Silver highlights are a practical and stylish way to transition to gray hair or embrace its elegance. They provide an edgy and fashionable way to spice up your look without creating an obvious demarcation line between roots that start growing back out and those where the highlights meet them.
The Best Way to Go About It
Dyeing gray hair should aim to blend your stray strands seamlessly into the rest of your natural base color, or make them pop out and appear extra sparkly. We consulted two colorists for advice on applying highlights for gray hair, whether your goal is softening the hard line between natural new growth and dyed strands or simply adding some shine.
Opt for a Dual Process
People looking to incorporate silver strands and roots with highlights should opt for a dual process: first applying root shadow, and then scattering multi-tonal highlights. This reduces damage, allows you to customize your desired color, and creates a seamless finish. Once your highlights have been applied, use color-preserving products like Kenra Color Maintenance Shampoo and RUSK Sensories Brilliance Color Protection Leave-In Conditioner toto keep them looking luscious; click through for examples of celebrity-styling grey highlights.
The Importance of Base Color
Base color is the cornerstone of any successful contrast or color technique, whether natural or dyed hair color. To keep grays looking vibrant and prevent brassy yellow tones from showing through, consider treating yourself to hydrating hair gloss treatments every six to eight weeks or looking for purple-toning shampoo or mask like our Silver Lining Purple Butter Masque, which helps remove unwanted brassiness.
The Role of Highlights
Highlights can also help to blend grey hair. Women can opt for face-framing silver highlights that brighten their complexion, adding distinction and influence. At the same time, men can use highlights as a transitional method that allows their natural gray hair to grow while covering it up – this will alleviate harsh lines created by full head coverage with one color, giving gray a more natural look and a more natural appearance. When using highlights, make sure to lighten surrounding strands to reduce their visibility.
The Highlights Process
Demi-permanent or semi-permanent hair color can give clients an even look, camouflaging gray strands while giving the locks a rich, lustrous finish. A two-step approach may work best to highlight gray locks effectively: first, root shadowing followed by multi-tonal highlights. Silver highlights can be applied using either the foil technique or balayage on any length or texture of hair, using calm, ashy tones for a softer effect or warm browns and coppers for an intensified finish. A colorist may choose cool styles for softened highlights or warm browns and coppers to achieve dramatic highlights. If a person with dark brunette or black hair wants to transition into silver, a colorist should gradually apply bleaching to damage the strands. Furthermore, using a product that traps heat will accelerate this process while having minimal impact on nearby strands and more effectively covering grays than traditional methods would.
The Role of Lowlights
Lowlights can be applied to blend gray hairs, create an eye-catching ombre effect, and help conceal regrowth or faded roots. For a subdued and soft look, consider choosing an ash or icy blonde lowlight, while brunettes might prefer mocha or chestnut hues to create more of a contrast between them and your natural base color. Babylights offer another solution for lightening strands gradually in small sections. Unlike foil highlights, this approach does not involve stripping the hair to achieve lighter tones and is gentler on your strands. For a bolder statement, add silver money pieces to the face-framing strands around your face for a dramatic look. This allows you to try the trend without making a permanent commitment to color highlights on all of your locks. To maintain their fresh appearance, use sulfate-free shampoo explicitly designed for color-treated hair to prevent damage and dullness; that way, you can extend between touch-ups without dullness and keep looking radiant with silver hair!
