Having a Bad Hair *Year* -- Advice on Coloring?

DIY home color. Cheaper and you can do it more regularly.

I would go to a professional and get it colored once or twice a year and then color at home yourself to maintian. Let the pro know you can't afford to come regularly. She should give you an all over color that you can duplicate at home.

I dye my hair champagne blond. The grays that don't take the dye as well, end up looking like highlights so my hair doesn't look one dimensional. When I go to my color lady she puts a similar all over color and glaze then a deep conditioning treatment. It doesn't look drastically differant than what I do at home, just more polished.

I have found that with my gray....it is soooo coarse & brittle that any brand of coloring appears to "fry" my hair. It becomes flyaway & is not worth the effort.

I've tried highlighting, lowlighting, & full color. Not impressed with the long-term results....because my hair is fast-growing, too. After the last go-round, I decided to avoid all color products. My hair is now silver & gold up front... as my Mom likes to say. The back & most of the sides are a light brown/dark blonde.

There are days when I'd like to slap my DH....his white hair is super soft, super shiny, & a perfect white. So much healthier-looking than mine. & through the years, I've only tried hair color a handful of times....so not fair!

Get your hair frosted to blend in with the gray. Then take the cap off , put the color on all the hair the color that at is left in the bottle. let it stay for about tem min. and shampoo the hair. a condition. I hope thil will help...

I am a hairstylist. What many of our graying clients do, is color the roots at home slightly lighter than their natural hair color to save money. They just paint the color on the roots ONLY, very careful not to get it on the other section of hair. Then, they come in to the salon where we apply highlights. We can stretch it out for a few months, they can darken the roots a little once a month, then come to us for the highlights every few months if money is an issue.

It's true though, highlights do help hide the color.... it's also a good way to transition to gray hair (doing highlights only without the root cover up). I would warn against the cap "frosting"... that's a good way to make you go a really yucky too white/brassy blonde, that will look pretty horrid with the gray. It can also do major damage to your hair.

You really have a lot of options, go to a good colorist, tell her about your budget and he/she should be able to offer you some good alternatives.