want natural hair and natural hair color, dying I think is a bad idea. It will compromise the hair's integrity to some degree, and may lead to hair not being able to grow quite as long. If you do dye your hair, find ways to do so without using really bad products. I'm trying to remember the name of one kind of dying ingredient that is fairly bad for hair, but alas, I can't recall the name for some reason. It's on the tip of my tongue! Arrrgh!

You might consider a "rinse" which washes out faster, but doesn't create the damage. It may be possible to cover the grays only with a rinse kind of color. In short, consider coloring only a bit of hair, not the whole head of hair.

Frederick Fekai recommends that if hair is somewhere between 30-40% grey, then coloring is in order perhaps; much less than that, no coloring is his advice. He may have alternative solutions to recommend. But I recall his idea that a fair amount of hair should be gray before considering dying all the hair.

Also, as we age, hair does change color. Blondes can become near brunettes over time, for example. I am one such person. Some people declare me a brunette, when I began life as a tow-head blonde! I lived for years in Silicon Valley, Californa, and the sun there helped to keep my hair lighter (or so I believe). But now I'm in northern Illinois, a much grayer part of the country. We have many months out of the year with little-to-no sun on the level I'm used to. And that may have something to do with my hair changing color. My sister's hair changed color dramatically also. (Seems to be more genetic than anything else.) My hair darkened in hue a bit when I was in Silicon Valley, California.

So, if you've been coloring your hair for a number of years, it's quite possible that you missed your hair changing color. I've even had a person comment on my hair changing color.

I have grey hair only at the temples on either side of the front of my head. Almost none in the hair length overall. I don't bother to color it as it's not in any way dominant.

Consider a hair rinse as an option. Also, if you color your hair, be sure to use hair care products for color treated hair. Hair that is color treated tends to need a bit more moisture (conditioner) than more average hair.

heidi w.

[spidermom]

Until you're absolutely sure, you could use temporary color - the kind that fades out over 28 washes. I don't know of any good brands, though. I forget what I used last time; it did dry out my hair, especially near the ends.

[silverjen]

If you want to consider the pluses of going natural and enjoying your silver, come over to the Official Salt and Pepper thread.
And, I guarantee you will always feel younger inside than you are. I'm 40 and feel 25, will probably do so until I wake up dead. :-)

[jacqueline101]

I dyed my hair purple using the clairol jazzing demi permanate color. It goes in your hair and washes out over time. It was gentle on my hair.

[bratz81]

ladyfey - yes perhaps you're right, I need to wait until it's a bit longer to see if the colour is as I remember. The virgin hair is only around 4 inches or so long, so letting it grow a bit more is definitely an option.

heidi w - that's interesting advice on the covering grey if it's 30-40% or more. I have around 5% grey, just a streak growing at the front. Well, that's all I can find so far!
You mentioned hair changing colour, I knew that it was common for blondes to change colour and go darker, but does dark hair change colour too? I wasn't aware of that. My hair is the same shade of brown it was, not darker or lighter, I'm just not seeing the red highlights it used to have yet.

silverjen - thanks for the tip, I might pop in and have a read of that thread.

Thanks to everyone else who mentioned demi colours, rinses etc, it's definitely something to think about there. Part of the reason I decided to go natural, apart from the damage, was the upkeep of colour - dye or grow out which can take ages and look weird depending on the colours. So the demi and rinse options are useful to know if I decided to dye, then it could fade out.

[Buffy]

The natural hair color DOESN'T change because of dyes!! It can change on its own as time goes by, but this would happen anyway whether you dyed it or not!

Your natural red highlights won't show on only 4 inch regrowth, that's for sure!!!

As for the greys , it's a matter of taste, nobody can advise you on that! Me personally i wouldn't wanna have my grey hairs show (when i get them) until i'm reasonably old (60 or older) , but some girls rock their silver locks. It's up to YOU.

As for your main question in my opinion: do what you really want!! My best advice to you is to CAREFULLY pick a hairdye (light weight/semi permanent or a "natural" one) close to your natural color and dye everything BUT the 4 inch regrowth. Let your hair grow some more and see how you like it.

What plays a VERY VERY importand role on what you wanna do with your hair is how long you are planning to grow it! If your goal is BSL , then i think you can get away dying it to a color close to your natural from time to time. If you want to go longer than that however, it's quite hard to achieve it and using dye at the same time! It all of course depends on your hair quality and how resilient it is

[bratz81]

Buffy - thanks for the reply.

My hair was dyed as close as possible to my natural colour before I started to grow it back, so I don't think there's a need to dye all but my virgin hair as it won't show anything. I'd be wanting to dye to cover the grey, which is part of the virgin growth.

My first goal is waist then I'll see how we go from there, and I've seen people on this forum who have hair around that length and dye it, so I hope I can manage that using more natural dyes, if I decide to dye.

[Tabitha]

I think white skunk stripes are really cool! and dye is a PITA, always roots growing and showing. Natural is definitely less hassle. I suggest you leave it for a while and see how you feel. It's easier to change your mind from not dyeing, than it is if you dye then want to go natural.

[MonaMayfair]

I was reading about a semi permanent by Wella called color fresh 3/10.
It's supposed to cover greys well and doesn't have ammonia or peroxide.
There are also some color mousses that are supposed to disguise grey roots.

Your red highlights would probably return if you had more root showing and had been in the sun more (that's my theory anyway!)

Personally I use henna, but if I didn't, I'd definitely dye my hair if it started to go grey!

[bratz81]

tabitha - thank you, yes I will probably wait a while to see if this is a whim or not. I have rushed into dying before and regretted it!

MonaMayfair - I hope you don't think me rude, but can I ask why you definitely would dye if you had greys? I would just like to see different opinions as to why dye, not dye etc, I'm not meaning to offend!

[MonaMayfair]

MonaMayfair[/B] - I hope you don't think me rude, but can I ask why you definitely would dye if you had greys? I would just like to see different opinions as to why dye, not dye etc, I'm not meaning to offend!

No, I don't think it's rude to ask! I don't like the look of grey hair. I've got several friends around my age and younger - late teens to mid twenties - who have to dye their hair because they already have it. I had a (male) friend when I was seventeen who was at least 50% grey!
It's a genetic thing as well as an ageing thing of course, but I don't like it either way.
Also, I'm not a big fan of "natural" for it's own sake!

[MonaMayfair]

LOL, meant to add, the friend was also seventeen!

[bratz81]

Mona - thanks. I'm not sure if I like the look of 'my' grey hair so that's something that could influence me.
I've had some grey since I've been about 17, but only one or two. It's only the last year I've had a bit more really, and I'm 30 now so not as bad as your friend but younger than I'd have wanted!

[MonaMayfair]

It seems to be very common to get greys while you're still young - at least, I didn't realize that several of my friends dyed their hair at all until they told me they did it to hide greys. That's only the ones who have told me about it!

[woolyleprechaun]

If I was you, I would totaly rock the grey. Have a browse at the amazing folk over at the salt 'n' pepper thread and see how you feel after that. They had me LOOKING FORWARD to the greys! :)

[Eden75]

I didn't dye my hair for about 8 months, let the grey come in and the natural start to come back. I am not quite 37 and looked in the mirror and realized that I looked 10 years older with all the grey. So, back to the dye I went. I only used one bottle to cover the grey roots and it was an exact match to the rest of my hair.

If you are not will to commit 100%, Clairol Natural Instincts is a good semi. It washes out well and isn't hard on your hair.
http://www.clairol.com/en-US/products/natural-instincts/natural-hair-color

Good luck with whichever you decide!

[bratz81]

Eden - thanks for you input. I'm used to looking younger than I am, so looking older with grey would be a bit of a change for me!
But I could be worrying unnecessarily, they haven't grown in loads yet, there's a streak about 4 inches long so waiting until it's a bit longer might be an idea.