Vinegar can help lighten and refine hair color when applied to gray hair. Gray hair normally looks brassy because of its light tint, which shows stains and poor hair health easily. ACV can help remove the stains and improve the health of your hair, making it look brighter and healthier.
Another option is to mix a bit of apple cider vinegar into a dollop of shampoo. This clears build up from environmental toxins and hair products. It also seals the hair cuticle, making your grays silky, shiny and frizz-free.
Vinegar Rinse to Whiten Gray Hair
Mix one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar with one gallon of water. After shampooing your hair, rinse your hair using the vinegar and apple cider mixture. Work it through your hair and rinse well with clean water. Condition with a conditioner that is white and style as usual.
Apple cider vinegar is an acid, which means it can help to lighten and refine the colour. As grey or white hair has little or no pigment, its colour can be easily impacted by pigments in the environment, such as the shampoo or conditioner you use. However, apple cider vinegar can help to neutralise these tones.
When it comes to hair care, baking soda can function as a clarifying agent that penetrates the hair shaft, removing dirt, oil, and product buildup. As a result, gray hair becomes brighter, smoother, and less brassy.
Can I leave white vinegar in my hair overnight? You can leave the vinegar in your hair overnight. But you can wash it off with warm water if your scalp feels itchy.
Many people use vinegar as a scalp cleanser, but it can also remove hair dye, so use caution if that's not your intent. If it is, you can mix white vinegar with warm water and apply it to your hair to remove hair color. Allow it to sit for ten to fifteen minutes, then rinse.
Risks of Vinegar on Colored Hair
“Using vinegar alone can strip your hair color and leave a scent behind,” says Anderson. The trick to getting that bright, prolonged color and the other added perks of ACV is to use it in a diluted solution.
Gray or white hair, which contains little or no pigment, sometimes gets yellow because it picks up pigments from the environment; for example, if you use a yellowish shampoo or conditioner, rather than a clear one, a trace of the color might be deposited on your hair.
The best way to care for naturally grey hair is to use a specialised grey hair shampoo and conditioner, like our new Shimmering Silver Shampoo and Conditioner. This range, formulated with naturally grey hair in mind, smoothes and moisturises to transform dull, wiry strands into soft, shining grey locks.
Allow the vinegar mixture to sit for two to five minutes. Rinse your hair and scalp with cool water. Follow this rinse with a light conditioner, nothing that will weigh down your hair. Rinse your hair well, until you're sure all product (and vinegar) is down the drain.
Be sure to dilute the ACV, and because of its high acidity, avoid leaving it on your hair for too long. To ensure proper hydration and to strengthen hair, try pairing it with a weekly deep conditioning treatment.
"I recommend shampooing first and then saturating the hair with ACV." Once you massage the solution into the scalp, let it sit for three to five minutes before rinsing and conditioning as normal.
“Eumelanin production increases as we age, and as we age we tend to go grey. Therefore hair may get darker before the greys take over,” she explains.
Baking soda has a pH of 9, which is far higher than that of the scalp. Using a product with such a high pH may harm the hair. Over time, baking soda can strip the natural oil from the hair, lead to breakage, and make the hair fragile.
Does purple shampoo work on gray hair? The short answer to this is yes – purple shampoo does work on gray hair. Gray hair can actually turn brassier and yellow more quickly than blonde hair because it clings onto particles found in the air that cause that unwanted discoloration.