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The Best Way To Cover Greys At Home

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We’ve all spotted a grey hair or two in our crowning glory, sometimes as early as in our 20s and 30s. It’s perfectly natural, and many women prefer to flaunt their silver streaks with elan. However, if you’re feeling conscious and want to get rid of grey hair, here’s a step by step guide to camouflaging them without damaging your hair.

Here are some quick grey hair remedies for your lovely locks:

1. Covering Grey Hair Is Tricky Business

Let’s be clear, covering greys requires more finesse than just slapping on some hair colour and hoping for the best. Grey hair is difficult to colour because it tends to be drier and coarser than your other hair and doesn’t soak up hair dye easily. Here are some tips to help you choose the right colour to cover your greys at home or head to the salon and let your stylist take care of your hair.

2. Making Sure Your Hair Stays Healthy

In your enthusiasm to cover your greys you mustn’t forget that hair colour contains chemical dyes that can damage hair if not used correctly. In fact, many women complain of hair loss and scalp irritation after using a hair colour. Remember to always do a patch test first before using a hair colour for the first time to make sure you are not allergic to it. If you are still worried about hair damage, it’s best to consult a hair stylist first. Typically, the chemical formula of semi-permanent hair colours is stronger than what’s used in salons, so you could start with a milder formula first.

3. How To Cover Grey Hair At Home

Though grey hair is trickier to colour, using the right product will make it a breeze, especially if you are opting for an all-over global colour that requires less technique. In fact, colouring your own grey hair can save you both time and money. Some things to keep in mind; only use permanent hair dyes like L'Oreal Paris Excellence Creme Hair Color, L'Oreal Paris Casting Creme Gloss Hair Color or BBLUNT Salon Secret High Shine Creme Hair Colour to cover greys. Semi-permanent dyes aren't very effective on grey hair.

If you’re planning to add highlights or want a complete colour makeover it’s best to leave it to salon experts. While covering greys or colouring at home, it’s best to go only two shades lighter or darker than your actual colour for best results. And always follow the directions on the box.

    4. Retouching Roots At Home

  1. Semi-Permanent Instant Touch Up

    There are home remedies for grey hair if you want to cover up your grey roots at home. We’re personally in love with Streak Street Instant Root Concealer & Hair Color Touch Up For Grey Coverage, a quick touch-up kit that masks fast-growing greys, especially around the hairline. Super easy to use, it stays in place until you shampoo your hair.

  2. Permanent Touch Up With A Mascara Wand

    If you only have a few grey hairs on your crown, you can use a toothbrush or a mascara wand like Getmecraft Makeup Eyebrow Brush & Eyelash Comb and box hair colour. Simply dip the brush into the hair color and brush into your greys. Follow the directions on the box and rinse just like you would for a full head of hair colour. This grey hair remedy is a life saver when you are running short on time.

  3. Touch Up SOS Trick

    Here’s a cheat trick! If you don’t want to open a boxed hair colour, simply dab Nykaa Oh My Brow! Eyebrow Mascara - Sirius Brown onto the greys. But this is a temporary grey hair solution because it will rinse out when you wash your hair the next time. 

    A more long-lasting option is Shahnaz Husain Hair Touch-Up Plus, a semi-permanent touch up that covers grey hair and discoloured hair roots. The formulation adheres to the hair, and doesn’t run with sweat.

5. Choosing the Right Colour For Your Greys

If you have your fair share of greys—more than half your hair is grey—then consider a lighter shade for an all-over colour. Don’t go too dark because when your hair starts growing out, the grey roots will contrast very sharply against the dark colour. We recommend shades like chocolate brown, mahogany, praline and light brown to cover grey hair. However, if you are regular with your touch ups, going for darker shades of brown is still a good choice. Meanwhile, if you have only a small sprinkling of grey hair and naturally dark hair, try and stay as close to your natural colour as possible. If you are debating which shade to go for, always opt for the lighter of the two. It’s easier to go from light to dark if you don’t like the lighter colour. Going the other way is much harder and requires chemical treatments first.

6. Hair Colors To Avoid

There are no hard and fast rules but some colours are best avoided when you’re dealing with greys. Darker, brighter hues tend to make your face look stern and older. Therefore, give burgundy red, black and very dark brown a miss. You may even choose to go with coppery red or coffee coloured highlights instead of a global colour, especially if you have fewer greys. Check out Streax Coffee Collection Ultralights Highlighting Kit. This easy-to-use, at-home hair highlighting kit gives you bold, vibrant tones on sections of hair.

7. Retouching Greys

If you have grey roots, it’s advisable to only touch them up with a permanent dye every 30-45 days. It’s a common mistake to touch up the entire length of hair while colouring roots and this can be very damaging to the hair follicle. Ideally, the length of hair should only be refreshed with a semi-permanent colour, which revives the lustre but is easier on the hair.

8. Highlights To Cover Grays

Want to know how to cover grey hair with highlights? Plenty of women have embraced their silver strands but certain skin tones can look washed out by grey hair. If you don’t want an all-out colour, you can add dimension and contrast to your mane with only highlights. This is ideal for hair that only has a small scattering of greys. But this is best left to professionals, and don’t try doing this at home. Ask your colourist for a mix of highlights and lowlights to camouflage greys. In fact, highlights and lowlights blend well with greys and you won’t need as many touch ups as you would with a global colour. We’ve tried BBLUNT Salon Secret High Shine Creme Hair Colour Honey Light Golden Brown and loved the results.

9. Using a Permanent Dye to Colour Greys

Your colourist may suggest using a semi-permanent global hair colour but professionals maintain that using a semi-permanent colour on greys can actually stain hair and not cover greys adequately. Also, as the colour washes out, your hair tends to look dull and the greys take on a yellow tint. It’s best to stick to permanent hair colours for grey coverage. If you’re worried about hair damage, opt for an ammonia-free formula like L'Oreal Paris Casting Creme Gloss Hair Color.

10. How Often Should You Touch Up?

Colouring greys requires an investment of both time and money. The frequency depends on how quickly your hair grows out and how prevalent your greys are. If you have a full head of greys, you should touch up your roots every four weeks. If you are 50 percent grey, you can stretch it out to every five weeks, and if you have 25 per cent greys you can touch up every two months.

11. Love your Greys!

Look around, more and more women—many of them in their 30s and 40s—are opting to let their hair grow grey. Many simply can’t be bothered with the maintenance touch-ups need, while others believe their greys are a constant reminder of a life well lived. Whatever the reason, it’s important to embrace your greys and treat them with the same TLC as you would a darker head of hair. Since grey hair tends to be brittle and coarser than regular strands, it’s important to use the right hair products to maintain its lustre and bounce. L'Oreal Professionnel X-Tenso Care Shampoo For Smooth, Manageable Hair is excellent for keeping your greys strong, bouncy and beautiful.

Nykaa Recommends: L'Oreal Paris Casting Creme Gloss Hair Color - 415 Iced Chocolate (80 Rs. Off), BBLUNT Salon Secret High Shine Creme Hair Colour, Streak Street Instant Root Concealer & Hair Color Touch Up For Grey Coverage, Getmecraft Makeup Eyebrow Brush & Eyelash Comb, Nykaa Oh My Brow! Eyebrow Mascara - Sirius Brown, Shahnaz Husain Hair Touch-Up Plus, Streax Coffee Collection Ultralights Highlighting Kit - Hazel Brown, BBLUNT Salon Secret High Shine Creme Hair Colour Honey Light Golden Brown, L'Oreal Paris Casting Creme Gloss Hair Color, L'Oreal Professionnel X-Tenso Care Shampoo For Smooth, Manageable Hair

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