Yes, gray hair can be highlighted. Just keep in mind that, when you're highlighting gray locks, the goal is to blend silver strays and create an ultra-natural finish.
For grey hair coverage, we generally recommend that you aim to color slightly lighter than the natural hair color level of your client. In this case we would suggest you go for a color starting in level 6 (Dark Blonde) or 7 (Blonde).
But how to blend gray hair into brown or naturally dark hair seamlessly? Less saturated shades of highlights and dyes can make the gray strands less visible. Butterscotch, light auburn, golden brown, ash brown, and pale brunettes are some of the best shades to conceal them.
We suggest opting for an all-over color service if you want to fully mask every gray hair on your head with a uniform shade. However, highlighting may be better if your goal is to blend your grays seamlessly.
Instead of dyeing all of your hair, try adding highlights or lowlights to hide those silver hairs. By blending highlights in your hair, you can hide stray grays without too much additional maintenance.
Demi-Permanent or Semi-Permanent Color
While a demi-permanent or semi-permanent hair color can be applied to any level of gray, it's often used to camouflage early grays, giving 30-70% coverage.
Lowlights, which, unlike highlights are actually a few shades darker than your hair, bring out the most natural look versus using brighter traditional highlights, says Michael Canalé, Jennifer Aniston's longtime colorist and creator of hair care line Canalé.
What color highlights look good on brown hair? Basically, any light and blonde tone look lovely as a highlight in dark hair. Make accents in caramel, gold, natural brown, honey, toffee or chestnut tones. You will see how fantastic they will look on light brown, medium and dark hair.
Henna. One of the most popular and gentle ways to treat gray hair is using henna powder. Henna is a powdered form of leaves which essentially helps to treat the gray hair when used every month. Henna comes with natural color pigmentation, thus, covering the gray roots easily.
The most popular easy ways to disguise the grays among women are blonde highlights, silver balayage, soft lowlights, icy and ashy hair dyes, red and brown colors.
Instead of dying the grays to match the overall base color, using highlights to lighten the surrounding hair allows the grays to blend into the base color, providing a much more natural look.
Colors like butterscotch, light auburn and golden brown, or ash brown for those with a cool skin tone, are all versatile brunette shades that aren't too dark and are some of the best hair colors to hide gray.
The perfect color to conceal them? Ash blond! Thanks to the tones of this color verging on gray, it will perfectly blend in the gray hairs so they cannot be noticed. However, a light base (from blond to chestnut brown) is necessary so your highlights are still harmonious.
Opt for highlights.
If you want to disguise grays while adding dimension to your mane, ask your stylist for highlights.
Balayage is a smart solution for gray hair because it allows the colorist to specifically target gray strands without touching the scalp. And, because you don't need to do a single process to cancel out a few grays, it's easier on your hair overall.
Since baking soda is a scrubbing agent, washing your hair with it can gradually strip the dye from your locks. Baking soda can lighten all hair colors, but it might take a few washes to get your hair to the desired color.
It will only deposit the blonde color on the gray hairs, turning them into golden highlights.
Silver hair toner is a popular option when it comes to showcasing your grey. Instead, a blue pigment is used to neutralise yellow undertones. Gradually, your hair stylist can reduce the colour pigment at each application, smoothly easing you into an all-grey look thanks to a silver toner for hair.
Typically, white people start going gray in their mid-30s, Asians in their late 30s, and Blacks in their mid-40s. Half of all people have a significant amount of gray hair by the time they turn 50.
Gray blending is a subtle hair color application that oscillates between highlights and balayage. Like a game of chiaroscuro, the colorist will first lighten large sections of hair with a light balayage, then accentuate the effect on a few finer strands to blend in the gray hair naturally present.