The many ways to transition to Grey Hair
This is one of my favorite subjects, because there is no one size fits all solution. Here are the different ways I transition hair to grey:
Grey Blending with Demi Permanent color:
This has been around for ages, but has never gotten the attention it deserves until now. Grey Blending is a great way to give your grey hairs a shimmer with color, creating a highlight, instead of covering the greys completely. The grow out on the roots is soft instead of a harsh line, and is a good option for someone who isn’t completely white on top.
This is a way to transition to grey in a long term way. The goal is to stay in this phase for years until you are ready to go grey completely. Its for people who feel fake getting their grey have covered completely, but aren’t ready to be completely natural either.
At first, getting a demi permanent color instead of permanent color on roots can make some people feel naked. That’s why I recommend getting (real) tiny highlights where the white hairs are to soften the line between permanent and demi. The first couple times can be longer appointments, but future appointments will be quicker and further apart then when you had permanent color. @Emchanhair on instagram has great documenting on this process. She will spend 8 hours highlighting every tiny grey hair to get the process over in one sitting. I do the process over 1-2 appointments.
On this client I did a demi grey blend with highlights 5 months prior. She just came in for a cut, and her color still looks great. She’ll probably need another color in 3 months.
Straight to Grey Today- Highlights and Lowlights
I have done many of these transitions where someone is ready to be their natural color right now. In this case, I would highlight tiny highlights where the grey hairs are, and lowlight tiny lowlights where the dark hairs are. I usually can get this done in one appointment, and the results are usually very good.
The downside of this can be that the color fades, and you are left with a soft line of warmth where the color used to be. In this case, you would need to come back for maintenance once about once every 3 months until the color grows out. I would say this happens about 25% of the time. Maintenance would be a toner, a deep cleanse to remove minerals from porous highlighted hair, or more highlights/lowlights.
Transition Me Slowly- Highlights and Lowlights
I often have women that want to transition, but are scared. This is a great way to transition them over 6 months or so, and its barely noticeable. This are for women that are unsure, and need to go on a journey to find out what they can handle.
Instead of covering their roots with permanent color completely, I do a heavy lowlight at the root with the same permanent color, and add in highlights where their grey is. I leave more and more natural color out each service.
Some women go on this journey and say- STOP! Go back, I hate it. Some women love their grey hair and want to the journey speed up- go straight to grey. Other women like to stay in the transition somewhere along the way- they like the amount of grey that is showing, and how the lowlights and highlights compliment their face tones.
What kind of transition would be best for you- or will you permanent color forever?
