Strange hair color

[gcvmom]

Susie, it's probably due to hormone changes as you age. Two of my kids had very blonde hair as babies, and it darkened up a lot as they got older. So perhaps your situation is just in reverse. See, you're actually getting younger!

[muttmeister]

I haven't seen the real color of my hair since I was 16 years old. It's been every shade of blonde, several shades of dark brown, and, lateley, quite a few shades of red. I know what I have now doesn't look natural but I like it and today while I was eating out, two different people complimented me on my hair. When you get to be my age, everybody knows it's really gray and that it's dyed so I figure I might as well go with something fun.

[Abbey]

Daisy - it's ok. The copper stuck most to the grey roots...I'm hoping with a few washes it will even out. Not as bad as I thought, though. After the haircut, I'll take a pic.

Abbey

[GoingNorth]

My mother is a redhead. Her hair faded over the years to a sort of strawberry blonde. I went the other way. My hair was strawberry blonde.

It darkened over the years into a chestnut color and now is a mousy, darkish brown with several lighter shades mixed in.

Add in the occasional white hair that sticks up like an antenna...sigh

[susiestar]

Abby, there are some tricks to coloring your hair. First off, use a product made for gray hair. Second, don't use the cheapest stuff or ANY 10 min stuff. I stuck with Loreal excellence and preference and had good luck.

If possible, with gray hair, go to a Sally's and get the professional strength hair color and a bottle of developer. the kits have the color in the tube and the developer in the bottle. You have to buy the bottle and measure out the developer and color. It is NOT hard.

I always needed at least 2 kits.. Now I would need 3! So I mixed shades. Never ones too far apart, but after spending YEARS listening to the students talk about mixing color for clients (the owner of a school did my hair for a long time - and I would listen as he did my hair in front of a class. Once or twice a year I was some poor student's final exam. Poor student. )

If at all possible, go and ask at Sally's how to tame your color.

Or go to a walgreens or go online and order some Prell. If you skip the conditioner at first and use prell it will take a lot of the color out. The conditioner helps to close and seal the cuticle of the hair, which keeps the color in. If you wait until you use some prell and then do a DEEP conditioner for 10 mins ( get out of the shower, towel dry the hair, put the conditioner on and cover iwth a plastic bag and a towel for 10 mins, then rinse out) it will help tame the color.

Use the conditioner that came with the color or any good intensive conditioner. Suave makes a 2 or 3 minute conditioner that is in a tube and is excellent for this. It is also dirt cheap.

The people at Sally's can help you pick a shade. Usually they are licensed cosmetologists working for some extra cash.

[StepTo2]

I have determined that I need a strange set of colors on my head.
Top is light light blonde, though my ash-blonde roots are coming in and they look very dark to me.
Next bit is dark strawberry blonde - what happens when you put red on top of bleach blonde.
Bottom is dark maroon. I like the not-found-in-nature color. I do need to redo it, though, because it is fading.

Aussie products will also tone down hair, especially the 3-Minute Miracle conditioner.