Over 30% of my clientele consists of beautiful ladies in their 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. While most of them prefer for me to cover their pesky grays with rich, natural hair color, over the years I’ve helped many transition out of colored hair back to their natural. Knowing when and how to do this is a tricky thing. It’s a big decision! Your hair is the one part of your outfit you wear every day and with the transition from all over color to gray, that pretty hat can end up looking a little odd for for a bit. The good news is… you have options.
While there is no perfect solution for transitioning (there, is no way to just “color” hair back to it’s original gray and have it look at natural all in one go), over the years I’ve learned and developed a number of winning techniques to help bring you into your silver glory in the smoothest way possible.
Going cold turkey is one option. If you want to just stop coloring and let your roots grow in you can do that. I’ve found with those wanting to go this route it’s best to grow the hair out until you have a length of natural hair you can live with and then going for a sassy short cut to get rid of all that unwanted color in one go. This can be fun, dramatic and liberating though you may want to do it in the winter as you’ll want to be wearing a hat for a while to cover that racing stripe down your head until you have enough length for the cut.
Another option is to lighten the colored hair up as light as you can take it and then tone it so the grow out is less noticeable. While this way can work for folks with hair that is naturally pretty light or hair that hasn’t been colored very dark, it’s usually my least favorite choice. Trying to pull out all that hair color in one go can be very harsh on the hair and often leaves behind unwanted brassy, orange and golden tones.
A better choice along the same lines is to weave in lots of bleach blond foils and continue to foil every 6-8 weeks as the gray grows out. This is a great solution for many because the isolation of the foil packs gives more control over the final color result and having multiple tones in the hair can help camouflage the grow out line with out compromising the hair’s integrity as much as an all over lift.
Lastly, low lights can be a great option. Low lights (weaving in foils with darker rather than lighter tones) can be a great way to blend the roots as you transition out of all over color while protecting the hair from the drying effects of pulling out artificial color out with bleach. This is the most gentle technique next to cold turkey.
Which ever way you choose to go with your gray hair Seattle be sure you only make this transition with a seasoned stylist. Rookies (and I used to be one!) will often in their eagerness to please over promise and under deliver. This process is one of the easiest ones to mess up if you don’t know what your doing…. leaving the client with stripey, uneven and brassy color results that can last for months of painful grow out. A mature colorist will be able to look at your hair density, texture and tone to help develop the best transition for you so be sure and book a consultation first, ask a lot of questions and trust your gut.
The transition can be tough but hang in there! The results (especially if you’re one of those lucky ladies who goes more white or silvery gray) can be sensational!!
To book your free gray consultation with Joey today call him direct at 206.228.5639.
