Weird things start trending really quickly – especially in the beauty industry. But here’s something no one ever thought would go trending – grey hair. In fact, if you told anyone, just five years ago that they will sprint to their hairstylist to go grey, they would have laughed at you.
But things have changed. Rainbow hair has left the stage. Silver took the spotlight.
Granny locks are in.
And you have to admit that there is something inevitably alluring about a young, fresh face against a stream of gray hair. It looks good, in fact.
Are you thinking about coloring your hair grey too?
Here is a definitive guide to that.
Everything you need to know about grey hair
Photo Credit: Blog.Wella
So, various hair color trends are now over and grey hair is taking over. It’s elegant, different and it looks amazing. You have probably saved a ton of pictures of grey hairstyles and you want one of your own. However, it’s not so easy as you may think.
Your best bet is to find a good hairstylist you can trust and strap in for a silver ride:
It can take some time
Silver hair is light and the lighter the shade, the longer it will take to achieve. Especially if your natural hair is dark. To get a silver hair color, you need to lighten your hair to almost white and the best way to do that is to do it in stages. Any hair color darker than dark blonde will guarantee you several visits to the salon.
It’s expensive
So, all of those stages will cost you money. Talk to your stylist before going forward with the procedure about how much it will cost to know what you need to prepare budget-wise.
You might have to cut your hair
If your hair is dark, that requires a lot of bleaching and a lot of bleaching destroys the hair, whether you like it or not and no matter what you do to prevent it. Your ends will suffer the most which means that you will have to cut them off. This goes for every time you color your hair silver again. So, if you were hoping for waist-long silver hair, that might not be possible.
Various shades last for a different amount of time
Grey color will fade, as do all of the colors of the rainbow. Some greys more so than others. Lighter grey will fade more quickly than darker greys, which is to be expected. But there are numerous products to help you maintain your grey hair color. Make sure that you use top quality hair colors that fade properly and not turn into green.
You don’t have to go full grey
If you don’t want to commit as much, you can also get silver highlights, go for a smoky tone or choose some other silver-toned colors.
Don’t go flat white
You don’t want this on your hair. You want dimension and playfulness that comes with natural hair. For instance, you can get deep roots and then go lighter towards the end.
Understand your skin tone
Grey color is not best suited for everyone. If your complexion doesn’t match the grey color, then the hair will look bad too. Do the jewelry test. If you think that silver jewelry washes you out, then the color probably will too.
You’ll need to shampoo less
If you want your color to last longer, you need to quit shampooing as much. Get a dry shampoo and keep the water cool when you do shampoo.
If you do shampoo, make it purple
Using a shampoo that’s colored purple can help extend the life of your grey tones. Sulfate-free shampoos can help you too. A harsh shampoo can strip the color away immediately.
How to get grey hair
Photo Credit: Hair Style Camp
So, now that you know all of this and you still want grey hair, you need to learn how to get it.
Here are some basic tips before we dive in deeper:
- Research and then research some more – mostly about bleach and how it works
- Prepare yourself to invest a lot of cash
- Prepare yourself for a lot of stages and waiting
- You will need to do everything properly
You will find plenty of people saying you can do grey hair on your own, at home, but you shouldn't. The fact is that you need professional bleaching and a great hair stylist. Otherwise, you might get fried hair that’s gummy and just bad.
The first thing that will happen is the first bleach. Go to a good, professional salon and tell them what you want. The first bleach might produce a bit of orange hair but the hairstylists will probably fix it up so it looks good until the next bleach.
The best tip for bleaching is that your hair shouldn’t be washed. Don’t wash for 2 or 3 days to protect your scalp from the bleach. Add some coconut oil if possible as well. All of this buildup will protect your hair from the bleach and actually speed up the bleaching process.
Don’t bleach your hair in one sitting twice. This will destroy your hair. Wait for at least 2 weeks to pass. Some even say that a whole month or more is mandatory. For best results regarding your hair health, you should wait for three months. In the meantime, soak your hair in coconut oil whenever you can and deep condition as much as possible.
Your hair will first be platinum while you wait – or whatever shade you get from your hairstylist. It’s a good transition since going grey is a big change.
Next, after a waiting period, you should get your second bleaching. They will first tone your hair to get rid of any yellow tones and then give you another transitioning color to live with.
Wait for another month before doing bleach baths. Coconut oil is mandatory here as well. This will give you the pale blonde hair which is necessary for silver hair. Then you will have to tone with purple shampoo to get rid of any remaining yellow. It’s drying so you need to condition.
Then, you will need to tone and tone again until you reach the color you like. Then, your hair stylist will color your hair grey and that’s it.
Keep in mind that some of your hair will break in the process, depending on how patient you are and how much you cared for your hair.
How to maintain grey hair
Now that you have your grey hair the proper way, you should learn how to maintain it. Here are some basic rules:
Pick a nice grey that you like – You will be stuck with it for a while and you don’t want a color that you will want to remove. When this happens, people try at-home solutions to remove the color and end up with a hairstyle disaster.
Use a proper purple shampoo – If you want to avoid the ugly yellowish tones, you need to use a purple shampoo. It will allow you to shampoo when you need to and you will not lose your grey shade.
Pamper your hair – Your hair has just been bleached and it needs some pampering. So, you should do your best to use coconut oil frequently and deep condition your hair as much as possible.
Keep your hair shiny – Use serum on your hair and it will give it a great shine.
How long does grey hair last
Grey hair can last for 4 to 6 weeks with good maintenance. You will not have to have your hair colored all over again, but you will need to touch up your roots and you will need to adjust your shampooing habits. Purple shampoo is a necessity and so is deep conditioning.
References
https://www.camiejuan.com/all-posts/how-to-get-platinum-silver-hair
https://www.jeancoutu.com/en/beauty/beauty-tips/maintain-your-coloured-grey-hair/
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