grey hair

[edgarr]

Is there a product that will dye your grey hair but no make it look like you rubbed shoe polish on your head? I have very black hair so any grey ones really stick out, thanks.

[teufelhundenjwa]

I'm under the impression that the ladies like the "salt and pepper" look...or at least that's what I tell myself

[Tock]

Yes.

What you want is Wella Color Charm semi-permanant hair color.

To use, you shampoo your hair, towel dry, then mix 1 part of A and 2 parts of B in a small cup (a 3 ounce dixie cup works great), apply to the damp hair, let it sit for 30 minutes (longer is fine--I've had no problems leaving it on for 3 hours), then rinse with plain water, and you're good to go.

It's easiest to do on a weekend morning, after your am shower. If your hair is very short, you'll need to do it about every week to cover up the gray roots. With longer hair, you can do it about every 2-3 weeks.

Keep in mind that this stuff is not permanent like the stuff they sell in the supermarket. It lacks the strong chemicals that make hair look and feel like straw. You've seen women's hair that's been bleached and permed and colored and bleached and permed and colored over and over again--that's because of the strong chemicals, and that won't happen to your hair.
But because of the gentler chemicals, it won't color 100% of your hair, so depending on the composition of your individual hairs, you'll end up with 50% to 75% coverage. You can add a bit of their "Transparent" color to your mix, and gradually decrease the amount you mix in over 6 months or a year, and nobody will have a clue that you're coloring your hair.

A caveat: you'll need to use a shampoo that's made for "color treated hair" or "chemical treated hair" (look for that phrase somewhere on the bottle label) which is a gentler soap than the usual stuff. You can find it without problem at the supermarket or discount dept store, and they usually don't charge any extra for it. The only reason you'll want to use this is that it won't strip out the color as quickly as the regular stuff does (use Prell or dishwashing detergent to wash it out in a hurry).

Where to get it?
Your local Sally's (www.sallybeauty.com), there's one near you.
Or, you can order online from www.beautycentury.com

Which color to get? Good question . . .

If your hair is black (or very very dark brown), you can start off with 4N (also called 4/0), and work your way to a 3N (or darker) if you need to.

But . . . .

I started to type out an explanation of how to choose the proper color, but, it's a bit too involved to go into here. Best thing would be to find a nearby Sally's that has a salesclerk who knows about haircolor (a 50-50 proposition, on the best of days) and ask which one would be best for you. Whatever you do, don't let them talk you into a permanent haircolor, because it'll probably make you look like you put Kiwi shoe polish on your head. Or, you could call around and see which barber or hairshop uses Colorcharm semi-permanent, and let them do the first application, and get the color number from the tube they use.
Or, you might try printing the color chart from Wella
http://www.wellausa.com/consumer/pro...swatchbook.jsp
If you have any questions selecting something, PM me and I'll try to help you figure something out. It's really not too difficult, and if you start a few shades lighter than what you've got now, you won't do anything you can't remove with a tube of Prell.

Hope this helps . . .