I've always used Clairol Natural Instincts temp hair color, to brighten up my medium/dark brown hair and cover the gray.  Now the gray won't cover at all with temporary color.  You can kinda see what looks like tinsel in my hair on my pic...  that's gray hair.  I was considering permanent dye.  But the thought of a line of gray roots growing out makes me cringe.   How often would I need to recolor to avoid obvious roots?

I think most people color their roots every 4 - 6 weeks, depending on whether or not the color they are using matches their natural color or not.  

Even permanent color will fade a bit with time which can make it less obvious if you use a color that matches your natural color.

Keep in mind that permanent color is more damaging to your hair, especially when repeated over and over.  Have you considered trying some other methods first?  A coffee rinse or henna comes to mind.  Just a thought.  Or, consider just living with the strands of wisdom??

My boyfriend tells me to keep the gray.. he thinks it looks cool.  I'm not as happy with it.  What is a coffee rinse or henna?  I've heard of henna but I guess I really don't know what it is.  We'll see how much he likes the gray when it hits him.  He has waist length blond hair.  =)

Check out our Hair Care Recipe Cookbook for info on these natural methods for coloring hair.

I hate to disappoint you, but the odds are he either won't gray at all, or it will hardly be noticible.  Sounds like we need to get him in here too!  The more the merrier!

At first I used Loving Care, but it was a huge mess, and when my hair got long, it became unworkable to color the whole mass of it every week or two. Then I tried to ignore the gray, but I'm such a paleface that it just made me look tired and colorless. So I tried henna, which gave a little color to the gray, but didn't last more than a few weeks. And applying henna is a disgusting mess in its own way.

So then I tried a semipermanent color, but the color didn't "take" over the gray patches (white, really) at all. Bummer.

So I tried Hydrience Shimmering Scarlet, thinking that color just doesn't "take" well on my hair. I admit that I didn't read the label very closely when I picked it up from my bathroom shelf, and it had been there for a long time, so I'd probably forgotten that it was a level 3 color. I applied, gave it the maximum time to develop, and WOW! was I  red!  Or at least the top of my head, as I had run out of product by shoulder length.

There was a steep learning curve for touching up the roots, which is very different from anything I had done before, and before I mastered that technique, I had caused a little damage to the surface of my hair, which resulted in a bit of a halo. I only just realized this by seeing how the undamaged (less damaged) roots are now about 4" long, and the halo seems to be growing out.

My stylist convinced me to switch to a more natural shade of red, so I now use Nice'n'easy Natural Light Auburn, which gives me what looks like a medium auburn to me, but if you are familiar with the wig hair spectrum, it is very much like a 30 - light auburn.

How often you touch up your roots will depend on the difference between your natural hair color and the dye, as well as how fast your hair grows. If you have a lot of gray, that'll probably be by 3/8" to 1/2". If you let it go longer between touchups, not only does it look unkempt (Hey, I don't care how I look, and I don't care who knows!), but it's harder to touch up long roots. My natural color was a very dark brown, with more and more gray, and it grows pretty fast, so I touch up every two or three weeks.

I recently had to recolor the ends, as the gray was starting to show, and the rest was looking mousy. I used a semipermanent color for this, as that part has already taken some lightening. But it's been about 8 months, so that seems reasonable to me.

But there doesn't seem to be any damage from haircoloring, and my hair is in the best condition it's been in probably twenty years. It's important to condition color-treated hair well, and that little tube of conditioner they give you is fantastic. Of course, there's not enough of it, so here's what I do, which make my hair really happy, and extends the conditioner.
CO (Conditioner Only) Wash (I no longer use shampoo on my hair):

I cover my head with a clarifying conditioner, diluted about 30% to make it penetrate better, and scrub my scalp really well. I rinse, then reapply to all my hair, right down to the ends, and massage gently. I rinse again, and apply a "regular" moisturizing conditioner. I rinse again, and apply a dab of the color conditioner from the tube. Now I comb out my hair, while rinsing the last time. I squeeze out the hair and blot it, comb again, and allow to air dry. Actually, I usually end up going to bed with damp hair at this point.

Two things I do to my dry hair:

• I mixed up 1 teaspoon Queen Helene Cholesterol Creme with 1/2 cup warm water, and put it in a spray bottle. I spray it on my dry hair and comb in, making sure to get my hairline all around, as well as the top surface, both places which tend to get damaged.
• I put a dab of coconut oil on my hands, and toss my hair with my hands to apply. I then brush with a boar bristle brush. If you apply too much, it will make your hair appear greasy, though this will absorb, so it's best to do this in the evening til you get the hang of it.

I always thought it would be cool to have white hair, but I don't have the genetics for it, so I'd rather be a redhead than a 5-10% gray. Long red hair gets comments.

Good luck.

Excellent information, eKatherine.  Thanks for sharing your experience.

I am wondering why you haven't gotten your hairstylist to color your hair.  I am on a very tight budget(I am a student) but I will  splurge on getting my hair colored because I could never do it myself.   BTW, I see more gray every day and I am only 28!  Too soon!! LOL

I can't speak for spryte, but for me, the issue is both money and time. I work two jobs most of the year, so I'm rarely home during business hours, and I have no way of predicting when I might be at home during the day, I couldn't make an appointment anyway. So my salon isn't open at 9:45 pm on a Sunday, when I usually color my hair. 8)

I don't know how much you pay to get your color touched up, and I don't know how much it would cost me, because I've never asked. I just figure it's more than I want to pay, given my current financial status, and how I seem to be doing an OK job on my own.

Also, when you say "stylist", you may mean something different than I do when I say "stylist". Your stylist may be the person who cuts, colors, and/or perms your hair all the time. My stylist is the guy I pay $8 to twice a year to trim an inch or two. So though I'm sure he's really great at all hair treatments, I'd just as soon control the haircolor project myself.

eKatherine - my "stylist" is my hubby of 30 years.  I don't even have to tip him!!  The primary reason I have long hair today is because I was  unable to find a stylist that I was happy with and that I could get an appointment with at a time convenient to me!  

I can certainly appreciate cost as a consideration.  I agree that it is expensive sometimes.  With my hair, it is naturally a dark brown but I wear it a sort of golden blonde/brown.  The first time I had it colored and hilighted it was outrageous-over $200.00, BUT I go back every 3 months and get just the roots done and a trim  for about 45.00/60.00. Then every other visit I get the roots and some hilights.  (My stylist has the patience of a saint.)  Anyway, I do have trouble coming up with the $$, but I am very thrifty in other areas.  Believe me, if I could do it myself or have a friend do it, I would!  BTW, it is very hard to find someone who is good with very long hair.  if my stylist ever quit, I would freak out.  Most stylists  go into cardiac arrest when I suggest getting hi-lites.  They just don't have the patience or the talent-not sure which...

Highlighting is really hard on the hair, as you're bleaching it in order to change the color a lot. Probably most stylists are aware of how p*'d off a longhair will be if the stylist does everything right, but the hair is ruined anyway.

I am sure you are right.  I think the thing that keeps  my hair from getting totally fried is the stylist is careful to get just the roots.  She puts this treatment on the rest of it to protect it.  Like I said, if she ever stops doing hair, I will have a nervous breakdown-HA!  Coloring my hair is my one indulgence, you know?