When we think about our anti-aging routines, our minds rarely venture past skincare. We’re brushed up on retinol knowledge and other anti-aging products, but our minds rarely go to our hair. Sure, we’re mindful of maintaining our gray hair (or covering it!) and getting regular trims, but the biggest anti-aging secret has everything to do with color. This article will cover the hair colors that age you and gracefully guide you to youthful hair coloring.
Handling Regrowth and Hair Colors That Age You
Let’s start with regrowth. Many women have discovered just how many greys they actually have, or perhaps they are embracing their natural color.
In the case of growing in the white/grey regrowth, I suggest having the old color on your mid-length hair and ends adjusted as close as possible to your natural color. This means stripping out darker shades. Use a trusted professional for this. For example, if you have been using brown tones to cover greys, after stripping, you may end up orange. And in some cases of ash brown, you will end up green! The principle here is to remove the old color from the mid-length and ends and erase the regrowth line by adding low lights and/or highlights to create a connection harmony. It’s complicated, I know; that’s why you need a professional colorist with talent and experience.
I would also suggest a shorter haircut during this procedure, which will help eliminate the old color even faster.
Professional Guidance
Speaking of trusted professionals, we reached out to styling and coloring guru Johnny Rodriguez for his advice and opinions on products to use. When it comes to brands based on age group, he told us, “Majirel or Inoa for gray coverage for more mature clients. Dia Color & Dia Light is for younger clients who are using modern techniques because it’s less commitment with gradual growth. All provide exceptional shine. Younger clients tend to change their color & prefer multiple techniques- balayage, foilayage, color melting, etc., so demi-permanent is most versatile for clients changing color styles more frequently. All are conditioning formulas that allow for less damage or compromised hair.”
How to Grow Out a Lighter Shade on Brunette Roots
Growing out a lighter shade on brunette roots is fairly easy, and adding back color pigment to the mid-lengths and ends is also fairly easy.
Youthful Regrowth for Blondes
When you’re embracing your natural white or gray hair, we’ve found that it’s easiest for women who have been coloring their hair blonde. To keep the transition youthful, apply highlights (or even some low lights around the root area) to project a youthful regrowth effect. Blonde just blends with white hair. So, with an imaginative colorist, all kinds of hues can be placed to add youthful shine halos to the overall surface.
How To Maintain Youthful Vibrancy with Red Hair
With age, natural redheads tend to lose their vibrancy. To avoid a hair color that’s too bright and ages you, avoid strong tones and soften the red with a strawberry blonde hue. It still resonates with your natural hair color but in a soft, flattering way.
The Biggest Hair Coloring Mistake You Can Make
The biggest mistake you can make with your hair is opting for a shade that’s too dark. That brunette shade of your 20s? Don’t do it. Nothing is more aging to any mature woman than a hair color that is obviously too dark. What we need to remember is that for it to work, there needs to be a connection between brows, eyelashes, and hair color.
Our skin colors often fade out with age and require a softer hue to flatter. Add a few milk chocolate highlights within the dark chocolate base for an attractive (not harsh) approach.
Hair Colors That Can Make You Look Younger
- Caramel highlights: For those with dark hair, this is a simple way to soften and lighten your look.
- Rose pink: If you are adventurous, this look can make you look quite a bit younger. Pink is a young, fun color that will lend you a youthful look – when it’s done right.
- Bronde or Broomstick Blonde: The dark base brightens up with warm blonde highlights as it goes. Again, this can soften your face and help you appear younger-looking.
- Soft Black: As you age, black hair can begin to look a bit severe. Adding in a slightly brighter black will create a more vibrant look.
Hair Colors that Age You
- Bleach Blonde: Don’t wash yourself out; use a mix of more natural colors. Plus, bleaching all of your hair damages it and automatically makes it look older.
- Yellow Gray: There’s no need to completely cover up gray, especially since it’s become so popular. But depending on how it looks, you may need to add some gray highlights to make it look better.
Invest in Proper Home Care
The most important aspect of coloring or even not coloring our hair with age is to nurture the strands. In more cases than not, white and grey hair grows with a different, stronger texture resembling coarse, almost wirey strands, so it’s vital to keep that hair hydrated. We recommend Oribe Silverati Shampoo, which is brilliant on gray hair. If you suffer yellow tinges in your gray caused by medication, heated tools, or even some town’s water supplies will stain white hair through the added chemicals used to purify the water, this shampoo will remove them usually from the first use!
Then follow with Olaplex No. 5P Blonde Enhancer Purple Toning Conditioner. This product works to repair instantly on application. The result it delivers is soft, sumptuous, lustrous hair from the first use.
Color-Safe Shampoo and Conditioner
Shampoo should be sulfate-free + paraben-free + silicon-free, and have a PH between 5.5 to 6.5 for healthy hair and a healthy scalp. The right shampoo is a colorist’s best friend as it heals over porosity bars, which can cause uneven color in your locks.
The perfect PH to look for is between 4.0 and 5.0. This conditioner protects your hair by closing the hair cuticle without leaving any residue like keratin, protein, or silicon on the shaft. That means healthy, conditioned hair that is not weighed down.
Color-Safe Protection Serums
The right serum, like Color Maintain Silver Serum, will protect your hair from heated tools and fading. For example, red hues will immediately fade when the heat is applied to them, so a quality serum is a must. Be sure to also look for UV protection in your serum – applying a small amount every day will reduce fade.
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