h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Dye that's grey that is, not dye for covering grey hair (although I do want to cover grey hair)...well anyway, I can't seem to to find the right keywords to find it on the web!
I wouldn't have minded if my hair had gone a darkish grey, but it's gone whitish, which doesn't suit me.
I used to use ash brown, but it now fades quickly to yellowish (which I also hate on me). I just want the ash without the brown - pure, mid/dark grey. I don't want any bleaching ingredients, as they'd make things worse; I simply want to add grey.
Has anyone heard of a grey home hair colour? I've been to the websites of the brands I can get round here (Clairol, L'Oreal, Garnier, Movida, Naturtint, Herbashine) and seen their ranges, but no dice.
Any brands I could try? It would be a waste in this case to recommend a UK shop (high street or online), as I'm in Ireland; but a brand name would be enough to go on.
Alternatively, has anyone achieved a grey colour by using black dye and rinsing it off early (intentionally or not)? I'm not keen to experiment, in case the effect would be bluish, purplish etc.

Hi Polly;
Perhaps a henna product. If all else fails go into a hair salon and ask them. From my experience grey hair is difficult to colour and the root problem is a pain. Personally, someone suggested colouring my hair for the upcoming wedding of my daughter, I talked to my hair dresser and we both agreed that the result would not be a happy one. I hate ongoing hair care.

Halloween stores have stuff for making your hair grey, but I´m not sure it will last for that long.

Maybe you can look for 'silver' hair dye?

you can get a semi-permanent 'white' toner from people like Directions and Stargazer. I will be going back to get my toner re-done along with my bleach at the hairdressers' but I will then be using the semi-permanent one to keep it whiter instead of the yellowy bleach colour (even though it's bleahed almost white, it's not quite right).

It might work over your natural colour to keep it greyer, although it may not touch it at all. It's blueish or silverish in colour, the toner.

Thanks all for your suggestions!
Sorry - forgot to mention I've tried toners & rinses; some were the right colour, but they weren't strong enough. They had similar results on me to rosemary tea (a more traditional hair darkening rinse).
I also want something more permanent, in the hope of fiddling about less frequently. Semi-permanent would do fine; the popular permanant hair colours don't seem to last any longer on me than the semi-. And (maybe I'm wrong?) I assume only permanent colour has bleach in, and that's something I want to avoid.
I do sometimes use black colour styling mousse; too sticky to use much of, but a step in the right direction; nice and neutral on my hair. If I spray a little on a tissue though, the stain separates into purple etc, so maybe an incompletely processed black dye would do the same.
Henna would have been a nice healthy way to go but, having just looked at some info, I don't think it's for me. Black henna's done by adding indigo to the (red) henna (either as a later stage, or ready-mixed). Semi-black doesn't seem to figure anywhere. Strand tests are unreliable for henna, and I think the red/blue balance would be too tricky.
The hair salons within reach haven't been able to help (I don't think they've heard of anyone wanting a colour that's not warm).
Halloween's big over here, but the only hair colour I've seen for that is black disco spray, which is sticky and comes off on everything (yes - I tried it). I couldn't resist a streaky black and white Halloween wig though. The colouring looks fine, but it's maybe a touch dramatic for everyday wear! I might as well check out if theatrical suppliers do hair colour though (in which case they might have a different range).
I keep a supply of trimmed-off hair to experiment on, and recommend it. I just wind & tie some thread round each little bunch as I cut it (cotton thread matching root colour can be an extra guide).
If I draw a blank I might try some of my art materials, e.g. oriental ink.

Again, look to semi permanents like directions or stargazer, they do blacks without the bleachy element, so used as a monthly treatment they might well do better what you'd look for from an incomplete permanent dye. One of the ones I used to use was a fantastic conditioner as well, but you really had to rinse it well. A shower was essential!

Hi Polly,
Before using the ink do first check for toxic compounds that may be in it. You might also might check into natural dies made for wool, I'm thinking a walnut husk rinse might be worth a try.

Thanks for the names Robyn! I'll follow them up. And it does seem a good idea to avoid permanent products.
I might also try ash/silver washes again, but with more than one application this time.

Yes anancygirl - good point about toxicity!
Thanks for reminding me about potions from plants, which I'd beem forgetting about (I think I meant sage not rosemary).
I knew faces could be coloured with walnut, but didn't know about wool (I suppose the connection makes sense). Just before I saw your posting, I found instructions for boiling walnut shells for a hair darkening lotion!

If I have any success, I'll report back here; I did find a few people who'd asked the same question. And 1 or 2 statements that nobody makes dark grey hair dye, for home use anyway (the colour's quite cool in some circles, but hairdressers are naturally reticent about their methods!).

Polly; Also check into the shampoo, that swimmers use to counteract the effects of Chlorine in some waters/pools. If memory severs Chlorine enhances yellow/orange in hair.

Thanks anancygirl! I didn't know about those shampoos re chlorine.
I'd imagine they'd be nice to hair, too (I have an idea chlorine's drying, but might be wrong).

Shopping's very limited where I live, so I get out of touch with what's available. Once I know what to look for, I can usually get it online (or when I visit London, with my big empty bag!).

Polly - why the h***l? Anybody who doesn´t like your hair having the life experience you have, send them back to watching MTV. My mother (75 by Saturday) just told the hairdresser "no rinsing. Just give me a cut that makes me look like an old lady instead of a dyed old man"

Just resurrecting this thread for an update!

Thanks for the support, Pit, but I'm under no pressure whatever re hair colour, and a darker grey is entirely my own choice.

Since last posting, I found 2 products that got close to the colour I want, by Fanci-full (ostensibly for salon use I think, but stocked by my local chemist), Temporary Colour Rinse and Color Styling Mousse, both in Black Rage. (I use styling mousse, anyway, and the colour of this one lasted as long as its Color Rinse sister).
But then...guess what?...they've discontinued that colour. So back to square 1.

I tried La Riche Directions semi-permanent, but the black didn't get a grey (or black). It's a pity I can't put the photo here that I took for the purpose, as the results were beautiful (they're just not the everyday colour I'm looking for). The mixture of peacock hues would look lovely on any fair-haired partygoer.

I found another product, Indola Professional Color Style Mousse, in Truly Black, but sadly the effect on my hair was truly gingery.

Water Colour by Daniel Field looks like the product type I'm looking for (designed to cover grey hair with no lightening; no peroxide or ammonia); 26 colours but ...no grey!

Any other ideas?

I'll repeat what Robyn said: Directions semi-permanent silver dye. After a couple of washes it becomes less silver and more grey and looks quite nice.

Not sure if it's available online, I've only ever bought it from indepedent shops.

I wish I'd started dyeing my hair at a stage before which it would be embarrassing to suddenly start. At the moment I have a distinct grey band across the front. Like a skunk. Or The Curse of the Mallens.

But at least I have hair and, going by my genetic inheritance, always will.

I had a couple of grey hairs at 17. I have a couple more now.

TRiG.

Billy Connolly:

'They didnae tell me your pubes go grey!'

And they do.

Yep. They do.

Hi Polly,

I found a couple of things that may be of help to you. Just for men now does a "Touch of Gray" series, the black grey might be the perfect colour.
http://www.justformen.com/products/touchofgray/

And below is an article about getting grey hair and looked promising.
http://aqua.hubpages.com/hub/Grey-Hair-Dye

I hope this helps!

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