"When you've gone lighter and lighter to camouflage your silver roots, so that you're almost white, that's a sign," says Nitz. "If you're going so light with your hair color that it only slightly differs from what's growing in, it makes sense to stop coloring."
In the end, it's about the way you feel about yourself inside and out! Some women choose to put down the dye bottle at 30 and others continue well into their nineties. It's a matter of preference and a choice only you can make.
And your hair might feel healthier
While hair dyes and techniques have come a long way since their follicle-frying beginnings, they do still leave some damage. Taking a hiatus from color will help your hair return to its previous state--especially as dyed ends get chopped off.
Allergic Reactions
If a client experiences an allergic reaction to hair dye, it's crucial to advise them to stop coloring their hair immediately. You can suggest alternative methods to achieve their desired look, such as using hair accessories or trying out wigs and extensions.
Give Your Hair a Gloss
"The best way to grow out your natural color, especially coming from a highlight or balayage look, is to have your colorist gloss your hair back to the natural level of the roots to allow the natural root to blend as it grows," says IGK Hair Care founder Chase Kusero.
“The best way to start the process is to partner with your stylist and ask about adding lowlights to your hair or using a toner with more depth,” Stenson says. “This is also a great time to talk to your stylist about ways to soften the “line” and continue the grow-out a little more subtly.”
If you're confident you don't like the color you can reverse that process, washing the color you don't love within 48 hours in order to start the fading. “All things that have color eventually fade, from paint on a wall, to the dye on your clothing, so the color on your hair will fade as well,” Shelley continues.
“Tell your colorist in a calm way that you are unhappy with how the look turned out, and he or she will be understanding,” Hazan says. Try to explain exactly what you don't like about the color. Is it too dark all over? Is the tone of the color too warm or too cool?
How often should I touch up grays? If you're dealing with a lot of gray hair, you should touch up every four to six weeks. If that sounds expensive—and time-consuming—that's where at-home coloring is key.
Lighter hair color makes you look younger – but the tone you go for is paramount. If your skin has warm undertones, stay away from cool, ashy tones, and add some warmth to your look with golden highlights. Go for shades like honey to give your complexion a healthy, youthful glow!
Your scalp health will improve.
"Letting your hair go gray is an effective way to avoid exposing your scalp to toxic ingredients of hair dyes," says Monica Davis, a professional hairstylist and founder of Hair Scream. Instead, your scalp will be calm and free of any rouge dye stains.
Typically, white people start going gray in their mid-30s, Asians in their late 30s, and Blacks in their mid-40s. Half of all people have a significant amount of gray hair by the time they turn 50.
I would argue that those of us with olive or yellow toned skin might want to consider colouring their hair, as grey is a cool shade and doesn't always look great with warmer skin tones. If you have very fine or thinning hair then going grey can make hair look sparser. Adding some colour will give the illusion of bulk.
Many hair dyes can damage both the inner and outer parts of the hair shaft. Both natural and synthetic dyes may weaken hair, but permanent dyes may cause more damage as they penetrate deeper into the hair shaft.
The reason your hair feels silky soft after a visit to the salon isn't pure coincidence; it's because hairdressers are carefully trained to wash and condition hair using a tried-and-tested regime.
Box Dyes Are Progressive Hair Dyes
This means that with each use of a box dye, the color continues to deposit onto the hair strand, which can cause brittleness, damage and breakage. As a result, hairdressers dislike these types of dyes as it causes difficulty when trying to achieve desired results.
Semi-permanent hair color is "deposit only,” which means that it won't chemically change the hair shaft and it contains no ammonia or peroxide.
When you dye your hair it lifts the cuticle, altering the hair in a way that will never completely revert back to it's natural virgin state. However, the hair that grows from your scalp will grow out normally so only the hair that has been dyed is affected.
Permanent hair dye typically lasts for between four to eight weeks before it grows out or fades (more on that below).
Blonds get white hair just like brunets, but some blondes only appear to get a lighter blond while others experience their blonde hairs getting darker and duller as the white hairs begin to appear. Still, blondes can, over time, have a full head of white hair.
Neutral shades like soft blonde, mushroom brown, light copper, and caramel blonde balayage are the easiest to blend gray into (and maintain over time without wanting to shave your hair off).