I don’t know about touch up products. I have medium brown hair and if it’s short without a flat part I get it colored every five weeks. I’ve grown it a bit longer now and going back to color every four weeks as I absolutely can’t stand any visible outgrowth. I have a friend who is a dark brunette. She colors her hair every three weeks - does it herself. She’s done it for many years and it looks great. I get mine professionally done.

i have another brunette friend who just went blond when gray became a real problem. Doesn’t sound like you’re ready for that yet. Maybe if you get a multicolor foil you can gradually go lighter to make the maintenance easier. Or maybe that isn’t a look you want.

There are root concealer products like the one shown below that work pretty well.

Also, see my other answer on Lyban's thread.

Hmmm, so three weeks was a realistic guess. I turn 50 this month and am not ready for a radical change. Just lightening the brown a bit and adding some highlights is about all I can imagine now. I expect I will go blond or all white in time. I'll reassess that for the next milestone birthday. I will try the touch up products. It would be great if they worked, otherwise I'll be in the salon chair an awful lot.

I saw a cartoon once where there were two older couples. One of the men said, Have you noticed how all the women went blond and the men went gray?

I do color plus highlights..should be doing them every 6 weeks..try to go every eight..usually happens within 10..

overgrowth bothers me in terms that gets to be a sadder mess..loosing shape a bit, etc. but since my hair is kinda multicolored from the very beginning-streaks of this, shades of that..that bothers me less. Even though the color fades and all-still looks okay. Just less vibrant.

but. I don't have gray hair. well not yet.

silly problems are kinda nice to have

and haircut and all the shebang usually uplifts my mood..like I'm still me, you know?

so silly but maybe not so silly

I think a good stylist will be able to figure out the best way to go with you. so it looks good for the longest time possible.

some friends of mine, they color themselves, or touch up by themselves, or go for just touching up(as far as I remember)..much like when my bangs would get too long but too early for a haircut, my stylist(at times when my salon was 5 min from my work) would just cut my bangs a bit, for free.

With touching up, I'm not sure about the free part.

You'll work something out together. The regime that will fit your hair.

Also. Red (which I have as the main background) is most fading color of them all. Darks stay longer, I know it's not really your question..

I have dark brown nearly black hair with about 40% gray and used to have the color done about every 5 weeks, but the regrowth was visible by the time my appointment came around. The inconvenience and expense, and the fact that my hair turned red no matter what color they put on it, finally convinced me to go gray at age 58. I like it well enough, but miss the extra body the color added to my straight and somewhat limp hair. I have a rather cute “skunk” over my left eyebrow.

I agree that at almost 50, you are too young to go gray. You don't seem to have enough gray anyway where it could look like it makes sense.

I mentioned in the other thread about WOW. This is very temporary but it can get you through a week or two. I only use mine occasionally.

Here is what I think for me. At 64, I am not fooling anyone. It is okay if they see gray in my roots. I still have a combination so I don't get a stark gray or white streak at the part-line.

I refuse to have my hair colored less than every 6 weeks. Sometimes, if nothing is going on in my life, I will stretch it to 8 weeks. Yes, there is the part-line, yes there is oxidation but......sometimes I just need a break.

I just discovered a natural eco-friendly hair salon that I am excited about. They use the Keven Murphy products and so far I like my hair and will go back.

You might very well have to do a monthly regime.

I’m out the door so I don’t have time to read all the responses, but I avoid a 6 week ritual by just using hightlights and low lights without the coloring. I have a medium brown colored hair, a small gray streak on one side and a little graying through my bangs, but like you, the rest is still not very gray at all. I don’t color my hair. It grows quick but the way she does it, the randomness of the treatment allows me to go 2+ months without it being noticable and the highlighted portions make the gray blend perfectly.

Thank you so much for your thoughtful advice, everyone.

april, you're right, I am sure between my amazing hairdresser and the colorist, they will figure out a way to make the outgrowth manageable. I love red hair. My husband's hair used to be auburn, we hoped for a girl with his hair- no girl and no auburn ;-)

saypoint, I love skunk lines in dark hair. Had mine stayed neat, I would probably have been fine with it. But it grew and became very messy.

eld, thank you for putting the words 50 and too young together in the same sentence ;-) I am so glad your new salon is working out for you.

lukkiirish, I love the plan you are on with highlights and lowlights, but since my hair is so dark, I doubt that will work for me- but I will ask, because that sounds like a very natural look, which would thrill me. Dark brown hair can look pretty fake when its being dyed.

I have booked an appointment with the colorist my hairdresser suggested in mid-September. And I will buy some of the touch up products in advance to play with and see which one works best for me. I am planning on having my hair touched up at the salon every five weeks. We'll see how that works out.

What about doing it at home between visits? Use semi-permanent. You don't have to do all your head, just around your face...comb it through the front. That is what I used to do. My grey is all around my face too and it was annoying two days after covering it, your could see the grey already showing through at the roots.

I turn 50 in a couple of months and have been going every four weeks for several years now. You are just spoiled you haven't had to do this yet! lol I get a small discount for "frequent color" for us every four week sad sacks.

I haven't been brave enough to try any touch up stuff tho.

I turned 50 a few months ago and have a ton of gray. I have medium brown hair but always had natural gold highlights especially in the summer. I’ve been enhancing those highlights for about 20 years-at first, i was going every three months just for a haircut and highlights. Probably three years ago, I started needing color as well to cover the gray I was getting. My hair is very thick (the woman who does my hair said the only other client she has had over the years whose hair is thicker than mine is my 19 yo dd!) and grows quickly so now be gotten to the point where I need to go every five weeks. Even then my roots along my part are visible around 4 weeks, so I use a powder root concealer to stretch me thru to my appt. I only do highlights every 3-5 months depending on timing (summer I don’t need them).

Rita, I also have very dark hair. I'm a few years older than you, but don't feel old enough (or grey enough) to go "natural". With hair as dark as yours, you won't need low-lights. You can do highlights. Your colorist could even do a couple of different shades of highlights. My greys blend in with my lighter highlights. I have just recently started using a color glaze (I read about them here!!) in a blond color on my hair ever so often. While my highlights are not really blond, the glaze keeps them fresh and very mildly colors the greys - at least to where it all blends in. I get the John Freida glaze.

I am an expert on this, lol, have tried about every product! The WOW mentioned above is in the top 2. I get it on amazon. The other one I like is a spray on called Tressa Watercolors Root Concealer-also on Amazon. They seem spendy but you only use those last two weeks or so. I use them interchangeably depending on what I see in the mirror that day. The Tressa once sprayed on really lasts even through a gently wash so you can get several days out of one application. I have (well had) dark brown hair and my hair is prob all white now, I just can't figure out how to make the transition gracefully as I still wear it long. And my mother kept coloring til 90. :)

Have you considered DIY color? Mother Nature made a big boo-boo making me mousy brown rather than the blonde I was meant to be. I've been coloring my hair since I was 15 and am in my 60's now. I have no grey and only color because I don't care for my natural color (others agree, lol!).

Anyway, the hardest part is finding the right color, after that it's easy-peasy. I alternate between a couple of colors so it doesn't come off as flat. I only apply color at the roots except every couple of months or so when I take a wide tooth comb and comb the color through the ends the last ten minutes.

My stylist compliments my color every single time I go in. I've asked repeatedly if he wants to take a stab at it but he emphatically declines, telling me to continue doing what I'm doing (he's an excellent colorist and colors my DD's hair as well as other friends). I use Nutrisse Nourishing Color Creme permanent hair color by Garnier.

I use the Color Wow as recommended above and I love it. EASY! I've been graying since my late 20's (now mid 50's) and this is a lifesaver between color visits. I use it on my part line and along the temple area as needed. Very natural and easy to apply.

I think Color Wow is available at Ulta. Perhaps a sample is available? I hate choosing a color from a computer screen.

Thank you, again everyone.

alwaysonestep, I will look into at home touch ups with semi-permanent color for sure. What you describe about the white showing two days later is exactly what I fear.

lobby68, yup, I've been spoiled all these years. I'll be making up for it with monthly salon visits now.

4kids, it sounds like you have a great plan for keeping your hair looking good. It's great to have thick hair.

tina, thank you for the tip about the glaze and getting various shades of highlights, that makes a lot of sense. And yes, I think it may be difficult to give me lowlights ;-)

patl8, anything is better than having to sit in a salon chair more than once a month. I simply don't have the patience for that anymore. Thank you for the touch-up tips.

lukkiirish, I really appreciate the pictures and the explanation about how the highlights/lowlights work. My hair gets red highlights naturally, so I imagine that is what will work best.

whatsayyou, I am intrigued at the thought of DIY hair because I am traveling a lot these days for various crazy reasons, so that is one of the things worrying me about needing to be in a salon so often. You sound like you are a talented colorist though.

ks92, this color WOW sounds awesome. So glad to know about it.

ratherbesewing, I will check out WOW selection in person.

Thank you so much for all the help. I feel much better having discussed this with everyone, truly.

Natural red highlights make me officially jealous. :c) You’re welcome and I’m sure whatever you end up doing will look great! Just keep in mind that with some of the professional stuff, it can take a couple of visits for it to all fall into place.

This is what I've used in the past. I like the tube color because you can make as little as you need. They have the different levels of activators and a semi permanent activator. Super easy to use at home. My hair is dark brown so it wasn't too hard to match. I'd play around with covering the grey and going a little lighter over the greys so they almost looked light highlights.

https://www.developlus.com/satin.html

I gave up about five years ago. Silver all the way. I was also dark and when I started needing to color every three weeks, I said I am DONE. My mom was silver by the time she was forty. Both my sister and brother are fully grey as am I. It's a Conba thing, almost a badge of honor, lol. I still get a glaze every few weeks (like six) but if I feel like taking a break I can do that too. I am fifty four and I have also inherited my mother's skin, so I don't look TOO ancient.

I thought I would give up and did give it a try in June when I retired, but alas, after two months of going lighter and blonder I am back to medium brown. It is a commitment, but I can do an "express color" every 3 weeks, where I go in and she does the roots only and I leave with wet hair.

The main reason I am back to coloring is because I am doing some work here and there. For as long as I am in the workplace I will color. Vain, I know!

Rita, you have a good plan and you are far too young to be gray. I'm 64 and am not ready! Overall color with highlights will be a good solution.

Rita, just wanted to get back with you on the technique used for my hair and it’s Balayage.