Granny Hair: A Guide to Gray/Silver Hair

Since I graduated from high school, my hair has always been coloured. After 12 years of studying in Catholic institutions, colouring my hair after high school graduation was like a rite of passage for freedom. I think that was the last time I wore my hair in its natural hair colour? (Or maybe I did once back in college?) Anyway, late last year, I finally had enough courage to try and experiment further with my hair. I've been eyeing this gray/silver hair for a few months already. I was so scared of the idea that my hair would be excessively dry and brittle due to heaps of chemicals that involve the whole process. Or I might go bald due to excessive hair loss! But, I really wanted to do it. So what the heck, let's do this. I mean, there 's always the wig for worst case scenario, right? Haha! 

I do not consider myself an expert. However, I want to share my entire going gray/silver hair experience and some tips that I learned somewhere along the way. Hence, if you are considering going gray/silver (or even dyeing your hair a shade or two lighter than your hair colour), then read on:

- BEFORE YOUR SALON TRIP -

Ask yourself again.

The mere fact that you have reached this part and reading this sentence means you are really interested in going through this (or maybe you're just plain curious, which is fine, too). So yeah, ask yourself again: Are you willing to risk your hair and go through the whole process and grievances involved with bleaching and dyeing your hair? If yes, then, let's proceed!

Be rigorous and adamant with your research. Go crazy with it.

How does bleaching work? How long does the process take? How is the upkeep? Which salon does it well? How much do these salons charge? Do they have client photos? How do they do it? Going gray/silver involves bleaching the hair. Bleaching will strip out the natural colour from your hair and lifts the outer cuticle of your hair in order for the chemicals to fully penetrate the hair. Due to the process involved, bleached hair leads to dry and brittle hair and makes your hair prone to breakage. If you are going to risk your hair for this fancy and expensive change, you might as well do it properly. There are heaps of salons who does hair bleaching and their difference from each other all boils down to the quality of the finished product. So please, don't just go for the cheapest salon that you can find. Make sure they are doing the whole process spot on.

At that time, Hairshaft, a multi-branch salon in the Philippines, seemed to be the prominent salon doing the colour that I wanted. They already had a few clients who had their hair bleached to silver/gray so I figured they might be doing their job well. (Let's be clear first before I continue writing - I am not promoting nor am I sponsored by Hairshaft.) I decided to do it in Manila (I had mine done in Hairshaft Robinson's Manila and the hairstylist's name was Fred) because I was flying to Manila for the holidays, anyway, and to have it done here in Sydney was a bit more expensive -- which leads me to my next point.

Prepare the stash.

Having your hair bleached professionally is expensive. Prices vary depending on the salon but it definitely costs more than your usual hair colour. Mine amounted to Php 7,000 (200 AUD, more or less). Maintenance for bleached hair is not only meticulous, but also expensive: keratin treatments, root touch ups and hair products.

Day 1 of gray hair (and freshly washed!)

If you previously coloured your hair, grow it out as long as possible. 

This will help create an even colour and minimise dryness and breakage after the bleach.

Deep condition your hair.

Do this a week or two weeks before your targeted bleach trip to the salon as this will also help minimise dryness and breakage.

- ON THE DAY - 

Do not wash your hair before going to the salon.

Your hair's natural oil will help protect scalp against bleaching process.

Day 7/8 of gray hair

Patience is a virtue, as they say.

The black-to-granny hair process is a painstakingly looooong one (I had to sit there for 5 hours, more or less, that my brother fell asleep waiting for me to finish). It involves the following:

1. Bleach - in order for the gray colour to be effective. For my hair (which was dark and thick, as you can see from the photo above), I had to undergo two layers of bleach. It went from dark to orange to blonde, which is the colour needed before applying the gray dye. The whole bleaching process took around 2-2.5 hours to finish.
2. Tone - to remove the yellow tones caused by the bleach. The toning process took around half an hour.
3. Dye - the application of gray colour (Yay!). This took another hour or so because the colour had to sit on my hair before rinsing and blowdrying.

Due to the layers of chemicals applied to my hair, my hair scalp was itching (just a bit; bearable) halfway during the whole process (But boy, was I glad for the shampoo sessions in between though!). Luckily, I didn't feel any burning sensation during or even after the process (I read that bleach on a virgin scalp can be painful so it is advised/suggested to massage coconut oil onto your scalp after.). It was also agonising to wait if it will work out just the way I wanted it to or if it will be a complete mess and waste of my time and money instead. Luckily, it worked out pretty damn well. :) *victory dance*

2 months after. My hair is mainly blonde by then, with few streaks of silver/gray hair

- AFTERCARE - 

Be ultimately ready for maintenance.

This is the tough part. How damaged your hair will be would depend on your natural hair colour and the colour you changed it to. As for my hair, it was a complete 360-degree change: from very dark to very light. Having lighter shades of hair colour requires more than your usual hair care. Of course, you don't want to waste your money if your colour will just fade out easily or turn brassy. BRASSY IS TRASHY. You don't want to go there, my friend. No, you don't.

To keep your gray/silver hair last as long as possible and healthy (This is the part where I made some hits and misses so I added more information that I've read/researched):

     - Purple shampoo and conditioner will be your bestfriend. Why purple? Because if we look at the colour wheel, purple is the opposite of yellow. Hence, to cancel yellow tones on your hair, you need to use purple-coloured hair products. Purple shampoo and conditioner work by preventing the brassy tones in your gray/silver hair thereby, making it more vibrant and maintaining your colour. It was hard to find purple shampoo and conditioner in regular shops in the Philippines (at least during that time).  One of my friends (Hi, Vinch!) introduced me to Funky Streaks, an online shop in the Philippines, where I can purchase a purple shampoo and conditioner. I purchased and tried Clairol Shimmer Lights Purple Shampoo and Purple Conditioner. The 16 oz bottle was worth around Php 1,000 each (almost 30 AUD) but you can get a minimal discount if you buy them together. Right now, I am using Matrix Total Results So Silver Shampoo and Matrix Total Results Hello Blondie Conditioner. I love this product more than Clairol because this is less harsh to my hair and my hair feels waaaay smoother, even if I use the shampoo daily.

     - Purple shampoo and conditioner don't have to be used everyday or together. If your hair is or if you are aiming for gray/silver all over, leave the shampoo on your hair for 3 to 5 minutes before rinsing. If it is not too brassy, leave it for a minute or two. Moreover, leave the conditioner for another 3 to 5 minutes for extra softness. The purple shampoo and conditioner are meant to be used once or twice a week or whenever you feel like your hair colour lacks vibrancy or is becoming brassy. On the other hand, other people just use the purple shampoo and use a different conditioner. This part is trial and error because how much purple shampoo and/or conditioner you use or how often you use them may depend on the quality of your product, the type of your hair and the level of brassiness you have. As for me, since I was paranoid about my hair having brassy streaks, I have gray/silver hair all over and my hair is very thick, I use the purple shampoo every other day and I use the purple conditioner alternately with hair mask. I also leave the conditioner on my hair a minute or two longer. It's up to you and your hair to experiment on how you want to use these products. 

4 months later and blonde

     - Avoid purple shampoo and conditioner that have purple dyes in it. As mentioned, these purple products are for toning your hair. Go for purple products that will cancel the yellow tones on your hair, not dye your hair purple. So read the label carefully!

     - Use shampoo and conditioner that are sulfate-free, colour-safe/friendly. Sulfate can strip the colour away from your hair so use these for days when you are not using the purple shampoo and conditioner.

     - Use a gray colour-depositing product to add in more colour. Compared to other hair dyes, gray dye, unfortunately, can fade or wash off quickly (as evidenced by my blonde photos above). I read that you should do this every 2-3 weeks. However, I really cannot advise further about this part. I was happy with my blonde locks even after the gray colour washed out from my hair so I didn't bother doing this.

     - Repair the hair. During bleaching, the keratin of your hair is being stripped off by the chemicals hence, keratin treatments aid in putting back the lost protein on your hair to make it healthier and stronger. I also purchased Kerastase Masque Force Architecte from Hairshaft to prevent breakage and brittleness of my hair. Currently, I use Schwarzkopf Essence Ultime Blonde and Bright Neutralising Mask (to refresh hair colour and prevent brassy tone), OGX Argan Oil of Morocco Intense Moisturising Treatment (to soften and strengthen hair) and Schwarzkopf Extra Care Ultimate Repair Mask (to repair heavily damaged hair) alternately. (Update as of 05 May 2017: Olaplex treatment is a fairly new process of repairing damaged hair through the recreation of disulphur bonds (which are broken during hair colouring) in your hair and will give you a healthier and stronger hair thereafter. Read more about Olaplex treatments HERE.) 

5 months later

     - Condition and nourish. Hair oil and/or hair serum application is also vital, especially with heavily bleached hair. Hair oil aids in conditioning or nourishing your hair to help prevent breakage or split ends due to the chemicals applied on your hair. Hair serum, on the other hand, adds shine and prevents frizzy hair. Currently, I use Naturals by Watsons Argan oil and OGX Healing Plus Vitamin E Penetrating Oil.

     - Avoid the heat/Protect from heat. Do you notice that when it's summer or when you're at the beach, your hair colour tends to become lighter? I've read that heat also affects your bleached hair by making it even lighter and can eventually lead to brassy hair. And as I've said, you don't want brassy hair. It is disgusting. Hence, use heat protectant products before blowdrying or curling your hair; don't stay under the sun for too long and avoid using hot water for rinsing your hair. But if you can avoid them at all cost then, please do so.

     - Root touch-ups. Unless you don't mind an ombre gray hair, root touch-ups every 6-8 weeks help in keeping your colour consistent all throughout.

Be ready for regular cuts as well.

After all the chemicals from the bleach and regardless of the tons of products you use to prevent your hair from excessive dryness and breakage, your hair tips eventually has to go. Our hair tips are the oldest part of our hair and at some point, they just have to be cut off. Even more so when you have bleached hair.

Just work it!

Need I say more?

We all have our respective beauty rituals/commitments that we adhere to. Just like your skin care routine, healthy meal plans and workout schedule, having this kind of high-maintenance hair involves dedication and effort. When gray/silver hair is done well and taken good care of properly, it looks really damn good (Again, Brassy is Trashy. Lol!). It is an instant accessory. So if you're not ready for all of this, do not even do it. It will just be a waste of your time, money and hair. However, should you go through all of these then, I wish you good luck and I hope you enjoy your new hair! :)

And I really hope this post helped you in some way.

(Update as of 27 August 2016)

I finally found a hair salon that I can fully trust here in Sydney. I went to Kaye's Hairstylist Salon, as per my friend's referral, for a haircut and hair colour. I wanted to change my blonde hair colour to red but the hairstylist said that changing my blonde locks into red would be a waste as my blonde colour is still in good condition (So that meant, I took care of my hair properly!) so she suggested to darken it and tweak it with subtle highlights. So now I have a dark blonde with subtle blonde highlights hair colour. Hence, I'm still using the purple shampoo and conditioner. I'm currently using Provoke Touch of Silver Intensive Brightening Shampoo and Conditioner. I find that this brand is not drying to my hair.

The new colour is not obvious yet as the colour will gradually show

I now use both hair oil and hair serum alternately so I can get the benefits of the two without my hair looking too greasy. I tend to use the hair oil when I use the purple shampoo. I'm still using the OGX Healing Plus Vitamin E Penetrating Oil and Marc Daniels Blue Cypress Blonde Repair Serum. This repair serum also has the purple toning capacity, which I like, because it adds extra protection to my hair colour and extra prevention from being brassy. It doesn't make my hair as soft compared to the hair oils. Also, it doesn't make my hair as shiny as it's supposed to be due to the purple toning capacity of the serum.

Then, 8 months later! (from the previous photo) This is how my dark blonde with subtle hightlights looks now.

(Update as of 05 May 2017)

I tried another hair salon here in Sydney. I wanted a trim one Sunday afternoon but Kaye's Hairstylist Salon was closed so I tried Charles and Sherry Hair Salon, which is a few shops away from Kaye's. I was satisfied with my haircut and to date, I've been there twice now. I haven't tried their hair colour service yet as I'm just waiting for the remaining colour to grow out, go commando with my hair and give it a break for the meantime.

A year later from the previous photo. Just growing the remaining colour out, which worked really well with my new short hair. The colour was still great, giving it an ombre look.  

I have used Marc Daniels Blue Cypress Blonde Shampoo and Conditioner. I find that this brand is slightly drying to the hair. At the moment, I am using John Freida Sheer Blonde Tone Correcting Shampoo, John Freida Sheer Blonde Color Renew Tone Correcting Conditioner and OGX Argan Oil of Morocco Conditioner. I had my hair cut three weeks ago and I'm growing my dark blonde hair colour out. I still have blonde-ish tips so I'm still using the purple shampoo and conditioner. I am still using OGX Healing Plus Vitamin E Penetrating Oil and Marc Daniels Blue Cypress Blonde Repair Serum as well.