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The Grey Hair Dye Trend & How To Protect Your Colour

The Grey Hair Dye Trend & How To Protect Your Colour
Team LF
Writer and expert8 years ago
View Team LF's profile

This week, Zoella ditched her blonde ombre ‘do and shared a snap of herself wearing silver grey locks. It may just have been a wig, but with the grey hair trend dominating celebrity looks this year, it got us thinking about our top tips for maintaining grey hair and the products our hair experts recommend.

If you’re considering taking the plunge into grey this year, have a read of our advice for protecting coloured hair. Or, if you’re just in need of a bit of hairspiration, we’ve put together our top 5 favourite silver haired celebrities, too.

Top 5 Grey Haired Celebrities

1. Jade Thirwall

Jade Thirwell Silver Grey Hair

Aside from Zoe, the latest celeb to experiment with silver hair is Little Mix’s Jade Thirlwall. Little Mix are not only famous for their catchy tunes and fierce dance tunes, but they’re always up there in the style stakes with their 90’s inspired outfits and on trend hair do’s.

2. Rihanna

Rihanna Grey Hair

Never one to shy away from the spotlight, Rihanna has rocked many a hair do, including her own take on the grey trend. Our favourite of Rhi Rhi’s silver hair styles has to be this high pony tail from the Diamond Ball 2014 - slicked back, with an icy ombre fade, this is one stylish red carpet hairdo.

3. Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga Silver Grey Hair

Another fan of the limelight, Lady Gaga is renowned for her experimental style – and her hairstyles are no exception. Famous for styling up wigs, hair accessories and hats, Lady Gaga takes things back to basics with this classic grey hair Hollywood hairdo at the 2015 Grammys.

4. Kylie Jenner

Kylie Jenner Silver Grey Hair

Kylie’s ever changing hair has become almost as famous as her ever-expanding lips, so it’s no surprise that Kylie Jenner is part of our silver hair celeb love list. The youngest of the Kardashian clan has rocked green, blue, pink and blonde hairstyles, but our favourite has to be this black to grey ombre from French Montana’s birthday bash in November 2014.

5. Kelly Osbourne

Kelly Osbourne Silver Grey Hair

Possibly the original silver celeb, Kelly Osbourne has been on-off grey since 2012. Kelly is well known for her rock star family – and her rock star style to match – and so it’s no surprise that she was one of the first to embrace icy locks.

Tips for Protecting Coloured Hair

If our favourite grey haired celebrities have given you a bit of inspiration for going grey yourself, don’t forget that Lookfantastic have tons of hair products available for maintaining coloured hair. A good way of maintaining your desired colour between hair appointments is to use the right home care products to protect your hair. The better condition your hair is in, the better your colour will take and last in your hair.

One of our favourite product ranges for looking after coloured hair is Pureology; the Pureology Hydrate range is specifically developed to care for all types of coloured hair. It’s sulphate free and uses natural surfactants of corn and coconut clean hair without striping away colour. We know that top blogger Victoria from In The Frow loves this range and regularly uses it to maintain her own grey hair as well.

We asked Pureology's Beth McCrave for her tips on looking after coloured hair, and she offered us this advice:

"Hair becomes damaged the more you colour it (especially at the ends), so high protein ingredients of soy, oat and wheat help strengthen hair and replace the lost protein bonds. Heavily processed hair can become very dry as the hair is more porous, meaning every time you wash it some of the colour pigment is ‘washed away’. The Micro Emulsion technology in Pureology deeply hydrates to revitalise dry hair and ‘waterproof’ your colour."

Based on Beth’s advice, it’s important to maintain a strict haircare routine which will help to lock in your hair dye to prevent the grey washing out. Antioxidant ingredients of Jojoba and Green Tea, found in products like the Pureology Hydrate, help keep colour vibrant for longer and stops the fade that makes ash grey hair look dull over time.

Redken which is another brand which prides itself on caring for dyed hair. The Redken Colour Extend Magnetics Haircare range includes products specifically targeted for maintaining colour in between dye jobs and helps to keep your hair soft and styled. The Redken team also let us in a professional silver hair secret.

"For maintaining grey and silver colour, our Redken insider tip is to use Redken for Men Silver Charge Shampoo. Apply to damp hair and work into a rich lather. Rinse. For additional affect repeat and leave second lather on for 3-5 minutes.  Redken for Men Silver Charge Shampoo helps to eliminate yellow color and contains tone to keep hair beautiful and leaves a silver shine."

Our other favourite of the Redken range is the Deep Attraction Mask which attracts colour molecules and locks them into the hair to preserve the richness of colour (hence the magnetics name). The mask also optimises light reflection to stop your colour looking dull over time – ideal if you want to go for a silver grey instead of a dark grey.

For a more natural take on haircare, we asked one of our favourite organic hair brands, Aveda, to weigh in on their tips for protecting coloured hair.

Ian Michael Black, Aveda’s Global Artistic Director for Hair Colour, who was keen to stress the importance of taking on a strict washing and styling routine at home to protect colour between dyes. Advice such as this is especially important for not only grey hair, but for other delicate colours such as blondes and redheads, too.

“Limit how often you wash your hair. Try to Wash hair every other day—even less if your strands don't get greasy. Tackle dirt and oil at the roots with a blast of dry shampoo in between washes. When washing your hair, try to keep the water as cool as possible. Rinse hair in cold water as this helps to flatten the cuticle and make it shine. After washing hair towel dry your tresses and apply the Colour Conserve Daily Colour Protect treatment evenly through the length of your hair to give your hair a daily colour shield.”

Naturally Grey Hair

Helen Mirren beautiful grey hair

Although dyed grey hair is all the rage right now, you might save yourself a job if you’ve gone naturally grey. There is a new generation of celebrities that are wearing their natural colour with pride, including stars such as Helen Mirren, Jamie Lee Curtis and George Clooney who are bringing out their inner silver fox. Gone are the days where grey hair is hurriedly dyed over and hidden away – embrace your silver streaks and wear your hair without the dye.

We have a range of products on Lookfantastic targeted for looking after naturally greying hair, but for some extra advice, we asked our Resident Pharmacist, Hira Malik, for a scientific take on what causes grey hair.

“The biggest cause of grey hair is actually as simple as ageing.  It is a common belief that 50% of the general population will have 50% grey hair by the time they are 50! However, some people are more prone to age related greying of hair.  Those with red hair tend to start the process quite early where those with Afro-Caribbean hair seem to age later than others.  Other factors that play a role are genetics, stress level, smoking as well as low vitamin diet.”

Although we can’t predict whether – or when – you might go grey naturally, it is worth starting a haircare routine early in order to keep your hair in good condition ready for any colour change. Similarly, if you are looking to take fate into your own hands and take the plunge into grey, getting your hair prepped for the dye is always worthwhile in maintaining colour.

If you are looking for haircare items for coloured or naturally greying hair, we have a wide range of premium haircare products available on Lookfantastic now. Enjoy this? Try our best purple shampoo or best colour corrector guides.

Team LF
Writer and expert
View Team LF's profile
Our team of beauty experts cover everything from makeup to skincare, picking out the most effective products from the best brands and latest trends. Stay up to date on everything beauty with the LOOKFANTASTIC blog, and find all your essentials in one place.
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