GREY HAIR; COVER IT, BLEND IT OR OWN IT WITHOUT DAMAGING YOUR HAIR.
There's so much noise out there about what we should do with our greys. Cover them. Embrace them. Go silver. Go bold. But to be honest, it's your hair, and the choice is absolutely yours. As team at NCW, we just really want you end up with healthy, feel-good hair, whatever that looks like for you.
Greying is a deeply personal experience, with complex emotions woven into how we relate to this change. For some of us, early greys are genetic, the mark of your tribe, of belonging or a celebration of the privilege that is ageing. For others of us, they arrive alongside stress, or the uncertainty of perimenopause and what that shift means for our bodies and our identity. Understanding what greys mean to you is the real starting point.
If you do want to cover, timing is worth thinking about. Our hair grows around 1.25cm a month, so how often are you realistically prepared to touch up roots? Those brassy, blocky regrowth lines you see after a couple of weeks are caused by peroxide, it’s lift creates an obvious, artificial-looking line. Choosing a peroxide-free formula like our H2O Water Colour gives a much more natural graduation as your greys grow back in. I often leave my own roots an extra couple of weeks past when I'd planned, because it still looks blended rather than grown out. Our H2O Water Colour also comes in plastic-free recyclable pouches with reusable tools, so covering your greys doesn't have to cost the planet either.
You can also do some clever things at home to blend or enhance rather than fully cover. Using a shade lighter than your natural colour will catch the greys and give a highlighted effect. In the salon, for client’s who love their greys we lift some sections with our Seaweed Kelp Lightener and then deepen others with either our Soya Colour or H2O Water Colour to create extra contrast and bring out the beautiful patterns that greys can make. You can recreate the darkening part at home by sectioning off the areas you want to colour and covering them with foil, Scott gives you some how to tips in this video.
Whatever you decide, grey hair does need a little extra care. It tends to be coarser, drier, and more vulnerable to damage, you might even notice a change in curl pattern. Look for products free from ammonia, ethanolamine, and resorcinol, which dry the hair and can irritate sensitive scalps. Regular moisture, packed full of good stuff like our Shea Collection hair masks makes a real difference, and don't forget to protect your hair from summer sun too.
Cover, blend or own it, there's no wrong answer. We're just here to make sure whichever path you choose, your hair comes out of it looking and feeling its best.
Written by Justine Fox, Natural Colour Works | Image by Megan Taylor
