The prettiest hair color I've seen is on a lady at my church: she has short black hair turning gray & as it gets more gray, she has a few strands all over dyed back blackish gray so it is such a beautiful & natural looking 'salt & pepper'(forget what the stylists call this procedure!) & she is able to keep it that way. Another lady has what I call the 'reverse Jay Leno': she had black hair that is all white now so she dyes it coal black & leaves a small portion in front the natural white color! Jay's is all naturally white now with a black wisp in the front... like a skunk I call it! I do think some persons have something similar that they were born with though. Many of our Native Americans here in the Southwest keep their long beautiful 'salt & pepper hair in beautiful braids or huge buns & nothing more beautiful than that natural beauty! A senior citizen that keeps her hair long,hanging loose down the back & dyed jet black (usually with the roots showing pure white!) ? ... uh, uh!!

As a person who owned a salon, let me say that it's very easy to remove. Wash the front of your hair with a liquid dishwashing soap. Leave it on for 15 minutes and then rinse. You'd be better served if you used a lighter shade. Coloring your own hair is tricky as it looks so easy on t.v. You have two choices use a semi permanent tint or use a permanent tint. The first fades off with washing and the second stays until you need a touchup. It's not a good idea to touch up just one area of the head as it's almost impossible to choose a color that is an accurate match to the rest of your hair. In the salons we use several colors plus grey magic which is a small bottle of a medium that helps to keep the color on the gray. Next time buy a neutral medium brown shade, I say neutral so you won't have any green or gold caste to your hair. If you like a warm tone use it. I wouldn't suggest using a cool tone on any of the brown choices. If worse comes to worse and you can't get it out, sprinkle some talc or baby powder in your dark area and brush it through. Works like a charm.

When I decided to stop coloring my hair was because of a "cool hair" compliment. I had gone to a Federal agency to conduct a mediation and had to park in a pay parking lot. The mediation was in the summer and last nearly all day, it was successful. Regardless, as I was walking to my car, the young (probably HS senior) attendant told me that he loved the purple color of my hair and he thought it was cool. I thanked him. Inside I was humiliated. I decided right then that I would quit coloring my hair. Evidently the pigment needed to darken hair (my natural hair color was a dark brown) was red or purple. Regardless, even though the young attendant thought I was a cool grandma, I decided it was not cool for me. Still laugh about this.

Well ... I've just had another damn haircut! Went back to the guy who cut it last week when I was attempting the messy bob, but found it took too long to get it right before work in the mornings so I was just blowing it out straight, and it was a bit too long to lay right. I'm now shorter on the sides and in back, and very pleased with how simple it is to style this baby into a swinging little bob. I'm done with the changes for now. Only took a month of multiple stylists and entirely too much money to arrive at a style I'm loving. (Eeek. Entirely too much obsession over hair here!)