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How to transition to gray hair?

I want to go gray. How to transition to gray hair as painlessly as possible?

Gray hair is not just normal, it is beautiful – in the past few years, it has been reestimated in the beauty world. Transitioning to gray hair, dyeing your hair ash gray, platinum, and cool blonde has become trendy. Going gray is a perfect way to get out of the endless cycle of dyeing, bleaching, and fighting against aging. Nowadays you can let yourself feel confident about your natural appearance and even be on-trend wearing your beautiful natural hair color.

For years I believed my grey hair was one of my flaws. I’m happy to say that is not part of my self belief anymore. I’ve been dye free for over 14 months and my confidence in this journey grows stronger every day. @polished_grey

There are many ways to perform the gray hair transition, and each of them is special and interesting. Gray hair can be dyed in many different colors and shades. But what if you decide to come back to your natural gray color?

I considered letting my gray hair grow out for years before I finally got up the nerve to do it. I am so thankful I did. Such freedom in not having to color my hair anymore. And I personally feel that I look so much wiser now. @staceygabbard

Read on to find your newest hairstyle!

1. Best Ways to Transition to Natural Gray Hair. First of all, you need to remember that growing out your natural hair color is not a fast process. And the better this “process” is planned, the easier it will be to survive the rejection of your regular hair appointments. So, let’s check out the most popular and effective techniques and recommendations that will answer the question of how to grow out gray hair that is colored!

I want to go gray. How to transition to gray hair as painlessly as possible?

Gray hair is not just normal, it is beautiful – in the past few years, it has been reestimated in the beauty world. Transitioning to gray hair, dyeing your hair ash gray, platinum, and cool blonde has become trendy. Going gray is a perfect way to get out of the endless cycle of dyeing, bleaching, and fighting against aging. Nowadays you can let yourself feel confident about your natural appearance and even be on-trend wearing your beautiful natural hair color.

For years I believed my grey hair was one of my flaws. I’m happy to say that is not part of my self belief anymore. I’ve been dye free for over 14 months and my confidence in this journey grows stronger every day. @polished_grey

There are many ways to perform the gray hair transition, and each of them is special and interesting. Gray hair can be dyed in many different colors and shades. But what if you decide to come back to your natural gray color?

I considered letting my gray hair grow out for years before I finally got up the nerve to do it. I am so thankful I did. Such freedom in not having to color my hair anymore. And I personally feel that I look so much wiser now. @staceygabbard

Read on to find your newest hairstyle!

1. Best Ways to Transition to Natural Gray Hair. First of all, you need to remember that growing out your natural hair color is not a fast process. And the better this “process” is planned, the easier it will be to survive the rejection of your regular hair appointments. So, let’s check out the most popular and effective techniques and recommendations that will answer the question of how to grow out gray hair that is colored!

2. Gray Bronde Hair with Highlights and Lowlights. Multitone color schemes always work fine for adding depth, which is especially beneficial for thinning hair. And, if you are a natural brunette or your hair is dyed brown, a mix of highlights and lowlights is perfect camouflage for your graying.

3. Mushroom Gray Hair Color with Blonde Strips. Shifting from brown to ash gray would be a quite prosaic choice for your hair transition, while this deep taupe shade is far more exquisite and beautifully accentuated.

4. Mixed Ash Gray Highlights. Graying of hair is an amazing chance to create a style with mixed hues. The deep brown lowlights, silver, and ash gray hair highlights deliver a beautiful combo that ladies of all ages would envy.

5. Gray Ribbons and Lowlights. Natural gray hair color doesn’t always spread evenly, but today ladies know how to turn it to their advantage! Look how beautifully the gray strands merge with the dark locks and create a unique style.

6. Gray Brown Layered Cut. Layers are extremely helpful if you want to make a transition to gray hair as smooth as possible. The texture will enable the hues to blend seamlessly, even when it comes to brown and gray shades.

7. Brunette Hair Turning Gray. Here is an example to prove that natural gray hair looks hot and attractive! Leaving the gray color as it is can be a wise decision if you want to stay away from hair damage.

8. Champagne Blonde and Gray Hair. Looking at the going gray before and after pictures is a great inspiration for your own transformation. For instance, this stunning champagne blonde and silver hair color mix is a beautiful example to follow!

9. Dishwater Blonde with Silver Sprinkle. These handsomely feathered locks give us a nice example of transitioning to gray hair with highlights inserted into a light brown base and sprinkled with silver.

10. Best Hair Colors for Transitioning. Today, there is a huge assortment of dyes that allow women to transition to gray gracefully and stylishly: platinum, ash, metallic blonde, and more. First, you need to decide on the desired tone – ‘cause a gray hair dye can sometimes give silver hair a light purple or dark gray shade, and those tints can remain in the hair for several weeks.

11. Salt and Pepper Hair. When gray hair appears uneven and gray strands mix with darker ones you get the so-called “salt-and-pepper” effect. You can also use highlights and lowlights to achieve a similar natural look. Try tinted balms and the technique of gray blending for hair that will allow you to try on a new style without causing much damage to the hair.

12. Platinum Highlights. Natural white hair may seem too bright to some ladies. We suggest a softer transition with platinum highlights and lowlights. This way, you will create a dimensional style with smooth gradients.

13. Gray Blending for Dark Hair. If you want a textured and classy style, try the transition to gray hair with highlights. Ask your stylist to mix various dark and light shades to blend the natural gray in as evenly as possible.

14. Silver Balayage Transition to Gray Hair. This seamless balayage keeps the base brown color close to natural for hassle-free grow-out yet gets the silver intensified toward the front to create an illuminating face frame.

15. Champaign Blonde with Blended Grays. The rule of thumb for ladies striving to wear gray hair without looking old is that they should steer clear of harsh colors. If you have a light brown or blonde base, opt for a classy blend of warm and cool shades with rosy undertones.

16. Graying Hair with Contrasting Highlights and Lowlights. A creative transition to gray hair with highlights and lowlights is another great way to go: this ashy style gains contrast and depth thanks to silver strands peeking out of the darker waves.

17. Ash Gray and Pearl Blonde. This color combo is not as obvious as the classic black and gray hair blend, which is great! Merge the two rarest hues of ashy gray and pearl blonde for a romantic and gentle appearance.

18. Chunky Silver Highlights. Silver hair is something many ladies wish to achieve, no matter the age. This trending hue will look lovely in chunky highlights combined with shadow roots. Wait no longer and give this styling a try!

19. Dark Gray Hair Color with Silvery Shine. This long layered hairstyle is generously interspersed with super-fine beige and silver babylights to give a smokey feel and soft shimmer to the brunette locks.

20. Dimensional Smoky Gray Waves. Apart from being masterfully debulked with long shaggy layers, this head of smoky hair is made even lighter on the bottom with a more lavish portion of platinum added to the scheme.

21. Beautiful Salt-and-Pepper Balayage. Whether you have already arrived at a salt & pepper combo or your brown to silver journey is underway, you should definitely consider adding such a stunning balayage to your final look.

22. Neutral Blonde to Ash Gray Transition. When transitioning to gray hair with highlights, think of the effect you want to achieve at the end of the day: if your aim to dial down your grays, cool-tone blondes will work better than bright silver.

23. Elegant Transition to Gray Hair with Lowlights. Although going darker to camouflage grayness may seem counterintuitive, this hair transformation proves that spicing white hair with pepper adds more dimension and equals an elegant look.

24. Dark Gray Hair. Lowlights for gray hair are a lucky find for those ladies who wish to achieve a dark charcoal hair color. Your light gray and silver strands will contrast with the lowlights while looking natural and extremely appealing.

25. Stylish Layers and Highlights. Don’t fight the graying of your locks – tame it. Layers and intermittent highlights are the best friends of stubborn gray hair. A stylish and memorable look is guaranteed!

26. Illuminated Black and Gray Hair. If you prefer to emphasize your grays instead of hiding them, gray blending for dark hair through the infusion of icy blonde will do the job.

27. Rooty Pearl Blonde with Metallic Sheen. This pearlescent gray blonde is a shiny and sophisticated color that comes with plenty of neutral and cool tones and, thus, adopts natural grayness effortlessly.

28. Streaky Gray Brown Bronde. You can rest 100 percent assured that telltale gray strands won’t be visible in such a mass of dark and light, beige and silver streaks, which also infuse the hair with dimension and movement.

29. Muted Balayage Transition to Gray Hair. Luckily for us, today’s hair color trends don’t center around block coverage, so you can rock low-maintenance hairstyles where honey and beige shades are interspersed with silver.

Beige Blonde and Silver Balayage
By Jess

30. Youthful Gray Hairstyle. Will you look older with natural gray hair? Oddly enough, but gray hair can add youthfulness (especially with proper accessories and makeup): hair isn’t damaged by dyes anymore and it becomes healthier and thicker!

31. Platinum Blonde with Depth. Since the best hair color for gray hair should not only blend with your silver really well but also provide easy maintenance, shadow roots complementing a bright blonde can tick all the boxes.

32. Gray Pixie Haircuts. Before the pixie cut, try to refrain as long as possible from hair dyeing. Hair grows out to 1.5 cm per month, thus, after a few months, you will have a complete gray hairstyle and a new exciting look. The bold and sexy feathered hairstyle looks so natural and relaxed. Add shaggy wavy bangs. You’ll love this feminine, flirty look.

33. Brown and Gray Curly Hair. For some women, removing hair color to go gray is a challenge. However, others make the transition from dyed hair look beautiful. Curls are your best friends in showing off a gorgeous blend of colors.

34. Creamy Balayage Transition to Gray Hair. This soft color palette is made by blending warm and cool tones to land a gray-friendly hairstyle illuminating the face with lighter and glossier money pieces.

Transition to Gray with Warm and Cool Balayage
By Lisa

35. Sandy Blonde Gray Blending. If you want to stick to the blonde side of balayage, opt for a sandy shade like this, as it consists of creamy blonde and beige shades merciful to graying.

36. Transition to Gray Hair with Highlights. If you can’t stand waiting and worrying about how your grown-out roots look, you can ask your hairstylist to blend your gray hair with highlights. This way, you will be able to make this transition little by little. And no one will notice any striking changes in your appearance.

37. Gray Hair with Highlights. Blending gray hair with highlights and lowlights is a concept that has already proven its efficacy. If you opt for it, your new hair color will vary depending on your natural color, taking that obvious grayness away and bringing a sophisticated look.

38. Brown Gray Hair Color. The contrasting combination of brown and silver is an extremely beautiful way to show the world your new gray hair. Visit a beauty salon to achieve this gorgeous ribbon effect.

39. Bright Silver Hair with Lowlights. The transition to gray hair with lowlights is a fun ride. As your natural gray grows, you will see it blend in. Besides, you can easily freshen up your look by adjusting the proportion of darker and lighter tones.

40. Long-Haired Brunette Transitioning to Gray Hair. This girl smartly enhances her first gray hair and embraces a gorgeous multi-tonal color scheme that lands a current look and fills her brunette mane with smoke.

41. Subtle Platinum Ash Gray. This incredible balayage hair color is achieved by mixing ash gray, silver, and platinum hues. Not only is it unusual and eye-catching, but it also adds this smooth sheen to the brown hair underneath.

42. Soft Transition to Gray Hair with Highlights. We all know that less is more, and this layered lob is a great case in point, showing that delicate blonde highlights can safely hide graying while creating a dreamy look.

43. Edgy Take on Salt and Pepper Hair. While the salt and pepper color scheme is a favorite among ladies going gray, there is always a chance to upgrade the look, for example, by adding some purple tones to the formula.

44. Transition to Gray Hair with Lowlights. Lowlights will help to soften the transition to gray. They require little maintenance in the future – the only trick is to add lowlights that would pair well with your natural hair color.

45. Soft Gray Balayage. Growing out gray hair may be annoying, especially if it has a strong contrast with your dyed hair. Luckily, current transitioning hairstyles can help you to fall in love with your reflection in the mirror.

46. Shimmering Greige Balayage. Swap your gray hair dye for this stunning mix of beige, gray, and silver shades, which infuses the hair with a play of light and shadow and lets you embrace your newly grown white strands breezily.

47. Dimensional Multi-Tone Balayage. Ladies growing out gray hair should steal this striped look full of silver, hazel, and charcoal shades that lets them incorporate any amount of gray seamlessly.

48. Ash Blonde Hair Blend. Instead of spreading one color all over the head, this artistic job delivers depth and ensures a smoother transition by including barely-there lowlights into the blonde hair.

49. Light Brown to Champaign Blonde Melt. Babylights allow you to enjoy smoother transitions, which is perfectly illustrated by this iridescent hair with peach and ashy undertones popping here and there.

50. Contrasting Curly Gray Hair. Check a new salt-and-pepper option. It boasts dimension and an amazing metallic sheen. Mix silver with dark hair. This beautiful combination really has the power to make people stop and stare.

If you’ve been thinking about going gray for a long time, just leave your uncertainty behind and embrace your naturally gray hair. Cause gray is the new black!

Check out all articles about gray haircuts and hairstyles.

by Donna Sullivan
Donna is a hairstylist with 8 years of experience. Ask her about any hair-related problem (haircuts, hairstyles, colorings, hair care) and get a pro advice!
Comments
  • Barbara
    Reply

    Hello. I have decided to no longer color my hair. I was wondering if the treatment known as balayage would be useful technique to help make this transition a little less “painful”.

    • Rachel
      Reply

      I would go with lowlights as they are much less damaging because they only deposit color instead of stripping your hair of it. It is also way, way less maintenance. Plus the darker base of lowlights easily blends with your natural gray and allows for a smoother transition.

      • Lori Simpson
        Reply

        I have long hair 2 inches below shoulder and the top is now white and the bottom 8 inches dark brown I would like to color it grey what and how do i do it without spending a lotof money

        • Esther Laks
          Reply

          I am going gray, but I would like some curls. Should I take a perm?

          • Vernie
            Reply

            My hair is naturally ethnic type hair.I have been growing an afro now but feel its too young for me.What style should I wear with my hairtype

        • fred
          Reply

          own it and call it an ombre effect !

          • deej
            Reply

            I call it OM-Gray 😉

          • Lisa
            Reply

            Yes! I Love That!!

          • Tammy
            Reply

            😁… Love this!

        • Cat Watson
          Reply

          I am in the same boat🤔
          I was reading about highlights. I’m trying to figure it out.

        • Margaret
          Reply

          Going grey on top of dyed dark blonde wish grey all over

  • Mae Locantore
    Reply

    I have short hair and about 1 & 1/2 inch grey but the rest of hair is dark brown I would like a salt & pepper look

    • Pat
      Reply

      Short hair want to go to a salt and pepper

      • JOAN
        Reply

        go grey

  • Sherry
    Reply

    I want short pixie cut. W salt and pepper color, I have some blonde highlights now

  • Jaygee
    Reply

    Have your beautiful hair styled! Seek out a specialist(not average) salon who will treat your crowning glory with the love and respect it deserves.

  • Karen
    Reply

    I’ve decided not to colour my hair and go grey 5 months now whats the best highlight to blend in my colour is already a light brown

  • Lory
    Reply

    I’m letting my gray win after many years of coloring. it’s very hard to just let go, and I’m having my hair dresser help. Does it defeat the purpose when you add dark gray for dimensions?

  • Lin
    Reply

    Been dyeing my hair dark forever. Want to go gray gradually. BUT my problem is ….my hair is very fine and thin on top. So how can I do that and hide my skin on top. To make it look like I have some hair on top???

  • Carmen Rivera
    Reply

    I want to go grey hair but my hair is thinning and can see the scalp do you think it be okay

    • Deb
      Reply

      I’ve got the same issue, but I feel like the dye is making my hair thinner, so if anything, it will help to not do it every month. Maybe with some hair growth supplements, more will grow in. Good luck to you!