“My blonde hair turned grey!” If you’ve been dreaming of perfect blonde hair after bleaching, this is one thing you would never want to experience.
Unfortunately, blonde hair absorbs different pigments easily, so this is not something unexpected. But where did those grey tones come from? And most importantly, is there a way to fix them?
Check out our guide for the 4 reasons why your blonde hair turned grey and how you can fix it.
Why Blonde Hair Turned Grey?
There are 4 key reasons why blonde hair turns grey:
Reason 1: Toning After Bleaching
If you had your hair colored at a salon, they would usually apply a purple toner to neutralize the yellow and orange tones that might appear later on. Unfortunately, toning gone wrong may lead to ashy streaks on your blonde hair.
The good news is these grey streaks will fade after 4 washes.
Solution: But if you want to speed up the fading process, the best thing to do is wash your hair more often—daily instead of every other day.
Reason 2: Application of The Wrong Hair Dye Shade
If you want perfect blonde hair, don’t use an ashy dye as it will produce ashy grey undertones on blonde hair.
Solution: To get rid of the ashy undertones, you’d need to re-dye your hair with the right color. For this, a gold or copper-colored hair dye is highly recommended as it can neutralize not just the grey but also the green and blue tones in your hair.
Make sure to wait for at least two weeks before you re-dye your hair to ensure that all the unwanted pigments have been completely washed off.
Reason 3: Use of An Ashy Toner
Ashy toners can help you bring out the beautiful ash-blonde shade in your hair. But, unfortunately, it can sometimes become too ashy so that you might have a smoky color instead of a blonde one.
If you used a grey toner, it would most likely fade after 4 to 5 washes, so you just need to wait.
Solution: If the grey color remains after those number of washes, you may need to bleach your hair again. This time, using a 10-volume developer. Here are the steps you need to take:
- Mix the 10-volume developer and a small amount of your shampoo in a plastic container.
- Apply this to your hair like your shampoo and let it sit for about 5 minutes.
- Rinse it thoroughly.
- Repeat at least once weekly until the grey streaks are completely gone.
Reason 4: Use of Wrong Toning Shampoo
Toning shampoos contain pigments; when your hair is blonde, it can easily absorb them from your toning shampoo.
If you’re using toning shampoo and your blonde hair turns grey, it’s most likely due to the shampoo’s grey undertones.
Solution: To get rid of the grey undertones, stop using the toning shampoo right away. Replace it with keratin shampoo, and your hair’s blonde color will be restored after 2 to 3 washes.
Alternative Solutions to Fixing Grey Tones After Bleaching
Sometimes your hair will turn grey after dyeing blonde, even if you didn’t commit any of the abovementioned mistakes. If this is your case, you can fix the grey tones in your hair using any of these products:
Clarifying Shampoo
This hair product is formulated for deep cleansing as it can remove residues and product buildup. Because of its strong cleansing power can also remove hair color pigments like the grey streaks in your hair.
Use this only once a week as it may cause hair dryness.
Anti-dandruff Shampoo
If you don’t have to clarify shampoo, you can use an extra-strength anti-dandruff shampoo. Since this contains almost the same ingredients as a clarifying shampoo, it’s also effective in removing the grey tones from your blonde hair.
The Bottom Line
If your blonde hair turned grey, here are common reasons and their solution in short.
| Reason | Solution |
|---|---|
| Toning After Bleaching: Incorrect application of a purple toner after bleaching can result in ashy streaks on blonde hair. | Wash your hair more frequently to speed up the fading process of the grey streaks, typically gone after 4 washes. |
| Application of The Wrong Hair Dye Shade: Using an ashy dye can produce grey undertones on blonde hair. | Re-dye your hair with a gold or copper-colored hair dye to neutralize the grey undertones. Make sure to wait at least two weeks before re-dyeing. |
| Use of An Ashy Toner: An ashy toner can sometimes result in a smoky color instead of a blonde one. | If the grey color persists after 4 to 5 washes, bleach your hair again using a 10-volume developer. Mix the developer with a small amount of shampoo, apply it to your hair, and rinse after 5 minutes. Repeat once weekly until the grey streaks are gone. |
| Use of Wrong Toning Shampoo: Toning shampoos can cause blonde hair to turn grey due to their grey undertones. | Stop using the toning shampoo and switch to a keratin shampoo. The blonde color should restore after 2 to 3 washes. |
Lucky for you, these issues can be easily fixed simply by washing your hair, stopping toning shampoo, re-bleaching, or re-dyeing your hair. You can easily do all these by following the tips and steps above.