Why do my blonde highlights look grey?

Author: Prof. Estefania Rosenbaum Sr.  |  Last update: Monday, May 12, 2025

Highlighted hair is often porous and can take on ash tones heavily – the hair then appears greyish or sometimes even silver. When you say your blonde highlights look grey, it is often because they take on a grey-blue tone, sometimes all over and sometimes in patches.

Why did my blonde highlights come out grey?

Sometimes a buildup of purple shampoo or blue shampoo (or these kinds of tinted conditioners) can cause blond color treated hair to turn gray and muddy. This often happens if these products are used too soon after the initial color service (toner).

How to fix ashy blonde highlights?

A toner with a warm base can counteract the ash and bring out more golden or honey tones. Look for a toner labeled as ``gold'' or ``warm blonde.'' Conditioning Treatments: Regularly using deep conditioning treatments can help improve the overall health and shine of your hair, making the color look more vibrant.

How do you get rid of grey tone in blonde hair?

Often, a couple of regular washes can fade these gray tones.

Washing your hair more frequently than usual may help, but you'll want to be sure to follow up with a moisturizing conditioner and only increase your washing frequency for a week or so to prevent drying out your hair. You can also try a clarifying shampoo.

How to make blonde highlights less grey?

Wash with Clarifying Shampoo: This can help fade the color. Wash a few times to see if it lightens. Use a Color Remover: Products like color removers can help remove the gray without damaging your hair too much. If the Gray is Permanent: Lightening: You may need to use a bleach to lift the color. Here's how:

BACK TO BASICS: BLONDE GREY COVERAGE | BEAUTY SCHOOL SERIES

What cancels out gray hair color?

Cool shades like ash blonde and mushroom brown are among the best hair colors to hide grays, since the cool tones won't clash with your silvery streaks.

How do you get rid of GREY hair with highlights?

Foils: Traditional foil highlights will give you a consistent blend of highlights and lowlights throughout your hair, starting at the roots. Foils can help ensure every stray gray gets covered and can help diminish a sharp line of gray root regrowth—essential if you wish to blend gray hair with dark hair.

What color cancels out ash?

Q: For folks who don't want ashy hair color, is it hard to fix? A: It's super easy to fix. When formulating your shade, your colorist will likely use a copper or golden tone to counteract the ash.

What color neutralizes GREY hair?

Blonde is one of the best colors to cover gray hair because there's only a slight difference between blonde shades and silver shades, so the new dye can be easily blended. Take a look at these fresh blonde color ideas you can try out to cover gray hair.

How to remove ashy toner from blonde hair?

Apply a palmful of clarifying shampoo to your hair and massage it in, paying special attention to the parts of your hair that are the most ashy. Rinse out the clarifying shampoo thoroughly with warm water. Warm water opens up the cuticles in your hair so that the toner can wash out more easily.

Why does my ash blonde hair look grey?

Highlighted hair is often porous and can take on ash tones heavily – the hair then appears greyish or sometimes even silver. When you say your blonde highlights look grey, it is often because they take on a grey-blue tone, sometimes all over and sometimes in patches.

How do you add warmth to Ashy highlights?

Add warmth. This can be done in a salon by adding a gloss or toner onto the hair. But if you're looking to solve your ashy issue at home, reach for a color-correcting treatment, like the Better Natured Color Refreshing Crème in Rose Gold.

Why do my highlights look ashy?

Ashy hair usually results after too much cool or blue toner has been left in. Sometimes washing multiple times with clarifying shampoo can remove the excess toner. But if that doesn't work, a color specialist will know how to warm up ashy hair using that scientific color wheel.

Will purple shampoo fix grey highlights?

The answer is that purple shampoo can have an almost endless amount of benefits for your hair color. Purple shampoo has been used for decades by hairdressers, mostly to help tone and neutralize blonde and gray hair, getting rid of brassy or yellow tones for an overall more cool-toned look.

Why does my hair turn gray so fast after coloring?

It could be that your hair is resistant to tint, especially when the hair texture has changed as a result of going white. But also it could be that by going lighter, either all over, or by introducing (subtle) highlights you would not see the regrowth strip quite as quickly as if it were lighter.

How to get rid of silver highlights?

5 Expert Methods for Removing Highlights From Hair
  1. Lowlights. You can quickly eliminate your highlights with lowlights to tone them down and keep the dimension. ...
  2. Color Melt or Shadow Root. ...
  3. Using a Dark Gloss or Toner. ...
  4. Cut The Highlights Out. ...
  5. Do an All-Over Color.

What hair color cancels out gray?

Cool ash blonde is a great choice for hiding gray hair. It also looks good with cool skin tones. The ashy tones help reduce any yellow or brass colors that can come with regular blonde shades. This gives a more natural look.

What does ash blonde look like?

What color is ash blonde? Ash blonde colors have a cooler tone than honey or golden blondes. They can range from icy white to a darker blonde with gray undertones.

Is it better to go darker or lighter with grey hair?

Is it better to go lighter or darker to cover grey hair? As for your permanent colour kit choice, for the best grey coverage, Josh recommends choosing a shade close to your natural root colour (that's the colour between the greys.) "Make sure to never stray more than two shades away from this,” says Josh.

How do you fix blonde hair that is too ashy?

Ashy Hair Color Correction
  1. Use A Clarifying Shampoo. If you have ashy hair and want to tone the color down, then clarifying shampoos will do the trick. ...
  2. Wash Your Hair Regularly. ...
  3. Use Lemon Juice. ...
  4. Use Warm Colors. ...
  5. Color Remover To The Rescue. ...
  6. Bleach Wash. ...
  7. Hair Gloss For Those Ashy Tones.

How to remove grey toner from hair?

Clarifying Shampoo

Most toners are not permanent, therefore eventually, after several washes, the 'cool' tones will fade. If you want that toner gone quicker, 2-3 washes with a clarifying shampoo will start to remove the blue, grey or purple stains.

What does icy blonde look like?

Icy blonde hair is ashy and cool-toned, often appearing white or even silver in color.

How do I get rid of grey highlight?

Remove highlighting from part or all of a document

Select the text that you want to remove highlighting from or press Ctrl+A to select all of the text. Go to Home and select the arrow next to Text Highlight Color. Select No Color.

How to blend grays with highlights?

A root smudge or root shadow is one of the most effective ways of covering gray strands on hair with highlights. Not only does it guarantee full, even coverage, but it also gives the whole highlighted look with a more natural-looking feel.

What is a shadow root on blonde hair?

It's a great way to refresh your look and give your hair color depth and dimension. Basically, a shadow root, is when your stylist goes back over your highlights or fresh color with a shade closer to your natural shade. Notice the difference with no toning and the after the root shadow in.

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