Transitioning to grey/gray hair.

[jordancatalano4ever]

So I’ve had it with keeping up with the greying hair. I’ve been dyeing almost monthly for thirteen years and I’m over it and want to do something new. BUT I’m not sure I’m ready to go fully grey. I’ve been getting highlights and I think I’d like to keep that up but I’d rather not have to do my monthly base touch ups. I’ve started dyeing with semi permanent the last four months, which is supposed to wash out, but it seems to hold on and I’m not seeing that fade to grey like I thought I would. I’ve thought about just doing touch ups with toner treatments and stopping the monthly base coverage but don’t want to have that strong line of demarcation.

So if you made the transition and successfully avoided the obvious grow out period please give me all the tips and tricks you’ve got.

[underwaterrhymes]

Yay! 

I did gray blending a year ago and this is about a year’s worth of grow out. (The last time I colored was in maybe June of 2023 and this pic was taken in July of 2024.)

i LOVE it and I get so many compliments. ETA: I turn 50 this upcoming November and was just so tired of dyeing. I look back at pictures of my dyed hair and I think it aged me a lot. It’s possible I may decide at some point to do low lights, but for now I’m solid.


PDQ. Will DD pic.

[jordancatalano4ever]

Sept 12, 2024 19:04:18 GMT -5 underwaterrhymes said:

Yay! 

Looks great! Right in line with what I want to do. Thanks for sharing

[TR]

What is/was your natural color? Lowlights can help with the transition from base color to growing out your natural color if it’s a brown.

[snapoutofit]

I started with highlights and once we found a shade that blended well with the gray I just stopped touching it up and just getting regular trims until the blond was gone. Here’s the finished product and let me tell you, it has been absolutely liberating. No regrets. I’m about to be 55 and I personally don’t think the gray ages me much.

[livinitup]

There is a grow out method that I saw on YouTube or TikTok. I think it got popular during the shut down when people were home and doing their own hair (& had time) or maybe I just started noticing it then.

I think it’s called - Grow out 1/2 grey hair - head flip method.

You pay close attention to your side part. (Pick one side or the other) Continue to dye your roots on one side only and let the grey grow out on the other side. When the grey gets long enough, you flip it.

I think this might work best on naturally straight/wavy hair with a length that you like closer to your shoulders.

This takes longer for your whole head to grow out but you don’t have that easily visible grey line. You will still get to see the grey under your hair and as it moves.

If you can afford it, I’d work with a trusted colorist / hairdresser. Ask what they recommend and what they can do. Low lights underneath might be recommended. Even some nice conditioning treatments could be nice as the texture may change. See your options. Try looking at online videos, too. You might be really pleased !!

ETA: You might hear Purple Shampoo recommended. Ask questions and use only once in a while (if you use it). It’s called shampoo but it does deposit dye on the hair.

[Patsy Baloney]

I’m in the middle of transitioning and think I look really stupid, tbh. My hair is very blue/black and silver, but my dyed hair skews red/orange. I started with highlights, and that was pretty disappointing- they just went yellow and made the demarcation line OBVIOUS. Now, my hairdresser does a demi permanent application of almost black on my ends. It lasts a while. I use a lot of blue shampoo. I think I’m about 1/3 of the way grown out. It’s some pretty bad grombre, lol.

I’m just hoping I’ll like it eventually. I guess I’m just adding my voice to say, it may not be a pleasant process. But I do believe having my roots showing as bad as they did literally 2 weeks after dyeing my hair made me look desperate to have something I don’t (hair color), and I’m hopeful that eventually the grow out will be ok.

[gottadobe]

I'm at the beginning of my transition, and I'm not too fond of it. The last color was in March.
It is growing much darker than I thought it would, but I like the color I see so far.
I have an appointment in a couple weeks with a gray "specialist" and I hope she can do something amazing.
I am so tired of not liking my hair. It's been years since I've walked out of a salon feeling good about the appointment.

[leahcar]

I started my transition during the pandemic and lost my nerve halfway through. I have very dark brown hair and, while I'm probably only 25% grey, those greys are disproportionately along my part and the front of my hair. (aka- they are so, so noticeable) I was showing grey within 2 weeks of dying and was just over it.

In March 2021- I got bayalage to go much lighter. I toned it to keep more ashy/silvery periodically and stopped doing anything to my roots. I slowly chopped until all the dye was gone (mid-2023). I did not get a harsh demarcation line this way.

My hair is so much more healthy now. That makes it easier to style and maintain.

I'm 43 so very few of my peers have stopped coloring. I occasionally miss having colored hair, but don't miss anything about that upkeep.

[laterz]

I'm 49. I stopped dyeing my hair in Dec 2023 - I just got so sick of the time spent. I have curly hair, so without having to do my roots - i'm literally in and out of a haircut (dry) in 15 minutes. I'm probably 75% gray.

I actually kind of like how my grey looks when I actually do my hair - sadly that isn't all that often. I don't love it right now when i pull it back, but oh well.

I won't ever go back to doing my roots, but i can't promise i wouldn't go lighter.

[stemmie]

My BFF and I both grew ours out during the early part of the pandemic when salons were closed here. We each did it differently based on our hair colors, amount/pattern of white coming in and how short we were willing to go.

Her hair was very dark brown. She has a lot of all-over white which gives the grown-out color a classically elegant salt & pepper effect that's steel gray from a distance. She stopped coloring and powered through for about 4" and then got a fairly short trim which took off most of the brown ends. It took 2 shorter cuts to be rid of it all.

I took a more gradual approach. My hair is naturally a dark neutral blond. My whites came in in streaks at my temples initially, then a few more along my hairline behind my ears and nape of my neck. It's only in the last 18 months that it's more widespread. Since I wear my hair shoulder length, the stylist blended light foils until about 4 months ago-- so about 4 years which is ridiculous. We'd done money pieces a while back and I got curtain bangs to be rid of the ends of that plus some other layering.

The last of my highlights should be gone in about 6 months. I love not having to worry about fading and brassiness (even with hats and great products, my hair pulls gold) and how much healthier it is now.

One caveat is to pay attention to your eyebrows. Mine went white faster than the hair on my head, so I use a pencil and tinted brow mascara. I started out with a taupe for but find blond works better now that my hair is lighter. My friend has to fill hers in too. She switched to gray because the chestnut brown looked incongruous with the gray hair.