Anyone here with gray hair balayage for flamboyage?

[stracci2000]

@stracci2000 , You look beautiful and your hair is gorgeous!!!

Thanks, Callie! I'm not very good at taking selfies!

 

[bludiva]

Hah! I think it will cost me several hundred dollars over the next several months and I'll be sitting in a chair for long period of time waiting for the magic elixir to lift the dye out of my hair. Circle of Life stuff -- first I dye it to look younger and now I'm graying it to look my age. Geez. You are fortunate to have awesome natural gray hair. I love the contrast and the cut is very flattering on you. Brat.

@Matata i thought it would take months also but talked to a colorist in the neighborhood the other day and he thinks he can do it in one 2-3 hour session. i'm going to give it a try in a couple of weeks. not sure how close he'll be able to get to the example photos i shared with him, which were similar to yours up top of the thread but we'll see...! worst case, i'll go back to how it is now

 

[Matata]

Today I had the first lift of color done. Decided to go with highlights as light as we could get with 1 bleaching to keep hair as healthy as possible and slowly continue to transition from there. Next appointment is in 6 weeks and the roots will have grown out 1/2 to 3/4 inches so it will be easier to see some significant change. Essentially my hair color went from dark brown to medium light brown with the highlights ranging from blondish to whiteish.

Before (the only picture I had was with a cat sitting on my boobs )

Top first bleaching. I asked her not to touch the roots.
Front Back

 

[stracci2000]

I love it! You have beautiful thick hair

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

You have boobs?

So far so good........

cheers--Sharon

 

[Matata]

You have boobs?

Mega boobs. I am boobalicious. They present a nice ledge upon which a cat can sit when the bigger cats are taking up all the space on my lap.

 

[Calliecake]

You have beautiful hair Matata!!!

 

[Matata]

I love it! You have beautiful thick hair

You have beautiful hair Matata!!!

Thanks. I was really worried I'd end up with a brassy looking mess.

 

[AGBF]

Not only do you have thick hair and boobs, but you look far too young to be retired and to have the life experience I know you have! You must have gotten super lucky in the genes department!

Deb

 

[missy]

Luscious locks and boobilicious. I love it.

 

[Tekate]

LOVE this style, looks awesome!

My hair does the ombre thing all by itself.
I have never colored it.

 

[Lorelei]

My hair does the ombre thing all by itself.
I have never colored it.

STUNNING!

 

[Lorelei]

Today I had the first lift of color done. Decided to go with highlights as light as we could get with 1 bleaching to keep hair as healthy as possible and slowly continue to transition from there. Next appointment is in 6 weeks and the roots will have grown out 1/2 to 3/4 inches so it will be easier to see some significant change. Essentially my hair color went from dark brown to medium light brown with the highlights ranging from blondish to whiteish.

Before (the only picture I had was with a cat sitting on my boobs )

Top first bleaching. I asked her not to touch the roots.
Front Back

Gorgeous hair and such a great length, you can do so much with it.

 

[Matata]

Going back to Gray Part 3 -- week 13
Roots have grown out almost 2 inches. After 2 hard bleaches to lift out as much color as possible and 6 weeks of living with orange and brass colored hair, we are at the point where a color/bleach was done to even out all the garish colors and blend the roots into the rest of my hair which is now ash blonde.

 

[canuk-gal]

Going back to Gray Part 3 -- week 13
Roots have grown out almost 2 inches. After 2 hard bleaches to lift out as much color as possible and 6 weeks of living with orange and brass colored hair, we are at the point where a color/bleach was done to even out all the garish colors and blend the roots into the rest of my hair which is now ash blonde.

WOW. There was brass? Wotthehellevergorgeous.

cheers--Sharon

 

[marymm]

Looking good Matata! Your hair looks beautiful and healthy!

I "went gray" starting in February 2016 ... started bleaching my hair (myself), toning, conditioning, trimming/cutting, toning, re-bleaching, conditioning, trimming, (you know what I'm talking about!)... Now I've got a good six inches of my natural hair color and then only an inch or two of the bleached remnants. I absolutely LOVE having natural color hair (pretty, healthy, so easy ... what's not to like!), but I do enjoying going Violet temporarily via Pravana Chromasilk Violet every now and then, just for fun.

 

[Matata]

started bleaching my hair (myself), toning, conditioning, trimming/cutting, toning, re-bleaching, conditioning, trimming, (you know what I'm talking about!)...

I was afraid to even think about doing this myself. Probably would have ended up bald after the first bleaching. So far my hair has held up well. The ends got a bit fried but I started using Olaplex Hair Protector #3 on it and it made a huge difference. That stuff is a magic elixir.

 

[Calliecake]

Wow Matata! Your hair looks beautiful!

 

[Matata]

Thank you @canuk-gal and @Calliecake.

 

[redwood66]

Ok this has turned out great! Love it! Did the bleaching really dry out your hair other than the ends?

 

[VRBeauty]

Your "interim" hair looks great - both the cut and the color! And YESSS on the Olaplex - that stuff makes a real difference for bleached hair!

 

[lambskin]

I have been dying my grey roots since I have been 35. I have kids in high school and not ready to look older than the other moms. I had medium brown hair and for years matched that color. At the beauty supply shop I buy the Wella dyes (Medium Brown to Dark Blonde Ash). My friend taught me how to do it and I have mastered the one color process. It was cheaper than my salon and I could do it as often as needed (3-4 weeks) and at home ...the whole thing takes about an hour. Fast forward the last ten years and the upkeep with the grey is more frequent as it is really growing fast. So now I go up on the lighter scale which looks light brownish/reddish. I still have dark eyebrows. Now, once a year I go to a salon and get a full head of highlights so the grey blends in better as it grows out. I color my roots prior to the appointment and it will last about 6-8 weeks without a root touch up.

 

[House Cat]

M,

It looks amazing! Did your stylist use olaplex in the bleach too?

 

[Matata]

Did the bleaching really dry out your hair other than the ends?

Yes but not as bad as the ends and after a few deep conditioning treatments at home, it recovered quickly.

 

[Matata]

Did your stylist use olaplex in the bleach too?

I know she did this time but I'm not sure about the first 2 major bleach outs.

 

[tyty333]

It does look great! Is that grey? Its coming across as sort of an light ash blond on my screen. Its pretty...
You can use wella color charms to tone your hair to knock the brass out. I use a demi permanent color. Get it at Sallys.

It doesnt lighten (much less damaging) but will change the tone of your hair. You just put it all over your head and leave it for like 20 minutes.
Easy to do. I dont feel like you have to be as careful with it because its not lightening and its demi permanent (do a test strip though).

I use the light ash blond.
https://www.sallybeauty.com/hair/ha...-charm-demi-permanent-hair-color/WELLA10.html
Activating lotion
https://www.sallybeauty.com/hair/ha...olor-charm-demi-activating-lotion/WELLA9.html

 

[lyra]

That looks very much like my natural grey hair. It looks somewhat blonde, but is actually salt and pepper. Everyone wants to examine it at the beauty salon. I was brunette but dyeing every 3 weeks to cover roots, went through 3 years of transitioning to mostly blond, then stopped and grew it out for I guess now 5 years. No one thinks it's real, lol. I get the urge to do temporary dyes like pink or purple, but am too worried that they'd stick and have to grow out! Being natural is great!

 

[Matata]

Its coming across as sort of an light ash blond on my screen. Its pretty...
You can use wella color charms to tone your hair to knock the brass out. I use a demi permanent color. Get it at Sallys.

Yep, it's ash blonde and will probably stay that way as my gray continues to grow out. Thanks very much for the Wella tip.

 

[stracci2000]

Going back to Gray Part 3 -- week 13
Roots have grown out almost 2 inches. After 2 hard bleaches to lift out as much color as possible and 6 weeks of living with orange and brass colored hair, we are at the point where a color/bleach was done to even out all the garish colors and blend the roots into the rest of my hair which is now ash blonde.

@Matata, Your hair looks great! I like it very much!
A few of my friends are letting the gray grow out, and they all look better.
Are you happy with it?

 

[Matata]

@Matata
Are you happy with it?

I'm still adjusting to the color. Throughout my childhood and teen years, I resented my dark curly hair and wanted straight blond hair. Now that it's blond (and relatively straight thanks to flat iron), I'm sort of discombobulated. Never thought blond would look okay on me. But since I'm abnormally fair-skinned for someone of mediterranean descent and have green-hazel eyes, I think it looks better than I had hoped.