If you're looking for a hair color that will hold up against the elements, you can't go wrong with black. Whether it's exposed to sunlight or chlorine, black hair color is fade-resistant and always looks chic. If you're not ready to commit to such a dark shade, brown is also a good choice.
Darker hair colors like deep black, espresso brown, and blue-black tend to fade the slowest.
Green and blue last the longest. They last virtually forever, they just fade to pastel eventually and usually take bleaching or cutting off to remove (for me).
More neutral colours like tan, beige, brown, and various shades of white fade the least over time. Compared to brighter pigments like red, blue, and yellow, these and other milder earth tones tend to degrade far more gradually in UV radiation and harsh weather.
Certain harsh chemicals in popular box dyes have given many stylists pause. Common concerns include: Ammonia - This mixing agent lifts cuticles to deposit colour but is quite drying over time. Peroxide - High volumes like 30+ developer cause more damage to delicate hair.
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.
Now that you know what to avoid, you may be wondering which colors are the most fade resistant. Typically, lighter earth tones such as beige and tan are the most stable for exterior applications.
If you're looking for a hair color that will last longer, stick to darker shades like brunettes and black. With less pigment to start with, your color will fade more slowly over time.
Collectively, people with red hair were rated as most unattractive, but it must be noted that in the non-obese woman condition, red hair was seen as equal to blond hair in attractiveness, though in every other condition red hair was seen as significantly less attractive.
Brown hair colors for gray hair are the sweet spot for gray coverage if your natural shade is medium blonde to dark brown. They are also ideal if you're gray all over.
Red hair is notoriously difficult when it comes to upkeep. While it's the hardest color to fully strip from your hair, it's also the first to fade, often lightening drastically within the first few washes. So unless you're wanting to touch-up your own color at home, it would be wise to skip the scarlet shades.
Chlorine and Hard-Water Minerals
Hard water minerals, such as iron and magnesium, can also cause hair to look dull or discolored. This is because minerals can build-up on the hair and react with hair color, causing it to fade or change. The key is not to leave these minerals and chemicals on your hair.
As a general rule of thumb, darker colors tend to stay on the hair for longer. So, if you're adding lowlights, a root shadow or all-over depth, the shade will offer more mileage than, for example, light blondes, light browns or light reds. The same goes for pastel colors versus rainbow colors.
Opt for hair dyes made with natural colorants like henna, indigo, cassia, beetroot, coffee, and other plant-derived ingredients. These natural hair dye options allow you to color your hair without harsh chemicals like ammonia, PPD, resorcinol, and peroxide commonly found in conventional dyes.
A shade that is close to your natural hair color will always be the easiest to maintain, since your regrowth will be less noticeable. So staying within one level (darker or lighter) will be helpful.
What is demi-permanent color? Demi-permanent color contains no ammonia and deposits only. It is mixed with a low-volume developer to help open the cuticle and lasts up to 24 shampoos. This type of color is great for blending gray, enhancing natural color, refreshing color, toning highlights, or for corrective work.
It's not your imagination — red hair dye does fade faster than other hair color shades.
Lighter neutral colours such as beige and light browns absorb less heat from the sun. These earth-toned colours are far less susceptible to moisture and other maintenance issues such as chipping. White, tan, and light gray are also safe options when you're searching for brick colours that won't fade.
Cool colours recede (go back) and warm colours advance (come forward). Generally speaking, blues and greens are cool and recede in pictorial depth and reds and yellows are warm and advance.
Generally, reds, blues, and yellows are more susceptible to fading, with red pigments often being the most vulnerable. This is because these colors absorb more light, leading to quicker breakdown and fading.
Pick a lighter hair colour
A lighter colour will then look better. Your hair follicles produce less pigment as you're turning older. If there's no more pigment being produced in the hair follicles, your hair turns pigmentless.
So while you may have been a brunette all your life, your hair follicles start producing less color as they age, and the regenerative cycle of hair dying and regrowing will start to produce hair with a lighter and grayer color than before.
To avoid it going ginger or red then you must check what shade you are using. For example if the colour says golden, chocolate, mahogany, red, warm brown etc, these will all look 'ginger'. To achieve a rich colour, a basic shade must be added to create the depth (how dark it is).