There's no hard-and-fast rule about when (or if!) you should stop coloring your hair and go gray; it's ultimately a personal choice.
Depending on your race, the average age for first signs of graying is the mid-30s for Caucasians, late-30s for those of Asian descent, and mid-40s for African Americans. It is believed that the overall average age when human hair starts to turn gray equates to a person's early 40s.
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.
Grey Hair Can Actually Make You Look More Vibrant
If you do decide to go grey, you don't have to feel self-conscious about it – the standards of fashion are changing. We don't have to feel limited by outdated stereotypes that “grey hair = old.”
If you add the right hair colour, your 'grey' hair will act as highlights, giving you a completely new look that will get you noticed for all the right reasons. Professional colourists usually recommend a darker shade for your roots and a lighter shade that matches your natural hair for the rest.
Naturally occurring hydrogen peroxide can also build up in the hair, bleaching the color. 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.
Secondly, hair dye creates the illusion of depth and light in hair, making it look like it has more body. So when you stop coloring your hair, you may see a decrease both in actual volume, and in the appearance of body and thickness.
Quit colour cold Turkey
Get frequent trims to close the gap between your coloured hair and the natural hair coming in at the root. Hair grows at a rate of about six inches a year (1/2 inch every two months), so it could take a little time to grow out, depending on your hair length.
Many women take the arrival of grey hair as an opportunity to go lighter. Some in fact choose to go blonde. As we said before, going blonde makes grey hair that much easier to cover, as blonde hair and white hair are quite close to each other in aspect.
Generally, people start seeing grey hairs appear around their forties and fifties, but some can experience greying as early as their twenties or thirties. Unfortunately, it is all down to genetics, so there's no way to predict when grey or white eyebrows will appear.
The 80-year-old man who still has a full head of hair... and not one grey one. When strangers mistake him for a man 30 years younger, Ron Williamson doesn't turn a hair. He explains that he is in fact 80 - but his luxuriant dark-brown mane refuses to show any sign of age.
"My roots grew about an inch, and I started noticing the salt-and-pepper pattern of my natural hair and toying with the idea of going gray." There's no hard-and-fast rule about when (or if!) you should stop coloring your hair and go gray; it's ultimately a personal choice.
We suggest opting for an all-over color service to fully mask every gray hair on your head with a uniform shade. However, highlighting may be better if your goal is seamlessly blending your grays.
1. Blonde Highlights. There are three reasons we recommend blonde highlights Opens in a new tab when covering grays. First up, the difference between blonde and silver shades is subtle, so gray roots won't appear as visible - even if it's been six to eight weeks since you last went to the salon.
Baking soda is a great natural remedy for gray hair, as it helps to clarify the hair and scalp while also restoring vibrancy and shine, especially if you're struggling with hair loss. Plus, baking soda can prevent discoloration due to exposure to sunlight, extreme dryness, or other factors.
The rate of loss of hair colour is actually written within your genes. So, if your parents experienced greying early in their lives, you might too. However, it is not possible to restore your hair's colour, unlike what most claims on the internet might tell you. Your hair follicles cannot produce melanin on their own.
"If you're trying to transition to your natural color from permanent color or highlights, ask your stylist for a root melt to soften the transition and eliminate any lines of demarcation from your existing color," recommends celebrity hairstylist and co-founder of 901 Salon in Los Angeles, Nikki Lee.
“As soon as you color your hair for the first time, the texture and integrity of your hair are forever changed,” Wiley explains. “While a good hair colorist who truly knows how to care for color-treated hair can help to minimize that damage, it's always helpful to take a break from coloring your hair.”
The Challenge. Gray hair poses some unique challenges. It's coarser than your natural hair, and gray hair follicles make less oil, making it drier as well. This makes it harder for color to penetrate, so you may have to leave it on longer, which can cause more damage.
This is because the dye may affect proteins and lipids present in the hair, which contribute to hair health. Changes to the inner and outer structure of the hair shaft can damage hair, making it fragile and prone to breakage, which could eventually result in thinning hair or hair loss in areas.
Don't assume that grey hair makes you look older
Hair naturally loses pigment as we age, but stylist Paul Falltrick points out that the notion that grey hair makes you look older is increasingly becoming a misnomer: "Grey shades can be stereotyped as ageing, but a clean-looking grey is stunning" he says.
The skin and hair are made of melatonin. ... White people start going gray in their 30s, Asians in their 30s, and African-Americans in their 40s. Half of all people have gray hair by their 50th birthday. In 2019, it was 23.6 percent — almost a quarter.
Although there's no such thing as a white hair rubric, it usually follows the 50/50 rule. "It's estimated that 50 percent of the population will have gray hair by the age of 50," says Dr. Zeichner. "But most people already start seeing a few gray strands in their early 30s."
Deeper greys flatter lighter skin tones.
If you have pale skin, choose a medium shade of grey, which will stand out better against a lighter canvas. Steer clear of lighter shades of grey, such as ash, because these will wash you out and make you look even paler.