No matter the look you’re going for with your gray hair, various techniques can help. Foil and herringbone highlighting are two popular options that help cover up greys.
Color Maintenance
Color maintenance for this style of coloring involves frequent visits to the salon and touch-up sessions every four weeks to keep its appearance.
High-Low Highlighting
If you want to add some depth and dimension to your gray hair, lowlights are a great way to do just that. These darker hues (auburn and espresso) help add dimension throughout your strands for multi-tonal color that works exceptionally well on lighter-colored locks; highlights can often turn brassy or yellow over time in grays.
Always opt for semi-permanent dye to cover grey hairs to achieve optimal lowlight results. This helps protect and keep the strands healthy by covering any potential damage.
Highlights and Foilyage
Highlights and foliage can both help blend grays while also adding brightness to your look. Foilyage involves applying thin ribbons of lighter color at the base of your hair, while highlights use hand-painted highlights to achieve sun-kissed shine. Both techniques work great at disguising grays as they’re less harsh than full coverage color; ensure you have an at-home routine, including protein treatments and shampoo without sulfate as regular maintenance tasks!
High-Low Lowlighting
A stylist can use highlights and lowlights to highlight gray hair in various ways, blending silver strands with light base colors like blonde. Furthermore, this technique also gives clients the option of choosing cool or warm tones depending on their skin tone and eye color.
Kusero notes that highlights can be achieved using foliage and balayage techniques – which both involve applying ribbons of lighter color – to your locks. Though both methods look appealing, they often require frequent salon visits for maintenance.
Balayage
Balayage uses a freehand color application technique in contrast with foil highlights for a more natural-looking result. Your stylist will typically brush lighter shades onto mid-length sections to ends before blending them with any existing gray roots or natural highlights to produce a sun-kissed appearance that masks grey regrowth without creating visible lines along regrowth lines.
Cool-toned silver and grey highlights on raven-black bases can create a dramatic look, which should be addressed; otherwise, brassy hues could quickly develop. Regular upkeep must be maintained to maintain this color scheme; otherwise, your color could quickly turn brassy.
To prevent brassiness, your colorist must touch up some balayage strands every four to eight weeks – less frequently than complete balayage services that typically need to be performed every two or three months. You can further minimize maintenance by scheduling “partial” services a few times annually where only certain sections are lightened, such as those near your face and crown.
Highlights and Lowlights
Gray hair highlights are a great way to enhance the color and style of your locks, so when selecting your colorist, they must understand your goals. If covering grey roots without weekly root touch-ups is your aim, balayage or foliage techniques could create ribbons of lighter shade throughout your mane and are often preferred over traditional coloring methods.
Your stylist will likely tone these lighter ribbons to complement cooler-toned grays by tinting them with a cool shade such as pearly blonde or honey blonde to soften any visible silver strands and reduce their presence.
Add some dimension and depth to your look by having your stylist add lowlights. These darker-than-normal strands contrast against highlights to create depth and shadow – perfect if you have salt and pepper grays, as it helps camouflage them without making them seem harsh or unnatural.
