Hair coloring question, gray covering?

Question

I've been dying my hair to cover gray using Revlon Colorsilk (very economical) because I fell out of favor with the beauty school who was doing it for the past year. I started with mahogany brown (a very dark brunette) because I was concerned something lighter wouldn't cover the gray. THen I went to an auburn, but it was too reddish, and still dark. This time I used medium golden brown, and it's better... but I really want to lighten it up, and don't want to do highlights.

I notice there's no peroxide in the developer or color. Do I pick a lighter color like light brown or ash blonde--something with peroxide that promises to lighten--or do I have to really strip it blonde then dye it a medium brown color. Or should I reconsider the highlight possibility. I had some done once by the beauty school, and they came out really well, just not sure if I can do it at home.

I need to color every 3 weeks or so because I have a lot of gray patches and my hair grows pretty fast.

I don't have any trouble with gray coverage right now, and I'm going to stay with my current brand for budget reasons (I need 2 applications every time, have very thick hair).

Thanks everyone. The reason I have to color so often is that the hair grows fast, though. It's permanent color, and it doesn't fade. It's just the roots keep coming in. This has happened my whole coloring life, whether salon-done or home.

Answer 1

Before you do anything to your hair you will regret I'd like to give you some color basics. Ash colors have a GREEN base, Golden colors have a RED base. If you were using a mahongany and auburn you will get more red because the base is red and grey hair, while resistant to color, will ALWAYS be a reflection of the haircolor's true base.
The reason you are having to color so often is because you are using a semi-permanent color that contains no peroxide and all it really does is coat the outer cuticle of the hair without lifting it to impregnate the strand with color.
My suggestion is to use a light golden brown in a PERMANENT color formula. Since it is usually the hairline that tends to go grey first I suggest you color your hair at the root and around the hairline first, processing for 15 minutes, then pull the color through to the ends and process for the remaining time (usually 10 additional minutes).
Your grey hair will appear more as highlights with this method, more of a lighter shade of the overall color, much like what happens naturally due to sun exposure.
Also, when you do recolor, only apply the color to the roots and during the last few minutes should you pull it through to the ends so that you completely color they grey and don't cause the more porous ends to become dark.
Good luck!!

Answer 2

I am not a professional hair stylist by any means but from my own experience with coloring my hair for the past twenty years, I have learned a lot about hair color. From what I have heard lighter colors usually cover gray better than darker colors for some reason that I do not know.I would not bleach out your hair and then put on the medium brown because as it fades out the bleached out color will come back and it is harder to get rid of. Try to stay away from ash colors because they can tend to turn your hair a shade that you may not be looking for. They are trickier than the normal shades. I believe that they have a light golden brown which may be more of what you are looking for. Highlights at home are also very tricky and unless you have done them enough to really know what you want, I would suggest trying them either. A lot of people try doing highlights at home and end up doing way too many highlights and end up with almost completely bleaching their hair. If you do not want to go back to the beauty school you were previously going to, look around for another beauty college in town to try. I know where I live there are a ton of them around. I hope this helps!

Answer 3

Nice n Easy just came out with a new line of shades that cover grey. I used the med. ash blonde and I love it. It is very easy to do -- only takes 20 mins and it covers gray better than anything else I've tried. I have alot of grey with dark hair mixed in and in the back and I am really pleased with this product and this shade.

Answer 4

Reverse Your Gray Hair - http://GrayHairGone.siopu.com/?UnV

Answer 5

yes no problem