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.
Baking soda has a pH of 9, which is far higher than that of the scalp. Using a product with such a high pH may harm the hair. Over time, baking soda can strip the natural oil from the hair, lead to breakage, and make the hair fragile.
Use a Clarifying Shampoo
To keep the gray hair more bright and shiny, I suggest switching your favorite hair cleanser for a clarifying shampoo like Living Proof Triple Detox Shampoo once a week. This will remove impurities and surface buildup from your gray hair which will result in a nicer tone.
Hydrogen peroxide attacks the enzyme tyrosinase by oxidizing an amino acid, methionine, at the active site. As a consequence, this key enzyme, which normally starts the synthesizing pathway of the coloring pigment melanin, does not function anymore.
Clairol Shimmer Lights Shampoo
It can help enhance natural grays and refresh color in faded highlights. Overuse of this shampoo can dry out your hair due to its purple pigments, so it may not be a good choice for dry or damaged hair. For best results, leave the product in your hair for 5 to 10 minutes before rinsing.
“Tighter curls tend to deal with more dryness since sebum has a harder time traveling down the hair shaft, so using baking soda can strip the oils and cause further dryness,” Ogboru says. As a rule for any texture, limit your baking soda hair-apy to once a week or once every two weeks for extra dry or textured strands.
Baking soda as shampoo has more risks than benefits for long-term use. While some people report loving this natural method, an equal number of people say baking soda has damaged their hair. Overall, research does not support baking soda as a shampoo replacement.
There are a few simple ways to add some baking soda to shampoo regimen: sprinkle a bit of baking soda on your damp hair and then lather up. add a bit of baking soda to the shampoo bar lather already in your hair, then add a bit more water and lather up.
Using a purple shampoo on grey hair can help to remove brassy yellow shades, leaving you with a flattering silver undertone.
Vitamin B-12 is the most common culprit, with folate, copper, and iron deficiencies increasing your risk, too. Dietary supplements may help these deficiencies and you might see your natural hair color start to grow back after several weeks.
Although this may seem like a permanent change, new research reveals that the graying process can be undone—at least temporarily. Hints that gray hairs could spontaneously regain color have existed as isolated case studies within the scientific literature for decades.
The age at which you go gray is also determined by your genetics. So, if you have a parent who went gray early, then it's likely you will too. It's not possible to reverse or treat gray hair.
Another option is to mix a bit of apple cider vinegar into a dollop of shampoo. This clears build up from environmental toxins and hair products. It also seals the hair cuticle, making your grays silky, shiny and frizz-free.
As we mentioned, gray hair's lack of sebum can make it feel dry. To reduce further dryness, you'll want to wash it as infrequently as possible. "Washing every other day or three to four times a week can help with this," says Mazzei.
And since gray hair is more likely to turn yellow or brassy, folks should use purple and blue shampoos to correct these undertones. If you want more advice on using purple shampoo, check out our guide to the product.
Hydrogen peroxide and baking soda
Baking soda is an alkaline, which helps hydrogen peroxide work better in two ways. First, it opens up the cuticle to allow the hydrogen peroxide to get into the hair cortex more easily. Second, when mixed with hydrogen peroxide, it helps break down the melanin in hair.
By reacting together, hydrogen peroxide and baking soda produce carbon dioxide and chemicals which are excellent in removing bleaches. And thus, they make a fantastic couple together!
Vitamins B6 and B12 have also been proven to boost melanin production. Goddard says that vitamin B6, also known as pyridoxine, has been found to trigger the production of enzymes and chemical reactions that boost the metabolism of the hair proteins (keratin and melanin) in the hair follicles.
Your hair doesn't turn gray — it grows that way.
A single hair grows for one to three years, then you shed it — and grow a new one. As you age, your new hairs are more likely to be white. "Every time the hair regenerates, you have to re-form these pigment-forming cells, and they wear out," says Oro.