Help with hair dye

LxManager

Hi there, I am after help regarding hair dye for men.

I am a middle aged man with light grey/white short hair. I want to dye it a type of light platinum/ash blonde. I have tried a couple times but it either stays white or goes slightly purple. My barber told me because my hair is already very light, the hair doesn't need bleaching and I should use a dye that doesn't contain either bleach or peroxide. The only problem is all the dyes we found on the supermarket shelves contained bleach..

Please could someone advise what I should be using to get the results I need or recommend a good product.

Many Thanks in advance. Andy

Aranyani

Please don't, natural grey or white hair looks so much better than dyed.  

Would you rather look like John Slattery, Robert De Niro, or Donald Trump?

Pollycat

Aranyani said:

Please don't, natural grey or white hair looks so much better than dyed.  

+1 to this ^^^.

If it's good enough for George Clooney and Richard Gere...

I'm sure somebody will be along soon with practical advice.

Silvertabby

Don't dye it - it'll look awful !

If you must, try some of the silver shampoo and conditioners on the market - may just be enough for you.

Pollycat

Silvertabby said:

Don't dye it - it'll look awful !

If you must, try some of the silver shampoo and conditioners on the market - may just be enough for you.

I think TV's #1 silver fox, Philip Schofield uses these.

Zellah

OP, I've been using Control GX grey reducing shampoo for a while and its brilliant. Unlike normal hair dyes, it gradually removes your grey so you just use it daily until you're happy with what you see (1-2 weeks) and then just 1-2 times a week to maintain your look. It never removes 100% of your grey so results look very natural. On the downside its not cheap at around £8 a bottle but each bottle should last you a few months once you're using it to maintain your look.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Just-Men-Control-Reducing-Conditioner/dp/B01NCTJRMU

pattycake

I thoroughly endorse what other posters say.  Don’t resort to dye but use purple shampoo and conditioners.  My husband and I are both silver grey and the shampoos remove any yellowing.  I get lots of compliments on my silver locks!

Spoonie_Turtle

Deposit-only dyes such as Adore, Arctic Fox, Manic Panic don't contain any developer, but they also don't usually last very long, especially on virgin hair that's not already been chemically treated. (Lots of them have bright fashion colours but there is a brand that does natural colours as well, I just can't remember which one!)

Semi-permanent dyes may not contain developer, it depends on the brand. You may need to look somewhere like Sally Beauty, Boots or Superdrug for a wider range than you would usually find in the supermarket. But again these may not last very long, so it depends how you feel about redyeing frequently.

Edit: purple shampoos are designed to tone dyed hair - the dye developer usually takes out the natural pigment and what's left is kind of orange; when the dye fades that umderlying orangeness of the depigmented hair shaft causes what people perceive as brassy tones. I don't think purple shampoo would turn undyed/unbleached light grey/white hair any colour other than giving it a purpley tinge.

Edit 2: though re-reading the post above mine, I may have misunderstood it the first time. Purple shampoo might be worth a try if you don't have to go anywhere so you can see how it turns out. There are also blue shampoos apparently, but less common.

pattycake

I think with the purple shampoos, it can be trial and error.  The supermarket brands can be used on a daily basis but I’ve seen some on Amazon which required gloves to apply so obviously give a much stronger and more noticeable result.
I tend to let the shampoo sit on my hair for a few minutes in the shower while I complete my body wash.  I will only do this once or twice a week though.  I don’t want the ‘blue rinse’ effect!