Transition to grey hair naturally

Like most things in life, going grey is a gradual process. It starts with a few silver strands peeking out from your natural or dyed hair colour, often increasing in number over time. When more of your hair starts growing in grey, you may start to notice a demarcation line in larger sections where the colour stopped and the grey started. As this occurs, you have options: covering it with salon or home hair dye or embracing the natural grey hue.

In the case of cosmetics, chemistry and sustainability expert Dr Birnur Aral, she did a little bit of both. "I had an unrelated allergic reaction that made my lips swell up for a few weeks, so I skipped my monthly hair colour visit in order to give my body a break," explains Aral, who had been colouring her hair since her late 20s to cover up greys. "My roots grew about an inch, and I started noticing the salt-and-pepper pattern of my natural hair and toying with the idea of going grey."

There's no hard-and-fast rule about when (or if!) you should stop colouring your hair and go grey; it's ultimately a personal choice. Here are the tips you need to know about the stages of going grey.

First, let your roots grow in a bit

Even if you feel ready to go grey, you may have to wait before you begin the process. "I tell people to get at least two inches of grey growth to begin with," says celebrity hair colouring specialist Nikki Ferrara.

Be patient with the process.

If you've never lightened your hair before, you could find yourself in the salon for an unexpected length of time during the grey transitioning colouring process. "I spent a total of seven hours in the salon and really saw how intensive the process was," Aral explains.

Aside from the time investment of a salon session, there's how long it takes to fully transition to grey hair, which is anywhere from six months to a year, Ferrara says. "Some people won't have the patience, so they choose to colour their hair again," she notes. "But it's super-rewarding if you can stick it out."

Option 1: Try weaving in highlights or lowlights.

Streaks of strategic colour help meld your existing shade with the growing in grey. "To match the salt-and-pepper look of my roots, the colourist added baby highlights [thin, subtle highlights] all over my head," Aral says. "Toward the end of the lifting process, the colourist applied dark brown hair colour to the remaining hair to create an all-over salt-and-pepper effect," says Aral; this process is referred to as adding lowlights, which are darker ribbons of colour, woven in to blend. Depending on the colour you're transitioning away from (lighter brown, red, blonde, black) your experience may be different.

Option 2: Consider removing old hair dye from natural grey strands.

You can remove dyed hair colour to go fully grey. "Removing hair colour can be done at home or in a salon by using hair stripping products that work by opening the cuticles [hair's outer layer] and breaking down dye molecules inside the cortex so they can be rinsed out," she explains. "Since hair stripping products interact with dyes only, the natural pigments in hair stay intact, allowing your grey colour to appear." (Note that "returning to a natural grey colour is not possible if your hair was bleached and its pigments lightened," says chemist Sabina Wizemann.

Option 3: Dye hair fully grey.

An at-home option for making the switch to full natural silver is dyeing hair grey. "There is now at-home hair colour available in silver and grey shades that can dye pigmented hair grey and make the transition faster and easier," says Wizemann.

Option 4: Let hair go grey naturally.

If you decide to grow out your greys without additional salon or at-home hair colour, Aral suggests covering up the new growth with a root touch-up product. "Depending on the person's grey level and hair colour, they might be able to blend in [their] roots for five to six weeks, or longer," she says.

From there, Aral recommends considering a shorter haircut and getting regular trims until it grows out. Keep in mind, though, that using any hair dye that's not temporary will set back your growing out phase, so avoid all-over permanent and demi or semi-permanent hair colour.

Adjust your haircare maintenance accordingly.

As with going platinum or any cooler blonde shade, you may find that the grey "highlights" get a little brassy. "The highlighted parts turn a bit yellow once the grey toner starts washing out," Aral said. Your hairdresser may recommend coming in for more toner or glosses during the course of your transition to counteract yellowing. "Usually, you will have to get a gloss every once in a while to keep the brassiness at bay," Ferrara says. You can try an at-home toning hair gloss or glaze to keep your grey a gorgeous silver shade between salon visits.

You may also have to adapt your shampooing and conditioning routine: "My grey is a bit wirier, so I now use more conditioner than I'm used to and a purple shampoo/conditioner duo once a week to brighten it up," Wizemann says. "I also use more styling products to keep my hair in place." There are shampoos designed specifically for grey, white or silver hair you can use to keep hair vibrant, and you can consider adding in a hydrating, deep conditioning hair mask to keep coarse greys soft and shiny.

Not sure how to style your grey locks? Learn how to make your hair look gorgeous.