More home hair color questions . . .

[BamaTanya]

I did it again today. With the permanent kind. It didn't explode and my hair's not green and it didn't even itch! Only one member of the family noticed at all, so I *think* that means I chose the right color, lol!

So . . . how much work is it going to be to keep this up? (Assuming I decide to spend this much time and money on grooming!) Do you touch up just the roots? How often? Or do you reapply at the roots for some minutes and then, just before you're finished, cover your head? If I'm going to color my hair, I don't want the telltale gray roots half the time. I mean, that's the whole point, right?

I've taken the plunge, but if I decide I'm not up to this level of commitment . . .

Somebody give me the whole honest truth.

I *used* to have waist length hair and never wear make-up. Guess my hippie days are over!

[GVA]

I color about every 8 weeks. I'm only about 30% gray now, and the color is medium golden brown, so it's not that obvious unless you really look. A friend of mine is completely gray in only one section of her head and is darker than me, so she colors almost every month.

Just read the instructions on the box. I color the roots for 35 minutes, then rub it out on the rest for 10, and it works just fine. That's a little longer than they say, but I seem to have resistent gray.

[angela in ohio]

I am about 50%. I basically wait until I have something important to look nice for, and then color it right before. :) I just do the roots, except about once a year, I do the whole thing to brighten up a bit.

[Sandy in Indy]

I color once a month...but I have really short hair and roots show terribly. It doesn't take long and it's certainly better than all the gray hair I'd have otherwise!

[Elisabeth in IL]

I color every 6 weeks. I'm about 30% white, not really gray. If I do just the roots, I seem to get bands of color horizontally around my head so I do my whole head at least every other time if not every time. If it starts hurting my hair, I may have to rethink my coloring schedule.

[Gwen in TX]

I am probably 70 % white, 25 % silver, and 5 % mousy medium blonde. I get those "shiny" roots, but other than that it blends in pretty well.

I have been doing permanent coloring about 25 years - I started going gray at age 16 (Yep, found my first gray hair standing in a DFW airport bathroom after my first plane ride!) Worked with highlights for a while, but needed something more drastic.

(Whispering here -- my dh does the coloring for me! His father did his mother's, so he is willing to help us save big bucks by doing it himself!)