Your hair gets its color from melanin pigment. Just as melanin tints your skin and eyes, it also determines your hair hue; brown/black have higher amounts, while blonde/red mixes both pigments for its hue. As we age, our melanocyte cells produce less melanin, leading to gray hair strands to appear over time.
1. Silver
Gray hair is becoming increasingly fashionable, from going entirely gray to opting for a unique mix of colors. Gray is also an expression of grace and age-appropriate beauty. As soon as you start seeing silver hair strands, it can be alarming and a positive indicator that your body is producing less melanin (commonly referred to as going grey). But don’t react instinctively by reaching for box dye! Instead, consider this an opportunity! Gray blending services from experienced stylists can help to give your roots an unobtrusive and flattering appearance, creating a natural yet positive style. Balayage techniques (freehand painting) work wonders; blending complementary shades of gray with your natural shade for an effortless, low-maintenance style will result in a gorgeous silver-infused style!
2. Dark Neutral Blonde
If you aren’t ready to abandon color completely, a foil technique can help hide gray hair while adding brightness. A foil technique can keep roots from being too noticeable while creating an all-over vibrant look by alternating lowlights to tone lighter strands and highlights for dimension. This rich, dirty blonde shade is an eye-catching neutral shade that looks fantastic on women with cool and warm skin tones. Its ashy base blends beautifully with golden blonde strands for an exquisite multi-toned shade that goes great with any cut or style. This luminous blonde shade is an excellent way to seamlessly transition from brown to gray hair, offering its bright luminosity to complement any complexion. At the same time, its subtle hint of warmth helps cover gray roots and blend both shades.
3. Dark Brown
If you’re ready to venture down the dark path, opt for a cool-toned brunette hue that straddles the line between warm and cool tones. The matte ashy shade of this all-over cocoa brown makeover complements fair skin tones perfectly and looks incredible when worn alongside platinum blonde highlights. Even with gray locks, you can still achieve an elegant brunette shade. Ask your stylist for chunky mocha highlights to add warmth and effectively define soft waves. This hair color requires minimal upkeep – perfect for busy ladies looking for effortless beauty! Try a rich, dark chestnut brown with hints of black. This striking shade will complement any skin tone from fair to deep and works exceptionally well as an easy way to cover gray strands temporarily with temporary root touch-up products like TRESemme Root Touch-Up Spray.
4. Light Brown
Light brown can help those not ready to fully transition their locks gray by camouflaging your roots without looking too dark. Blond brown hair complements warm or cool skin tones beautifully and looks fabulous when worn with highlights or balayage. Brunettes looking to blend their grays while maintaining some color at their roots may benefit from using a mushroom brown with ashy undertones, as it will draw the bulk of grays to your ends and keep hearts looking vibrant over time. With this shade, you only need to color them every few weeks! If you are transitioning into gray hair, use foils and highlight/lowlight technique with your colorist to soften the transition, while prolonging its use and minimizing potential damage. This method should also increase its lifespan and lessen risk factors associated with damaged color services.
5. Blonde
It can be challenging to achieve the realistic look of being a non-natural blonde, but finding an experienced stylist can smooth the transition. Opting for a warm sand shade will bring sophistication from roots to ends and complement those with warm skin tones and light eyes, especially when accented by blonde highlights. Incredible, ashy blonde with subtle gold tones is another beautiful option that complements any complexion and works mainly well on hair that has begun graying. Strategic hairstyles (such as pulling your locks into a headband) and touch-up spray can also help conceal grays, but if you want a complete transformation into gray, a salon transition is often the best solution. A colorist will use foils to blend dyed and natural gray strands seamlessly, giving an unnatural yet natural-looking result.
