How To Strip Hair Color To Go Gray

Inside: Tips on how to go gray from colored hair.

Are you thinking nearly ditching the dye and growing out your grayness hair?

There are various ways to transition to gray hair from dyed hair, and all of them take advantages and disadvantages.

image of a pinterest pin showing a blonde woman with glasses

image of a woman with gray hair and the words how to go gray from dyed hair

WHAT IS THE Right Style TO GO Grayness?

But at that place is no incorrect way to go gray. You have to do what works best for you: for your pocketbook, for your emotional well-being, and for your wellness.

Obviously, the easiest way to transition to gray is to never dye your pilus, but, for many of us, it's too late to go that route, right? Co-ordinate to some statistics, 75% of women dye their hair, leaving but 25% who never colour.

The advantage to never dyeing is that you don't have to go through the gray hair abound-out process. It's also gratuitous!

I tin can't recall of any disadvantages, except that you lot would miss out on the fun of coloring your hair.

And it must be said – when you're coloring your hair to express your personality, information technology is fun. When y'all are coloring your hair every ii weeks to encompass your gray roots? Not so much.

HOW TO Become Gray FROM DYED HAIR

There are three chief ways of transitioning to grey hair from dyed pilus: the cold turkey method (letting the dye abound out or cut it out), the salon transition (having a stylist blend your dyed hair to lucifer your natural grayness), or the dye-strip technique (a combination of various methods).

All of these methods have advantages and disadvantages. Some are gratis, and some are expensive. Some are faster than others.

Which method you choose depends on your temperament, your preferred hair length, and your pocketbook.

It can be a piffling daunting to figure out which way to go gray, but don't worry! I'grand here to aid.

Each method will be discussed below, and there is an FAQ department at the bottom of this post that provides answers to the most common questions.

METHOD #i: Common cold TURKEY

What does it hateful to go greyness common cold turkey? Information technology means just letting your grayness hair abound in, and (except for the occasional haircut) leaving information technology alone.

Going greyness cold turkey is inexpensive, chemic-gratuitous, and is the preferred route for many nighttime brunettes (similar myself) because it avoids the damage associated with highlights/lowlights or other salon methods that involve bleaching the pilus.

It is as well the method that freaks a lot of women out because we've been conditioned our whole lives to embrace grayness pilus (thanks, advert agencies!).

Walking around in PUBLIC with several inches of gray roots showing tin seem daunting at start, to say the to the lowest degree.

Going gray cold turkey with medium-length hair tin take a while. The average length of time seems to be effectually 20 months. And so you have to make up one's mind: are you willing to await that long, or exercise you desire to take a quicker transition?

COLD TURKEY: BUZZ CUT

The fastest way to transition to gray hair? Get a buzz cut!

Buzzing your hair off is a dramatic way to get, but if it suits your personality, go for it! The only disadvantage I can picture show is that it might be a daze to "go gray" overnight.

I accept seen some very beautiful fizz cuts on silverish-haired women. One of my favorites is Theonita's. She buzzed all her hair off to go greyness… and after a while, she grew it long again:

image of black woman with earbuds and buzzed gray hair

image of a black woman with gray natural curly hair and blue t-shirt

Related article: Theonita'southward Transition Story

image of white woman with red long hair and with medium hair and then a shaved head wearing a sweater

Related article: Philippa'south Buzzcut Transition from Cerise to Gray Hair

If y'all want to see a great video of a buzz cut transition, bank check out Naturally Grayceful on YouTube!

COLD TURKEY: PIXIE CUT

If yous want a quick common cold-turkey transition, only don't want to fizz off your pilus, consider getting a pixie cut.

You could be done with your gray hair transition in 3-6 months, depending on how short you go! Many women are happy to transition with a pixie.

The simply con I've ever heard is that, if you want to grow your hair long again, the grow-out tin be a bit awkward.

image of woman with a gray pixie cut — Paula

image of white woman with salt & pepper hair — Paula

image of white woman gray pixie haircut showing how to go gray from dark hair — Marci

If you lot practise not similar yourself in brusk hair, or if yous would freak out going gray likewise quickly (that's me!), you can totally keep your hair long.

Cold TURKEY: LONG Hair

Personally, I really was invested in my identity every bit a green-eyed, pale brunette. I could not IMAGINE myself with light pilus. And so, I colored my hair for 25+ years.

Cutting my hair brusk and going greyness chop-chop would have been very traumatic for me. And then, I chose to go gray cold turkey with longish hair.

I was worried about looking nutty with multi-colored pilus, simply I got over that apace. It has actually been fun watching my hair plow all different colors, and I now see the beauty in transitioning pilus.

Going grayness with long hair is also a skillful route to go if you find that you are really enjoying the gray pilus transition. It's fun to watch your pilus modify color over time, and information technology's a really good exercise in patience and introspection.

image of latina woman with long gray hair — **Mireya – October 2018**

image of Asian woman with long gray hair — **Mireya – October 2018**

image of woman with long braid and gray roots wearing sunglasses sitting on a beach chair holding a hat — **Joanna**

PROS & CONS TO THE COLD TURKEY GRAY GROWOUT METHOD

PROS

If you stop dyeing altogether, you will save a TON of money. Obviously, y'all volition salve more money if you were going to the salon rather than using box dye, but in any case, won't it exist nice to have more money in your pocket?
You will have more fourth dimension at your disposal. I was wasting 3 hours on a lovely Sabbatum once a month getting my hair dyed at the salon. And if I dyed it at home, it even so took nigh an hr to dye my hair (and even more fourth dimension to clean the bathroom after).
You will no longer pour harsh chemicals on your head every month. A lot of us don't consider how dangerous hair dye can be to our health. Knowing what I know now, I wish I hadn't started using it.

CONS

It can have a long time if you want to keep your hair long. I've seen women in my Facebook groups who have taken anywhere from i-3 years to go rid of all the dye, depending on the length of their pilus.
The beginning 2-three months of your transition, you volition accept a demarcation line where the dye meets the gray hair. All the same, your dye volition fade and the line will exist less obvious as time goes on.
If you have darker hair, y'all might cease upwards with calico hair for a fleck. I don't see this equally a con, simply many ladies exercise!

If you decide to get the cold turkey route, check out my postal service "How to Make Your Cold Turkey Hair Transition Fun!" for tips & tricks.

METHOD #2: SALON TRANSITION

Getting a salon treatment to help you transition to grayness hair is a great option for a lot of women because it is faster than the common cold turkey method, it hides your demarcation line, and it can make your transition seem seamless.

A salon transition can as well be a welcome alternative for women with careers in the public eye (politician, lawyer, actress, etc.).

Many women in these fields feel uncomfortable coming to work with two-toned hair (or are told outright by their bosses that it is inappropriate).

A salon transition is often quicker than a cold-turkey transition, depending on the length of your pilus.

In that location are downsides to the salon transition. For i, information technology tin exist quite expensive. If your hair is long, you could wait at several months (or more) of pricey services to become your grays to blend.

Of course, just as in pilus dyeing, chemicals are involved. If you have frail hair (or very dark brunette hair that requires a lot of treatments), your hair can become damaged.

Related article: How to Go Gray at the Salon

Related video: My interview with Color Lounge about salon transitions:

Going Gray At the Salon? Color Lounge Answers All of Your Questions!

PROS & CONS TO TRANSITIONING TO Greyness HAIR AT THE SALON

PROS

It'southward much faster than the cold turkey method. Depending on the length of your pilus, y'all can be your full silver self in a adequately short amount of time!
You lot can avoid the bad-mannered stages of the grey grow out. No harsh demarcation line or calico hair for yous!
Y'all won't have to cut your pilus to get rid of your onetime dye. Many women want to go along their hair long, but don't want to sport the calico look. Blending your grays at the salon will allow you to go along your pilus long without sporting a two- or three-tone head of hair.

CONS

It's expensive. Unless your hair is very curt, look to go to the salon adequately oftentimes for highlights, toners, etc. Depending on what state you live in, this can add up quickly.
It involves harsh chemicals and tin can be damaging to your hair. Some women practise fine with salon transitions, but others end up with very damaged hair. Make sure to consult with a loftier-quality salon to find out if your pilus can withstand the treatments.
It'due south time-consuming. If y'all're tired of spending time in a salon chair, you volition need to wait a while longer.

Check out these Argent Hair Transition Stories of women who take used salon methods to go gray (or a combination of cold-turkey and salon treatments).

image of a white woman with gray bobbed hair wearing purple shirt — **Louise**

image of white woman with silver pixie cut — **Louise**

image of white woman gray roots blonde ends transitioning to grey hair with highlights — **Kim**

METHOD #3: THE DYE STRIP TECHNIQUE

I only heard about the dye strip technique recently, and it's a great solution for women who want to go gray without a demarcation line, do non want to cut their hair short, and do not want to chance potential damage to their pilus from salon transition treatments (such as bleaching).

Adherents to the dye strip technique call it "going gray in underground" because your gray hair grows out underneath a layer of longer hair.

It's a cracking solution for many women, only it'south not a dandy solution for women who need to avoid hair dye for medical or other reasons, as information technology requires y'all to continue using dye for a little while longer.

For detailed instructions plus video tutorials, read Going Gray in Secret with the Dye Strip Technique.

WHAT IS THE EASIEST WAY TO GO GRAY FROM DYED HAIR?

The easiest and fastest way to become greyness is to get your hair buzzed very short. If that'due south too desperate for yous, a pixie cut is the preferred route for many women.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Delight notation that this article may contain affiliate links. You tin read my full disclosure at the bottom of the page.

**HOW Practise YOU WANT TO GO GRAY?**

Allow me know in the comments! I'd love to hear from you.

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Related Posts:

3 Reasons Why Going Gray is a Big Deal How to Deal with Yellowing Gray Hair

How to Encompass Your Gray Hair When Y'all Have No Choice

Grey Hair: Before and After

Katie is the founder of Katie Goes Platinum. Afterward constantly dyeing her hair for over 25 years, in 2018 Katie decided to stop the madness and encompass the gray. Since and so, she's been sharing her favorite gray hair tips, resource, and stories to empower women to feel beautiful during and after their transition to gray hair.