Heya chicks,

I have never colored my hair. Unless you count in my 20s, when it was washed with blue or fuschia. Even then, the drastic color only took on a small piece of hair near the front that we bleached. So. Now I am no longer in my 20s. In fact, I will be forty next year, and I have a fair bit of gray going on. My dominant hair color is still brown, but I would guess that I have 10-15% gray, most noticeable when my hair is pulled back in a ponytail. Especially noticeable, I suppose, because my hair is so dark.

I wish there were some way to just color the grays and leave the rest of my hair alone. I feel a bit at sea in the hair color aisle. And am worried that I'll pick something awful for me. I would love to do something unusual that would still work in the office. And I hate that flat look that some folks end up with when coloring.

I just want to go back to fuschia - but alas, I do not think that would go over well at my office. I was going to treat myself to cut and color when I got under 300 but that came and went. And I am a bit reluctant to spend loads of money on my hair. Particularly since I had some big car repairs, want to replace my carpet, and keep needing (er, well, buying) new clothes.

I would love to hear what y'all do. Do you color at home? At the salon? I like the idea of leaving things to professionals but it seems to haphazard and spendy. If you color at home, do you prefer a certain brand? Do you take a chance with reds and change things up? How damaging is it, really, to your hair?

What is your favorite color that you've had? Your least favorite? Your routine? How much of a chore is it to maintain?

For me coloring at home works because it's cheap and as I'm only doing it to cover greys (i.e. it's pretty much my natural color going on) I've never had any disasters. I've had plenty of salon coloring disasters though so usually only go and get it done professionally maybe once a year. I know my shades (4.15 or 4.35) so I do switch brands but rarely shades.

Would you consider a semi-permanent toning colour or are you looking for something more drastic? It's easy to do yourself with a little practice if the change in colours isn't too drastic. Bleaching and such might require a bit more experience!

Go to a salon.... especially for grey coverage... Ask someone you know and trust for a recommendation for a good colorist... It may cost a bit more than doing it yourself... but it will look so much better and no mess to clean up at home.... plus they can keep track of the exact formula that they used, so you can go back for quick touch ups when needed and it will look just as good as when you first got it done...

You could make it into a mini spa day and get a mani/pedi or maybe a facial as well as getting your hair done... that way you'll walk out of there not only looking great, but feeling great too.... And trust me... People WILL notice...

Have fun....

I color my hair at home (well, with the help of a friend). My natural color is this ugly dirty greyish brown with light grey streaks, so I dye it just a few shades lighter into a nice sunny blonde. I'd love to go darker, but dark (or red) hair just doesn't suit me. Believe me, I've tried

Why don't you try something semi-permanent first?

Home hair dye are the best it's cheap..

I color my hair at home. I use a few different shades of Clairol (mostly because I keep forgetting which one I like best) and it works well enough, and it's cheap. I have dark brown hair that keeps getting lighter (as well as grayer) so I go a shade or two darker than my actual color.

I get mine professionally colored. I used to do my own, but I was never pleased with the color, I made a huge mess, and just didn't like doing it.

For me, it's one of the few things I splurge on (and pedicures!). I don't buy tons of clothes, go on expensive trips, etc. I'm pretty frugal with my money and it's one of my guilty pleasures.

I love that my stylist can so easily make my hair the color I want it and with the added highlights or lowlights. I typically slightly change my color throughout the year---darker in the fall & winter, lighter in the spring & summer. I know I wouldn't be able to do that myself. I also find it relaxing and a good time to gossip!

However, I know lots of ladies who do their own, & I'd never know it if they didn't tell me.

Believe it or not, my hair's condition stays nicer if I dye it every couple of months. I usually just go one shade darker (never lighter- that dries it out for me) and it's soft and manageable!

I really appreciate everyone's insight. I tend to be the messy sort natively, but am so stubbornly frugal that it is hard for me to commit to salon coloring, even though I think I would prefer to leave it in someone else's hands. I may experiment with some semi-permanent colors and get it done-done at a salon as a reward for some new future milestone. Which may be my way of procrastinating.

And I really appreciate the tips about color. I wasn't thinking about blonde (I would look so silly), but hadn't realized that a shade or two darker would be smart. Thank you all!

I dye my roots every three weeks. And I get it professionally highlighted and low lighted every six months.

I color at home using level 3 (permanent) dye from a box, but I have the convenient backup of "if anything goes wrong I can just dye it black and look natural..."

For staying within a few shades of your natural color I don't really see the point of dropping big bucks on salon color treatments. For drastic changes if you're not confident to DIY of course it's advisable to see a professional.

I've just stopped dyeing. I'm 45, and have been coloring for over 15 years to hide my premature gray. It's 100% gray now, and beginning to go white on the top and front. I had been edging lighter and lighter because it hides the roots a little better for longer. Now I'm in the process of cutting off all the old dark blonde. Personally, I think it looks sorta cool, and I'm pleased that I've reached the point in my life where I'd rather spend my effort and money on making what I have look as good as I can.

That being said, I always have left it up to a professional. My gray is pretty coarse and wiry; I found that coloring it does relax it and make it easier to deal with. It was a very, very stubborn gray that took some pretty powerful chemistry to cover. It's going to be very short from here on out, and now I have to learn about those weird purple shampoos.

I get mine done professionally every 2 months and do my roots at home in between. The color from the salon is much nicer (and I've tried ALL the home ones) and they can pull it through the hair properly to make it even.

There is a new website called E-Salon that is apparently really good. I've never used it myself but what they do is actually customize a hair color that fits your needs and hair type. It doesn't cost nearly as much as going to salon since they ship you the product and you apply it yourself. If I were you, I would check that out.

I dye it at home too, I used to have crazy colours but now it's just brown. Sometimes I get 2 slightly different shades and just throw them in my hair at random so it's not just carpeted one colour which doesn't suit me. The last few times I've used naturtint which is pretty nice, it's kind of reddish underneath. I think you'd get away with red hair in your office - I see lots of people with bright red hair these days. My friend told me you can walk into a salon and ask for 'Rhianna red' so I guess that's a thing.

Get a friend to help if you're doing it at home for the first time, you can always go to the salon if it's a disaster.