At first, it’s just one or two, but then…there’s another one and oh no… another! Before you know it, your beautiful head of dark brown or black hair is falling victim to gray hairs! Don’t worry dear brunette, here are six of the best ways to cover gray on dark hair and one thing not to do.
How to Hide Gray on Dark Hair
Luckily, there are a variety of ways to hide gray hair with dye or naturally:
Tinting Sprays
Tinted touch-up sprays are a great way to go if you want to temporarily hide gray roots and gain a little time between full coloring sessions.
A nice thing about root touch-up sprays is that they come in a wide variety of colors, so you’ll be able to find the one that does the best job of covering the gray on your dark hair.
Hair Makeup Sticks
Think of a water-resistant, non-smudge brown or black foundation in the shape of a lipstick, and then you’ll get the idea of what hair makeup is.
Hair makeup isn’t the best way to cover gray on dark hair, but it’s certainly convenient for quick touch-ups when you’re out and about. Just toss one in your purse, and when you spot a stray gray, apply a little hair makeup. It couldn’t be easier!
Temporary Hair Rinses
Temporary color rinse products are “demi-permanent” hair colorants that do a fantastic job of hiding gray on dark hair. They’re easy to apply, and they don’t do any damage to the hair because they don’t penetrate the hair shaft.
Products like Fanci-full Rinse Chocolate Kiss #12 by Roux are a popular choice for brunettes, but check out their full range of colors to see what other shades you might like.
Color rinses are usually applied to wet hair, but for a quick splash of coverage, you can also comb them into hair that’s already dry. When used according to the product instructions, demi-permanent colors are meant to last through 24 washes, after which you will have your original color back. They fade slowly.
Color-Depositing Shampoos
Color-depositing shampoo is just what it sounds like: it’s a tinted shampoo that leaves some extra pigment on your already-colored hair. The temporary colorant in these hair cleaners is not as powerful as what you’ll find in hair dyes.
Still, most formulas are sufficient to minimize fading, refresh highlights, and revive dull and muted colors. To help hide gray on dark hair or highlights, use a blue-tinted shampoo.
There are purple-tinted shampoos for those with blonde hair, black and browns for those hair colors and even red to keep your ginger color fresh. All these can help mask gray hairs.
Mascara
Desperate times call for drastic measures. If you’re really in a pinch and need an on-the-fly solution to cover gray on dark hair, then try a little mascara.
Be careful though, mascara, even the water-resistant kind, can stain, so remember not to touch it after you’ve applied it. Nothing more embarrassing than brown smudges on your fingers and forehead!
There are mascaras that are made just for hair, too. Sometimes they use flamboyant colors, but they also have muted colors that can hide your grays.
Camouflage Techniques
If you want to cover the gray on your dark hair but you don’t want to use a coloring product, you can also consider these even less invasive camouflage options:
Change your part
Gray hairs like to hang out in the most noticeable spots. So they usually are located right on the hairline and on your part. You can defeat those gray hairs by changing your part to another area of your head where they’re not yet as noticeable.
You’ll see gray roots grow back at the front, of course. Gray hairs on the hairline are sometimes the most resistant to color, but there are ways to hide them.
If you have gray hair peeking out around your head, put on a headband. If your headband doesn’t fit the area exactly as you want it to, use it as a scarf.
Now when you want to rock that top knot or messy bun, then you can wear it with the rest of your hair that’s outside of the scarf.
Pull your hair up
If your gray hairs appear randomly on the top of the head, making a high bun or topknot can help hide them. Try different hairstyles to see what looks good on you.
Add volume
If you usually wear a sleek ponytail, you can rest assured that people will notice your gray hairs easily. The flatness makes gray hair more visible. If you don’t like pulling your hair up to cover gray hairs, create volume at the roots to help mask them.
Of course, you can tease it, but that’s the old way. Curl your hair at the roots to add more body and volume. If your hair is moving in different directions, the gray hairs are less noticeable.
But Never Do This to Get Rid of Grays!
The one thing you should never do to hide your gray hair is to pluck them. Plucking hair continuously can damage the hair follicle, leading to infection or even hair loss where you don’t want it.
If you don’t have that many gray strands, it’s better to cut them out carefully as you notice them instead of plucking.
FAQs
You can use one of the coloring methods above, but a strange thing about gray hair is that the more your color it, the more gray hair appear.
You can use a headband or scarf to cover the gray roots that appear on your hairline. If you pull the rest up, it will cover itself.
It’s best to go lighter than your natural shade to cover gray hair, otherwise, the hair color looks false.
Try adding highlights to your hair to blend gray roots with the rest of your hair.
You would need to bleach your hair first. It will take several sessions to lighten black hair successfully all the way to white. After that, you can add silver dye.
Use a headband and tie your hair up.
Coffee is a natural method to cover gray hair. You can leave black coffee in your hair for about twenty minutes to color it. The color will last about a week.
Use highlights to camouflage your gray.
You can also use highlights to transition from dyed hair to a natural gray. This is because the blonde in the highlights is of light color and helps the gray to blend in with the rest of your hair.
Highlight.
This is when you use two additional colors, silver and black, to create more pepper in a salt and pepper look. It looks sleeker than regular salt and pepper and allows your hair to stand out nicely.
Gray blending is an example of dimensional hair color. It can be done with colors besides silver and black. Three colors on one head create a multi-dimensional look for more movement.
The best way to cover gray hair is to go to a salon for semi-permanent or permanent hair color. If you wish to do it at home, choose a box of dyes that’s created specifically to color gray hair as they can be resistant.
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