<p>I am pretty sure that it would not but maybe I am wrong. I am contemplating doing something about my grey hair. My original hair color is dark brown. The greys bother me but I don’t necessarily want to dye them my original hair color–that would look very unnatural I think. I just don’t want them to be grey. Light brown would be good. So I had the thought that perhaps if I used a light brown hair color, the greys would turn some shade of brown but the hair that is still the original color would not, because it is darker.</p>
<p>I’m not a color expert. My hairstylist uses a one step color process. In theory, my hair should all be the same shade of dark brown. However, the gray hair doesn’t accept the color as well as the brown hair does. So I appear to have very natural highlights in my hair-not that fake all one color brown that you often see.</p>
<p>Whether or not this would be the case for you would depend on your hair-how porous it is, how the gray accepts color, etc. </p>
<p>You could dye all of your hair brown, then come back and have lighter highlights put in. This would look more natural than just dying it all brown. I don’t think the darkness of the brown is as important as having the look of natural highlights. When people are young and have yet to develop gray hair, their hair has many different shades, not just one uniform color. So I think that is the key.</p>
<p>I color my own hair.
Most of my hair is gray.
My hair was originally a medium brown and now I dye it light ash brown.
If you look on the back of the hair color box, it will show you pictures of lighter, same or darker, depending whether your original hair color was lighter, the same, or darker than the dye color.
I also find that my hair fades quickly.
You might want to start with a semi permanent color that washes out in a few shampoos.</p>
<p>I also do semi-permanent, one process color on my formerly dark brown hair. I usually do it about every 7 weeks but it’s never a crisis because it doesn’t grow out with that solid gray block of roots, either because of the kind of color or (as I like to think) because I don’t really have so many gray hairs. </p>
<p>Most times my hairdresser just does the roots and the longer parts get kind of reddish and lighter as time goes by. As Nrdsb4 says, it basically looks highlighted by the sun - not streaky but just darker at the roots and lighter at the ends. And some of the gray hairs don’t take color so they look lighter too. Sometimes in the winter, I have the color combed through for the last 5 minutes to even the color out. It looks kind of fake until the first time I wash it. If you start this, be sure to use a good shampoo for colored hair as it really does make it last longer.</p>
<p>I’m with Nrdsb4…my hairdresser uses an all over darkish blond/brown on my hair every other six weeks. On the off time she does the same but then goes back and adds some highlights so that I don’t have that “my color came from a box” look. The highlights can be very drying to your hair so I do not recommend doing them yourself or doing them every six weeks. I don’t have the full grey stripe but I do have a significant amount of grey hair which comes in around my scalp and part line.</p>
<p>Have naturally very dark brown hair and am still not very gray, except in the temple area.</p>
<p>First, my hairdresser made my hair quite a bit lighter than my own hair – maybe a medium brown. Then I had that highlighted to hide the gray as it came in. Worked out. Roots can’t go too long because then the very dark hair shows.</p>
<p>Then I got bored, and just this week gave myself auburn hair which also took naturally because of the highlights and my mostly dark hair. The gray sections in the front (that don’t show much – underneath the rest of my hair) took the dye in a way that makes them look less natural. </p>
<p>OP: To your question if the light brown contains any peroxide (which it probably does) your darker hair will be lightened by it, though not drastically since you are not talking about a double process, which I have never done either.</p>
<p>The roots will be lighter and darker (my situation – see above)so they will show, but they won’t necessarily show drastically.</p>
<p>I gotta say…I use the box stuff…a medium golden brown Loreal. The new boxed dyes are not that “shoe polish” look. My hair comes out with nice highlights AND no grey. The shade I use is also a little lighter than my natural brown. The darker color was just too dark. </p>
<p>If you’re brave try whatever color you’d like to try. See how it works out. You may decide you love it, and you may want to try something different. My first hair color was too dark. The next one made my dark brown hair look reddish (I make a TERRIBLE redhead). The medium golden brown is perfect for me. YMMV.</p>
<p>I use a semi-permanent dye (Clairol Natural Instincts) – and really like it. It covers my gray, and the color fades naturally over time so it is not as obvious when the roots start coming in – and by the time it fades I would have to be re-doing the roots anyway, so it’s not too inconvenient. Since it is semi-permanent you can experiment around – start with the shade you think you would like to try-- and then if it looks odd because it is too light, you can always just go for a darker shade.</p>
<p>I strongly recommend that you have a stylist do your color and not use an at-home product, especially if you’ve never colored before. A person experienced in coloring will give you a flattering base color, then add subtle, strategically placed highlights (foils). </p>
<p>Depending on the texture of your hair and how much gray you have, the process is not foolproof, so you run the risk of a relative hair color disaster at home. Gray hair often does not absorb color as easily as “normal” hair, and the shade can be quite off, especially if the color you choose isn’t quite right. Although salon color is expensive, your hair is with you 24/7 - you can’t take it off like a bad outfit. The best way to find a good stylist is by recommendations from friends whose hair color you like.</p>
<p>I’ve found that the at home boxed products make my hair too brassy, especially if I’m trying to go lighter.</p>
<p>For the part few years I’ve had it colored pretty close to my natural color, just a couple of times a year; after I had kids my hair lost it’s natural highlights and was a pretty drab brown. </p>
<p>Now that the grey is staring to come in big time, I’m going to have to have it done more often, just not sure if I’m going to keep doing the same. I don’t think reddish shades would look good on me. Maybe just a little lighter than what I’m doing now.</p>
<p>I have my hair colored every 5 weeks by my hairdresser. She puts the same color on all of my hair (roots), but because grey hair takes color differently than brown hair, I end up with natural looking highlights. My natural color is a darkish brown, and the haircolor is a lighter brown.</p>
<p>I’ve gone to a hairdresser and I’ve colored my own and to me there are two factors that matter - how gray you are (I am now 98%) and how fast your hair grows (mine grows really fast). When I’ve had it done somewhere, it turns out really nice, but I have a skunk stripe in two weeks. My hair is naturally really dark brown, so if I go with that color, the stripe is more noticeable. If I use a medium brown, it looks good for a few days but then the root area changes color since my grays (actually more like white) don’t hold the color well. </p>
<p>I have ended up doing it myself lately since I don’t want to go somewhere every 3 weeks. If I only color the roots for the first 25 minutes and pull the color through the rest of my hair for only the last 5 minutes, it looks pretty good.</p>
<p>Good luck with deciding what to do! I started going gray in high school so I’ve had a long time to play around with it!</p>
<p>Take the plunge. Go natural–embrace your grayness :)</p>
<p>I had very dark, thick, somewhat course hair, and fast growing hair. I colored my hair for years (had a stylist do it) when the gray starting to come in. After getting to the point where I had to touch it up by the 4 week mark (skunky looking grey roots, haha), I decided that enough was enough. I was sick and tired of dealing with coloring. I also wasn’t keen on the idea of the chemicals soaking into my hair and onto my scalp.</p>
<p>My hair dresser helped me grow it out. She put highlights in it to help blend the gray into the rest of the color. Every six weeks, I’d get another haircut to cut off some more of the grown out colored hair. It wasn’t fun, but I was determined to get through it. It’s been over a year now and I’m so happy I went gray.</p>
<p>It looks fabulous. I’ve received so many compliments on my natural color. It’s super shiney and thick.
I have a modern short cut and the gray does not look frumpy. People are always asking me where I got my tan because my olive skin tone really stands out against the natural gray (silver) color. It kind of looks like I have perfect gray highlights with some darker lowlights.
I’ve actually gotten many compliments since I let the gray grow in—even from random strangers.</p>
<p>I thought I would hate letting my natural gray show. Come to find out, I feel fantastic about it. It’s kind of funky and it’s very liberating to be comfortable in your own skin.</p>
<p>Don’t fear the gray. Embrace it. Own it. :)</p>
<p>The last time I colored my own hair it ended up a very brassy red, so I go to the hairdresser to have it done. For several years she used a semi permanent color which did look very natural. Faded a little as it grew out so the roots were not very obvious and I could get away with every 5 weeks. This last year the semi permanent was not holding color very well any more so had to change to a more permanent color. The roots are more noticeable so probably should change to every 4 weeks. It is ok - flatter color maybe. I don’t care enough to spend the time and money highlighting it though.</p>
<p>If you just have some grey the semi permanent is the way I would go.</p>
<p>I was grey quite young so have been coloring for a long time - the brassy red was when i colored my hair after someone in K-mart admiring my “lovely baby grand daughter”, actually my daughter. I keep thinking I should let it grow out, but I’m not ready yet.</p>
<p>I did decided to let my hair grow out, for about a year… but in the end I didn’t like it. It didn’t turn out to be a lovely silver like nysmile… and I’m still less than half gray (maybe about 20-30% at most) – so I just felt that in the end it didn’t look good and it didn’t make me feel good about myself. I did get tired of the constant need to color – but it’s not really that big of a hassle to do the home, out-of-the-box dye job.</p>
<p>I have a good deal of gray and my hair grows ridiculously fast, so I have to touch up color no less than every three weeks. no way i could afford to do that if a hairdresser did it. So I use Garnier Nutrisse color and do it myself…but ONLY the roots each time. Otherwise, the ends get too much color saturation and look terrible.
My natural color is a kind of medium ash brown, and I find that those sorts of colors are difficult to find in a box! Ends up with a “greenish” tint. So I have had red-toned hair for quite a few years now. I have asked my hairdresser (who cuts my really thick, coarse hair and who, occasionally does highlights for me) if she thinks I should stop doing the color or if it looks bad. She REALLY likes the color on me and thinks it looks good. I do not think gray hair would look good on me at all, so I keep it up.</p>
<p>A couple of months ago she talked me into letting her do a “Brazillian Blowout” on my hair. I balked at the expense, but her hair is thick and coarse like mine and looks wonderful so I went for it. It’s AMAZING. I have smooth, shiny hair for the first time in my life. It will need to be re-done probably in December, but I will definitely do it again! </p>
<p>I did hear a report on GMA about how the process, which is supposed to be formaldehyde-free, does contain formaldehyde. The risk is to the operator rather than the customer, since you only get this done once every three months or so. I talked to my hairdresser about it (she is also my friend and I do not want to expose her to harmful chemicals!), and she did some research and feels okay with it. </p>
<p>If you have coarse, frizzy or really thick unruly hair, you will be absolutely amazed at the results. It’s expensive, but the results are priceless. And it’s fine to do with color treated hair. </p>
<p>I ONLY touch up the roots when I recolor…that is what the directions TELL you to do. The last five minutes you muck the stuff on the rest of your head to “blend it in” but the root job is 20 minutes on the roots only (at least that is what it is for the stuff I use). I’ve had folks, including my hairdresser who used to color my hair, ask me what I use.</p>
<p>The problem with hair color is it is NOT the same on everyone’s hair. I felt like some of it was trial and error to find the right product and the right color. And believe me, I had some “errors” in my process.</p>
<p>I am with thumper1 100%. Loreal Superior Preference in a box, hair dyed at home in less than an hour. You need to be brave and it might take a few tries to find the color that works for you; it is amazing how the same box of dye creates completely different colors on different people. I think the variation has as much to do with the coarseness of your hair than the initial color of your hair. Now that I have a color that I like, “7A” which makes my hair light/medium brown with a little bit of gold, I am quite happy. Without my Loreal, my hair would be an annoying mixture of flat mousy medium/dark brown with quite a bit of gray. With the Loreal, my hair has different shades of brown and gold and picks up light very nicely. Amazing.</p>
<p>IF I had the beautiful grey my sister has, I would…However, being blonde my grey is the mousey, yellow tinged ugly grey. My sister has black hair and a wonderful salt and pepper grey…Mom and Dad were brunettes with brown eyes ;)</p>
<p>I couldn’t afford to have my hairstylist color my hair every 6 weeks so I do my own. I also asked my stylist if my color was ok, and she thought it was a very nice color. I’ve been doing it for 20 years after turning grey before I was 30. Hubby wants me to let it go but I don’t want the hassle of letting it grow out.</p>
<p>It’s quick and easy and I love how it looks :)</p>