If you like how you look with dark hair, consider a cool, gray-brown hair color (like mushroom brown). If you prefer the ease of a lighter hair color, consider transitioning to a lighter, cool-toned brunette or blonde shade.
Many women with dark brunette dye choose to grow out their gray hair cold turkey, cut out the dye, or use the dye strip technique to disguise their grow-out. Another option is to use wigs and let your gray hair grow out cold turkey underneath a wig.
Darker will always cover gray better .
The best hair color to cover gray varies depending on individual preferences and natural hair tones, but some standout options include ash brown, which blends seamlessly with gray hair due to its ash undertones, and auburn, a vibrant choice for brunettes that offers good coverage with minimal maintenance.
The most effective way to achieve a seamless transition between the grey of your roots and the dark brown of the rest of your hair is through a process called root smudging. This involves using a shade of hair dye that falls between your grey and dark brown hues.
Colours like butterscotch brown, 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 colours to hide grey.
Gray hair dyes have a bleaching function so that, if you use a gray hair dye on a mixture of partially gray and partially black hair, it will dye all hair the same color. Think of it as dyeing hair that has been bleached first to match the grays.
The best hair dye for grey hair if you're brunette
You won't be surprised to hear that you should be covering the grey with brown dye, but the best hair dye for grey hair here is a medium-light shade, even if you are naturally very dark, as this will complement your naturally paling skin.
The best coloring technique for gray hair ultimately depends on your desired look and how much coverage you want. We suggest opting for an all-over color service to fully mask every gray hair on your head with a uniform shade. However, highlighting may be better if your goal is seamlessly blending your grays.
Transitioning to gray hair with highlights and lowlights is a great option for those who aren't quite ready to part with their salon visits. Adding a mix of light and dark shades will allow your grays to blend beautifully with the rest of your hair and, as a bonus, add some brightness to your color.
Get the Right Cut
Rock a great cut with lots of style and texture, and get a trim every 6-8 weeks. Women who are 100% gray often wear their hair short. But consider long layers. They can be beautiful and add movement to healthy, bouncy hair.
A more graduated haircut such as the 'lob' – a long bob that sits slightly beneath the jawline at the front – is a great alternative. “The subtle layers will frame the face, making it appear fuller.” Softer styling also creates a youthful effect.
If your hair is brown, you may need to bleach it more than once before you apply the grey dye. It's important you get your hair as light as possible before you attempt to turn it grey – this will help ensure a more even tone and vibrant, all-over colour.
Cool-leaning colors in light to dark shades like platinum, ash, beige, and medium blonde are especially well-suited for gray blending.
Root sprays and root powders offer a quick and temporary way to cover up gray hairs: simply choose a shade that matches your natural color and apply to the roots.
There's no defined hair color that is more youthful, but darker colors can look harsher over time. Consider going for a more multi-dimensional hair color with lighter and darker pieces overall. Typically, a safe bet is to ask for balayage highlights that are around two shades lighter than your natural hue.
Honey blonde is a rich, warm color. On the blonde shade spectrum, it falls somewhere between a caramel shade and a buttery hue, but it can also be worked as a bronde (brown blonde). Just think, quite simply, of the color of honey, and you've got this trend in one. It's glossy, gleaming, glowy and golden.
“There are many ways that you can transition your hair [to gray],” says Whitney, “including having your hair dyed to match your roots, adding lowlights or highlights to help with the line of demarcation [i.e., the line where your pigment meets the grays], cutting your hair short or simply letting your natural hair ...
Opting for highlights to hide gray hair or getting a silver balayage may be the answer, as the lightened strands seamessly blend with any gray hairs that would otherwise create a harsh contrast against your dark base. If you opt for highlights on gray hair, consider asking your colorist for babylights.
“This technique mixes the gray strands with your natural hair tone, resulting in a subtle, blended look.”
To get silver hair, you have to bleach your hair until your strands are almost white. The darker your natural color is, the more bleach sessions you'll have to go through to lighten your hair enough to achieve that ethereal silver hue.
Silver toner for brown hair? Why not. You could use a silver toner on brown hair to remove any yellow tones, or to refresh the cool tones (for example on ash brown or cool cocoa shades). Dark silver hair toner should be used on dark shades, not light blondes.
Burgundy compliments jet black hair and gives you a deep, yet vibrant look. This color combination looks especially stunning in the sunlight. The pairing of red and black deserves a chef's kiss. This hair color for black hair is the perfect shade to add a pop of vibrancy to your look.