Fighting the grays and losing. Any suggestions?

Boy, I feel your pain. And now that I'm taking vits and using growth aids, my grays are out of control! I wanted to love the henna/indigo combo and all its magic, but I just don't like it - not the process, nor the color. I recently found Clairol's BEAUTIFUL COLLECTION semi-permanent New Advance Gray Solution. So far, so good. I co-wash daily and am getting about 3 good weeks- the bottle promised 28 washes. The nice thing about this product is that it has No Peroxide and No Ammonia and cost about $3.00. My hair idol on this site is the beautiful silver haired lady,(Davis?). Sooo pretty. But I don't possess her courage just yet, so for now I am dying and bunning my way to APL. Good luck!
 
I had to accept that henna and indigo etc are just too time consuming if you have to color every 6-8 weeks.

Just use a semi- or demi-permanent color. We don't have demi-permanent over here, but I suspect what you call demipermanent is the same formula that we call semi-permanent...?

I really have to color every 5-6 weeks if I want to eliminate all the grays.
It is what it is.

I'll go to the grave with my colored black/brown hair :lachen:
 
kim said:
I plan to embrace my grays also! If it gets unbearable , then I will go back to rinses. My hair hates henna:(
Click to expand...
Ok kim. We're in this together (until one of us gets tired of embracing :giggle: ). I used henna a few times YEARS ago. I don't plan on using it ever again.
 
nflight said:
Boy, I feel your pain. And now that I'm taking vits and using growth aids, my grays are out of control! I wanted to love the henna/indigo combo and all its magic, but I just don't like it - not the process, nor the color. I recently found Clairol's BEAUTIFUL COLLECTION semi-permanent New Advance Gray Solution. So far, so good. I co-wash daily and am getting about 3 good weeks- the bottle promised 28 washes. The nice thing about this product is that it has No Peroxide and No Ammonia and cost about $3.00. My hair idol on this site is the beautiful silver haired lady,(Davis?). Sooo pretty. But I don't possess her courage just yet, so for now I am dying and bunning my way to APL. Good luck!
Click to expand...
I used to use Clairol's Beautiful Collection. If you're co-washing daily and getting about 3 good weeks with your color, hey that's 21 washes, so that's good, and at only $3, you can't beat that.
 
I was using Bigen for years until the it was pointed out that it was unhealthy. I have grays in the temple area and tried Garnier Nutress it turn my grays burnt orange. I knew Bigen would cover that up immediately. The down side of semi permanent like Allandra said if you wash your hair alot you'll be using it alot. I prefer permanent and since I'm only using it on my temple I'm good with it.
 
Hmmm....currently I use henna once per month for the few grays I have. I'm just wondering if this will be a viable solution, once the gray hairs begin to outnumber the black hairs....:ohwell:
 
I gave up on Henna. Its so messy and time consuming. I've been using Tints of Nature that I buy locally at Whole Foods. The website has it for $12.99 (not including shipping) and WF sells it for $19.00.

Here's the site: http://www.tintsofnatureusa.com/store/index.html

I wish I didn't have to color my grays, but I have no choice. I am sure this is bad for me, but I think its less harsh than the stuff sold at CVS.
 
Last edited:
My whole hairline is turning gray, and they have the nerve to want to stay flat & smooth and grow down my forehead like a bang. I can't deal with the upkeep. I wear headbands all of the time now.
 
I love my henna and indigo but with some additional responsibilities I just don't have the time I use to have to do this. It is usually a whole day process for me or at the very least a half day just henna and indigo coloring.

Someone suggested color rinsing so I am doing research. I cannot use permanent color it is just like using a relaxer my hair and it starts coming out like crazy. Just can't go that route.

I have been looking at a semi permanent product called Surya Henna Brasil Cream. I was surprised it actually mentioned Afro texture hair in the instruction booklet. So far I like what I see. I like the ingredients. I got it at Mothers Market here in OC. If I try it I will be back to post information.

http://www.suryabrasil.com/en/detalhe_produto.php?id=56

http://www.suryabrasil.com/index_orig05032010.html

(Disclaimer - I do not own nor have a vested interest in this product or company) :yep:
 
Omg, I've been looking for something for months! I used henna for a little over a year, hoping it would eventually darken the orangies, no such luck. All I got was straightened out curls! But that's a whole 'nutha thread.

Since the first of the year, I've just been using a hair mascara that I bought from the BSS and it seems to be working fine. It's by Irene Gari and the box caught my attention because it said, "Cover your gray." I don't use it daily because some days the grays, which are along my hairline, are tolerable. On the days that they are yelling, "Hey, look at me!" I pull out my little magic (mascara) wand and poof, be gone!
 
:wallbash:
Bella_Atl said:
I have been chemical free for 6 months now! Yeah!:grin:

But for the past 6 months my grays have been coming in full force. I have been using Henna but the process is too slow. First treatmeant it turns the new gray orange (which I don't like) then after each henna treatmeant they get darker and darker, until about the 5th or 6th treatmeant I have mohagony highlights (which I do like). Problem is the new growth and gray have already started coming by that time. Aaarrgghh!:wallbash:

I don't want to go back to color in a bottle but I just can't do the grays! And I gray around my hairline. So brushed back bangless ponytails are out!:nono:
Any chemical free suggestions?:ohwell:
Click to expand...

I am getting gray's really bad too! it sucks:wallbash: This is my current routine:
week 1 - full on henna tx that I keep on upto 6 or 8 hrs
week 2 - henna rinse mixing henna with a little amla and cheapie moisturizing condish on a monday ( Alma for more brown undertones not
orange) and another rinse on a thursday.
* when I do rinses, I leave that condish in my hair for 1-3 hrs under a plastic cap*
week 3-4 repeat week 2
week 5-6 rest from henna and only do moisturizing condish washes and dc tx.
Then I repeat. I HAVE to keep up on the dc tx and moisture balance, or my hair will start to freak from all the protein. I only do this 2 months on 1 month off.

If I have gray's that are showing, that I dont like, I got one of those "color pens" from sally's and I just style and cover the ones that are showing.

When you go the box color route, then it's like you have to experiment with different types of permanent color brands, to find the one that TRUELY covers all the grays. Doing this can be a pain in the arse and cause damage from the repeated color layering.

Hth! It's a pain, but I KNOW that i will eventually get sick of all this, and just let them come in. Just not now :) I am too young for salt and pepper hair :)
 
Bella_Atl said:
Are these products safe to use over henna? I read somewhere you can't use commercial products over henna. It'll cause hair loss. Has anyone else heard this?
Click to expand...

if you ONLY use baq ( body art quality ) henna with no metals in it, then you are good. I got a commercial/box color last april, and I have been henna'ing over it since with no neg effects.

I ONLY get my henna from fnol ( from nature with love ) or menhani.com. Menhandi.com it a little too expensive for me tho.
 
I'm embarrassed to say but I have been cutting out my grey hairs. It tends to happen near my hairline which is why I cut it out. But I know that I must stop doing this. I will be facing this too real soon regarding the grey hairs.
 
I plan to give henna/indigo a try. I've been using the hair mascara option and that's fine except it gets on my pillowcases if I lay down. I'm willing to go thru the extra effort as long as the results are good.
 
I have been ignoring grays sprinkled in the back of my head and been tackling the grays along my hairline and part with the Clairol Gray Touch Up brush. I just realized that this is a permanent color, so maybe I should stop using it? My hair is not relaxed.
 
use sharpies... yeah the permenant marker. At least that was my childs suggestion. waits for someone to research the ingredients

I am so tired of this battle, that I have been using Henna mixed with coffee or cocoa for a very brown color and it last a few days as does all the other rinses. The only thing that has any staying power for me is the Garnier color with the bamboo oil, but it dries the hair completely out and then it breaks off so you will not have a need for dye anyway. The other thing that I do and have not had any negative effects is take a rinse such as beautiful or adore and dab a toothbrush in it brush my hairline with the color/rinse and leave it. I have to do that just about everymorning cause it will surely come off when I wash my face or take a shower. Which is, i believe, the reason that all color comes off my hairline. Someone had a gray color that was guaranteed to last 10 or 20 washes, a friend of mines told me that it last about 8, something from clairol, it was a chemical.

Anyone ever try the grey stuff thats just for men?
 
Last edited:
I'm still willing to fight the battle of the grey hair. Not yet willing to embrace them just yet. Not yet.

Here's my contribution...

I use and enjoy Colorshowers (get mine from roundbrushhair). It doesn't last very long, but I don't use sulfate shampoo often. I cowash much more so my rinse lasts several weeks. (3 or 4) I don't mind applying the color that often though. It says something about being natural, but I'm not sure about all that. I just know I get great shine, great color and my greys go bye bye.

I also heard of how consuming blackstrap molasses will darken hair over time. I think I read that it takes months of consistent consumption to see effects. So, I add a teaspoon to a cup of tea in the morning. It's yummy and I should see long term effects. I'll have to report back later.

Lastly, I've read about including Sage essential oil in conditioning treatments has a darkening effect on hair. There are scalp benefits to sage also. There may be other essential oils good for deepening hair color if you chose to go that route.

I don't know anything about ayurveda, but aren't there oils and powders that are used to darken hair? Something in Vatika? Again, it's only something I vaguely remember reading (on LHCF by the way).

HTH
 
I get along with my gray hairs.

I figure it will solidify whether people realize this is actually my hair and not a weave because a lot of the grays are bright white and as long as the rest of my hair. lol

I have one gray eyebrow hair that gets plucked.

But...I did find a gray hair in the nether region. That I couldn't handle. I ran and told the hubs about it.
 
I dye the rest of my greys with Bigen but I have left out a white patch (skunk patch?!lol) in the front. I like it and I've received lots of compliments on it :)
 
I use Bigen for my gray patch in my bangs. BUT I notice that my bangs are crispy at the ends when they grow out. Bigen really does keep the color, but I texlax and I'm starting to think that Bigen and Lye Texlax does not work!

I have used Clairol Rinse and it didn't work on my hair. Bigen is the only thing that turned my gray strands black.

I use a color stick from the beauty supply when my hair grows out until the next time. I would love to find something else. Bigen is about $3.99 at Walmart, so even though it's slightly damaging my bangs over time, I keep using it. This time I've added in a reconstructor.
 
I agree with nylatinjazz. The entire henna process is 1-2 hours max. There is no long resting/curing process. Just 10 miunutes and you are ready to apply to hair. We know that true henna is only one color - red. To get other colors requires the addition of indigo. You can purchase the Luscious Henna with the selection of the color that you would like your hair to be. The company has already added the required amount of indigo to acheive the color that you would like. No more guestimating the amount of indigo to add to acheive the color that you want. Check out their website for additional information. HTH
 
subbing this thread-

I have gray hairs all over-

I started out using Color Showers rinses and they covered my gray, but it was semi-permanent and it would rinse out a little more with each wash and was staining my pillows, head scarves, etc. So I stopped.

About a year ago, I started using Tints of Nature and it was a pretty easy application, and completely covered my grays, BUT I have dark brown hair and wanted to keep it and their dark brown color basically turned my hair jet black. :ohwell: The jet looked ok on me so I tried to pretend that it was intentional and then I had to dye my roots every 4-6 weeks, bc the roots were lighter + the grays...not a cute combination.

I gave up on this about 6 months ago and just went to a basic dark and lovely in a medium dark brown to try and even out the color all over and it worked a little, but I didn't want to keep using the D&L bc my hair always felt like straw for a couple of weeks after the application, so I knew it wasn't doing my hair any favors. Plus it was a pain to try and "normalize" my hair for the two weeks following the color application and in 2-3 weeks, it was time to do it all over again.

I tried henna/indigo and left it on for about 1.5 hours and it just got some of my grays and the rest were an auburn color. :sad: I thought 1.5 hours was an excessive amount of time to have something on my hair and some ladies were telling me I didn't have it on long enough. :perplexed

I will try the henna again, because my hair wasn't tore up after like it was with the D&L. I guess I just have to sit around and plan for when I can put henna on my hair for 4 or more hours, bc I've found my OCD won't allow me to sleep with a plastic cap on my head for whatever reason...(the only 2 times I tried it for an overnight DC, I actually got up in the middle of the night both times and rinsed my hair and braided it so I could take the cap off...:perplexed something about the way it felt on my head and the squishing sound it made....I digress...)

Anyway, this sucks....I used to go to an Aveda salon to have my grays colored when I lived in a large city, but I have moved to a small town and I know these folks in (probably the one and only) Aveda salon won't know WHAT to do with my hair...I will fight a chick tryna rip or comb through my hair treating it like it's not supposed to be treated.

I don't even have the energy anymore to try and go somewhere to train somebody. This sux:look:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

JJamiah
This Weekend:
Replies
2
Views
759
prospurr4
P
primelime
Natural Hair And I've Never Used Permanent Dye. Should I Switch To Permanent To Cover My Grays?
Replies
9
Views
2K
faithVA
faithVA
Hairsnob
My Gray Hairs Are M.I.A!..Not Complaining Though. Is it the MN, Sulfur or Castor Oil?
Replies
4
Views
1K
Hairsnob
Hairsnob
Bella_Atl
Hendigo and the gray hair blues. Please Help!
Replies
18
Views
16K
Bella_Atl
Bella_Atl
K
Dark Hair/Light Hair/Hi-Lites (what's in?)
Replies
10
Views
3K
nomoweavesfome
nomoweavesfome
Back
Top