I am 58 years old with dyed red hair and am now thinking of going grey naturally
Hello,
I am 58 years old with dyed red hair and am now thinking of going grey naturally. I have medium tone skin and dark brown eyes. Will this be an easy transition?
Thank you,
Anon, UK
Growing out any colour to return to natural is never an easy journey. To start bringing in your natural grey hair whilst growing out a full head tint, I would suggest continuing using the same or a similar colour but instead apply it in foils using a highlighting technique. This will see the re-growth softened and will blend the demarcation of colour growing out. Having regular haircuts and fading the highlights out will eventually result in only the natural colour remaining.
Izzy Churcher, HOB Salons’ Senior Technical Educator and Creative Team Member
Hello Anon,
Red is one of the most difficult colours to remove from the hair; it's a real clinger! So, the most important piece of advice is to have the process done professionally, to reduce the negative effects on condition and porosity of your hair. It'll be a slow process but it is possible.
First you need to strip out the red - especially important to have done in-salon rather than at home - and then cover the hair with a colour that matches your natural base. Once the red has been removed/covered completely, you can then start adding highlights or lowlights while you wait for your hair to grow and allow your natural, uncoloured hair to come through.
Slowly, you'll be able to move away from colour until it's completely trimmed out. Good luck and make sure you seek a professional hairdresser for this job.
Zara Garnett, Senior Stylist and Colourist, Simon Webster Hair Team
If you have been thinking about going grey for a while, then I say give it a try! However it isn't as simple as applying a grey toned hair dye over your current red shade.
It will take some time and quite a bit of patience to achieve your goal. What I would advise you to do is, grow out your colour so you have around an inch of natural re growth. Then I would assess whether we could go in and lighten the red colour in key areas and tone down the rest. This creates a colour that can grow out easier and makes the transition to your natural grey simpler.
Go have a few consultations with colour specialists in your area who are confident in big colour changes, they will be able to give you a sensible action plan.
John Clark, Head of Colour at Brooks+Brooks, London