Going gray? Great expectations for maintenance

Posted by kimberlyacworth Posted on Jul - 10 - 2018

You decided to go from brown, blonde, highlighted to gray?

AFTER going from brown to gray

Looking in the mirror every day seeing the gray hair peeking out amongst the brown, blonde or highlighted color treated hair that you have done for years every four weeks. You know the trend is speaking to you to let the natural gray hair grow out but can you handle the roots as they get bigger and bigger. Can your ego handle the change in color from gray to silver or white? Will your skin tone change with the grays?

Is gray hair less maintenance?

Yes and no. if you already had some gray hair that is diffused throughout the rest of your natural hair, not that big of a deal to grow it out. Where the maintenance starts to get heady is when you have already been coloring every four weeks. Visiting the salon for retouches is scheduled then you decided to grow it out and you aren’t sure if you like it or not. Do you go for the biggy by having all of the color treated hair bleached out and toned to match the gray hair? Perhaps.

FYI: when removing any color treated hair that is espresso dark brown, chocolate brunettes, ravishing red heads and bombshell blondes can take hours to remove pigment from the hair. This is not an hour process so let’s make it clear that it may take more than one appointment to achieve a clear base THEN we have to tone the color to the perfect gray hair color for your skin coloring. If the hair does not lift appropriately or it gets stuck at a certain level, then we as professionals must make adjustments to that hair color that didn’t budge. What I’m talking about is the yellow, yellow orange and the brassy colors that just don’t want to leave the hair. when that happens, we have to change our strategy by using a different color to either lift the color up in a safe way or tone it the way it is darker gray or wait until the next visit to resume lifting the color out of the hair again. Professionals will keep the integrity of the hair intact regardless of what the client wants, the hair will tell us what it will or won’t be able to do.

Do you think that maybe you would like highlights to blend the gray with the previous colored hair? Perhaps. Let’s talk about options:

Removing all of the old hair color requires a professional to remove the color with a lightener that is safe for all types of hair. A professional will determine which strength, how long to leave it on the previous color treated hair then you will have to have it toned or multi – toned gray hairs going through it to look natural. This is very expensive but after it is finished, the maintenance is low requiring regular trims, conditioning the gray hair and the gray looking tones. Every other appointment would require a color balance to prevent the yellow undertones from creeping in.
you have blonde hair with gray. Easy option for you would be to tone down the blonde to blend the gray hair in with in. Low maintenance grow out. Every appointment have a color balance applied to keep the yellow orange at bay. Products to use for home use would be a gray color Fabuloso conditioner that is gluten free plus it is designed to give your gray hair sparkle.
If you have been playful with your hair color by taking the gray color up and down in tones or lowlighting often then you may experience more high maintenance gray hair color. At some point, you may have to choose 1 or 2 shades and call it a day to keep the color consistent.
Double processing by removing natural gray color to achieve a lighter tone does mean visiting the salon every 3 – 4 weeks having it pre-lightened then toned again and again to get the right gray tone. You know the saying 50,000 shades of gray is what we are talking about. If you have one gray tone applied, then another applied within that gray tone such as a violet gray or silver gray or platinum gray, these tones take on a life of their own. if you really want to step up the tones, you might find that some manufacturer gray tones don’t come out as easily as they say they do. The salon professional such as Indulge Salons in York and Greensboro, GA have to rely on their expertise to make decisions to give you the best gray tone for your skin tone.
speaking of skin tone, most gray hair clients must wear makeup. Gray hair done correctly can make the pink toned skin look beautiful or look like you stayed up all night watching Hallmark movies. Might be in your best interest to get with one of our makeup artists to determine if the gray hair color is going to be right for you.
using the right shampoo for at home maintenance is key to keeping the right gray hair tone. Can be used 2x per week with other shampoo and conditioner.
BEAUTY BUDGET is a must conversation. You will have to decide how much you are willing to maintain after the initial cost of going gray. Have this conversation with your stylist.

I had a client that was coloring her hair every 11 days till one day she said, ” I’m going to do it”. I said, “do what?””She said, “I’m going to go gray.”

This client speaks professionally and had to give the process a lot of thought on the reaction of herself, her husband and her colleagues. Appearance is everything, her hair and skin tone plus she had to think about how she would be perceived by her customers. Would they think that she looked old? Actually, she ended up looking younger. we changed her makeup, we changed the look of the gray hair by removing all of the old color, the old highlights and evened out the tone of her hair. she did end up having low maintenance hair, she did have more conditioned hair that didn’t change and she felt FREE. Free from coloring her hair every 11 days. she was happier about her decision to change her hair. We had been highlighting, coloring the roots, color balancing the ends to keep them from fading and cutting her hair every four weeks because she needed it and when she traveled, she had to maintain the top of her head with the root touch up to keep covering the gray. Now she doesn’t have to cover the gray. She is FREE from the coloring prison she felt she was in.

This is my client Maggie from Greensboro, GA. Once she went gray with her color she never went back. Congratulations on your bravery to go from brown to gray.