Thursday, January 27, 2011

Going Gray in a Gorgeous Way

I have spent a very long time thinking about gray hair.  As a colorist, usually I am thinking about how to cover it up.   Recently, I am realizing there are many options for enhancing gray.  More and more women are asking for help during the transition from the base colors they thought they were bound to and the soft silver hues they were hiding for years.

For some, this transition is easier than for others.  It all depends on how much gray you have, how it is distributed (big patches or sprinkled throughout), how dark is your natural color (if you still have any), and how much coverage you have right now.  Additionally, we need to take skin tone into consideration.

I am going to explain the process I went through with a couple of clients to help them go gray.  I wish I had before and after photos for all of them.

Client 1: Margery was almost 100% gray, but was coloring her hair copper red for many years.  She was naturally a redhead, but there was no evidence remaining, except her skin tone.  The fact that she was used to seeing so much warmth against her skin, along with the fact that red is a tricky tone to get rid of, we were up for a challenge.  After looking through pictures, we decided that the first step would be to make her a very light golden blonde.  This way she still had warmth next to her face while she got used to seeing a lighter shade.  We had to do a lightener service to remove all the red from her hair, and we brought it up to a pale yellow.  Then we toned the hair to the golden shade we agreed on ahead of time.

It was still a shock, but Margery felt like herself.  She was thrilled that her new growth was a lot less obvious when it grew out.  She came in a couple more times, a couple months apart, and we toned her hair more neutral the first time, and then platinum.  You could barely tell as it grew out from there, and from then on she only came to the salon for haircuts.

Client 2: Denise had most of her gray at the front hairline, and on the top of her head.  She was naturally light brown, but we were coloring her hair red brown with copper highlights.  She still wanted to color her hair, but wanted something lower maintenance.  She had great skin that really worked with color, so we decided to go with a slightly richer version of her natural color, with really pale highlights where her gray was.  I did a lot of very fine foil highlights so they looked like they were growing out of the scalp, and I neutralized the old red to a soft golden brown between all the foils.  Then we toned the highlights to a nice neutral blonde that would not contrast too much when the gray grew out.  The result was beautiful!  I knew the red tone would show through in a few weeks, so Denise came in again in six weeks and we picked up the same highlight pieces and toned the hair between the foils again.  It was gorgeous again, and lasted much longer.  She could easily go three to four months between appointments if she wanted.

Client 3: Lisa had naturally dark brown hair, and enough gray that she was coming in every three weeks.  She was considering going gray, but wasn't sure she was ready.  We decided to have fun with it and created a couple ribbons of gray where she had big patches naturally.  Think Stacy London on What Not to Wear.  The effect was very striking, but we did still need to tone the pieces every time she came in for base color so they would look gray and not blonde.  Even though it didn't make her color lower maintenance, it allowed her to see herself with some gray, and it made people question whether she colored her hair or not.

I could go on and on with many different client scenarios, but I try keep my posts from going long.  If you want to transition away from your base color and are not sure what your options are, send me and email form this blog.  Or if you are in the New York City area, call Aveda to schedule a free color consultation with me at (212) 473- 0280.

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