How Get Dark Smoky Gray Color?

Hi:

My hair is practically white.

I'd like to tone it to a dark, sooty, smoky gray color. Something like what it looked like when my naturally very dark brunette hair was about 30% gray overall.

The appearance was of a silvery, smoky gray-black head of hair. Unless up close and checking, you didn't see the individual white hairs. And I had no large patches of whiter hair.

Is it possible to do this?

I know most people want to hide gray. I just want to tone it. Get it darker, but not give up "gray."

And want to do this without turning too greenish.

Advice?

Thanks,
kenny

P.S. I just went dark brown for a year. Am back to white now (with some platinum toning and a highlight which overall is blending very well with the new growth). Gave up on dark brown because of the required root maintenance every 5 days or so.

My hair grows extremely fast and every 5 days I had a white ridge showing at the front of my scalp. I would usually go two weeks between root treatment on the whole scalp, but needed the touch up on the front more often.

Am believing that if I can tone in a dark smoky gray color that the contrast between the new growth and the color will be lessened and easier to deal with.

P.P.S. I am using Wella colors to tone with. And 10 volume developer.

P.P.P.S. I first colored my long white hair when I saw the "Touch of Gray" Just for Men product. It was a disaster.

First use it added a nice smoky hint of darker color, but very flat looking.

Second use it turned my hair jet black.

I "Color Fix" removed that. Then switched to Clairol's "Beautiful Brown" alternating between dark and medium and that worked really well so long as I left it in a shorter time than the instructions called for. (When I left it in for full processing time, it oversaturated.) Tended to do the roots for 3/4 suggested time and then work it out through the ends for 2 minutes max.


Edited by kenny - August 10 2010 at 12:50pm