The Going Grey Trend

There are various reasons we color our hair. When we're young we do it to express ourselves; be it a few little highlights or a full head of vibrant color, it's fun. As we get into our 30s we start to notice those little sparkles of grey and then color becomes a necessity to cover them up so it doesn't age us prematurely. And then after 20(ish) years of root touch ups and highlights to blend the grey sometimes we decide that we're tired of it and we should just let it go. And this is exactly the huge trend I've been seeing since early last year in women 50+. I kind of think the whole woman empowerment thing is making it even more successful, too. Gone are the days of "growing out" your grey. With the change in hair color technology even just in the last few years, truly anything is possible - even going grey!

When is the right time to let it go?

This guest is naturally 50% grey throughout her head. I spent two hours doing a million foils on her head, we let it process, and then I toned her twice to eliminate as much warmth as possible.

Well, that's totally up to you, but in general I recommend waiting until you are at least 50% grey. If you're less than that you absolutely can transition to grey, but you'll have dark roots instead of light roots so you're still stuck in the same place you were before. Once you're about 50% grey doing a full head of highlights and giving them a super cool toner is the way to go. You still don't want to be all silver on the ends, because of the aforementioned root regrowth, but by adding silver-blonde streaks to about half of your hair while leaving the other half the color of your natural gives you the best option for grow out.

For ladies that are closer to 75% grey, a full traditional highlight with some balayage pieces in between is usually the way we go. This allows for the brighter pops of your natural grey to blend through your ends. And then once you're pretty much all grey, we make all the hairs on your head silver and you probably never have to color your hair again (unless you want to).

This guest had let about 4" of her natural white hair grow out and wanted to blend the line from where her previous color was. I removed as much of that old color as possible, then gave her some balayage highlights and toned her to get this gorgeous dimensional silver.

What's the process?

Again, this is completely individual. It largely depends on what your natural growth pattern looks like. For example, some women are 100% grey through their temples and front hairline, but underneath they're still only 25% grey. Others are an equal distribution of grey throughout their head. Whatever your grey pattern is, the goal is to try to mimic it as much as possible so that your regrowth doesn't look obvious.

How much does it cost?

Again on this guest I used a color remover first to get a lot of that old color out. I then did both highlights and lowlights to mimic her natural growth pattern as much as possible and followed with a toner.

Ah, the dreaded price question. The prices I quote below will vary based on your location and your stylist's experience level, but I'll give you an idea for what I charge for these grey overhauls. When I first consult with my grey blending guests I tell them to give their process a thousand dollar budget to get it to perfection. For the majority of my clients who go this route, it's a little less than this, but I always shoot high with the number because I want to make sure I do it right. Then we discuss how quickly the client wants this process to happen. You can absolutely spend the day with me in the salon and do all thousand dollars in one swoop, OR you can spread it out in as many appointments as you need to to fit the thousand dollars into your monthly budget. I do recommend getting your appointments fairly close together, however (about a month apart max). This way your transition is seamless and your total cost will stay on the lower side of things.

After just two sessions this beautiful lady got her natural color, and it's amazing! Her full transformation video is up on my Instagram @hairrebelbaltimore and it's worth the watch!

OMG! I'm sold. Where do I sign up?!?!

I know, right? Imagine never having to color your hair again!! It's pretty freaking awesome. The first step is to have a consultation with your stylist so that you two can be on the same page and have a solid game plan. If you'd like me to be the one to do your grey transition, I'd love to!! Click here to submit your request. I have clients that come to me for this service from all over the US and I'm so happy to help them look their best! All of the images above are of my own clients! Regardless, whether you hop in the car and head to Baltimore or stick with someone in your own town, just make sure you are completely open and honest with your stylist about your goals. And if that stylist tells you that you have to just "grow it out" call me (wink, wink).

Happy grey hair dreams my loves! And PS- if this blog post inspires you to go grey send me your pics!! I want to see how amazing you look with your new found hair freedom!