Transitioning Dyed Red Hair to Gray: All My Steps, Part 5

This is my gray hair transition journey. You too can learn how to transition from dyed red hair to natural gray with a clear, step-by-step process. Tips for blending, maintenance, and embracing your gray journey.

My poor hairdresser.

Transitioning Dyed Red Hair to Gray: All My Steps, Part 5

I fell between sessions four and five, and did not do much to upkeep my hair. I knew I was getting a cut, so I was not faithful to much except getting the blood out of my hair after my surgery.

Because I was still a bit battered, I came in with safety glasses. My stylist was a real trooper, however, and nothing fazed her.

This month she had wanted to put some 10 volume on my hair where there was yellow. She looked at me, looked at my face, looked at my safety glasses, looked at my hair, and decided to do a platinum toner instead.

The first toner (yes, the first) she disliked how my hair came out, so it was back to the sink for a different platinum toner. She only did the second one after making certain I was fine and not too tired to do the process.

In person, it looks very, very silvery-dark. In the photos, it looks bright and blonde. *shrug*

I did have about 4” of length removed, and my hair reshaped into a U on my back. While that cut off some of the very dark lowlights, the bottom of my length that was getting a bit crunchy, and the rest of my hair is now reshaped. It feels strange to have lost so much length. Oh well.

I have another appointment in about a month. She hopes to do that 10 volume and make my hair lighter before we go on vacation.

Two weeks after the toner I am finally able to see some of my natural gray and white hair again. I have been using Malibu C Un-do-Goo shampoo for one of my two shampoos every wash since my last appointment to hurry along the toner fade/wash-out.

I absolutely hated how the toner color looked on my hair.

It looks like steel gray to me, and with my coloring (very fair, a ‘winter’ if you will) that is not a good look. I will say that the grow-out I can see looks extremely natural against this color; but the toner color is not for me. Maybe it was the double toner that resulted in the color?

This is my photo a few days before my next salon visit, and I look like I am at square one. Even using clarifying shampoo all month, the toner stuck like glue to my hair. LOL Even the areas near my ears (which are white!) and face show almost very little natural color. My part is showing sparkle, but not much more than an inch. It figures that the toner I have liked the least has stuck around the best.

Note: This is the fifth in a series of posts about my gray transition journey. I hope you will stay with me for my monthly (or quarterly) updates on the highs, and lows, of transitioning to grey/silver/white. My multicolored hair journey! You can read my initial post here, and my second post on gray transitioning is here, and my third post on gray transitioning is here, and last month’s post is here.

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