Everyone seems to be so worried about finding the latest and greatest anti-wrinkle cream, but many people overlook how much their graying hair is aging them. Even if your face is completely wrinkle free, having gray hair can make you look much older than you are. Whether you have just a few gray hairs or you are completely gray one of the easiest anti-aging treatments is to simply dye your hair. Getting rid of grays can take decades off your appearance and make you look and feel younger than you have in years. Today’s hair dyes are very easy to use and even a beginner can get great results from home. Here are some pointers on how to dye your hair to get rid of the gray.
If you are not confident with your dying abilities you may want to talk to a hair stylist about what they would suggest for at home products for use on your hair as well as how to care for your hair after you have colored it.
The type of hair dye that you choose – permanent or semi permanent – will depend upon how much gray you have in your hair and how dramatic of a change you want to make with your hair color. If your hair is 25% gray or less you can get by using a very semi-permanent dye for your hair color. Just as the name semi-permanent implies these dyes wash out of your hair after anywhere from 6-15 shampoos. One of the nice things about semi-permanent hair dye is that it does not leave you with visible roots which allows you to avoid the hassle of having to touch up your roots as your hair grows. Not only that but semi-permanent dyes are typically much gentler on your hair and cause less damage than permanent hair dye. If you have 25-50% gray in your hair choose one of the longer lasting semi-permanent hair dyes which typically wash out in anywhere from 20-25 shampooings.
If most are all of your hair is gray you will need to use a permanent hair dye to change the color.
When choosing which shade to dye your hair you will want to try to closely match your natural color. If you have a lot of gray in your hair you may want to choose a shade darker than your natural color since it will actually appear lighter on your hair than it does on the side of the box.
The best time to dye your hair is on a weekend so you will have a time to adjust to the color and get used to seeing it on yourself before you have to see other people. You may be surprised at how shocking your hair might look to you at first after you dye it and it may take a little while to get used to. Not only that, but just in case something goes wrong with your dye job you will have an extra day to correct the problem by dying your hair on the weekend.
Carefully read the instructions on the box of whatever hair dye you choose including the instructions for doing a strand test and allergy test. This will ensure that you are not allergic to the dye and it will help you to determine how long to leave the dye on your hair. Sometimes gray hair can be very stubborn to dye and you may have to leave the dye on longer than recommended to get the color to the level that you want it. Most hair dyes come with instructions for covering grays so be sure to read those and follow any specific directions regarding grays for the brand of hair dye that you purchased.
Be sure to cover the surfaces in your bathroom and to wear either an old tee shirt or button down shirt that you don’t care about ruining when you dye your hair in case any dye drips on it. Use a kitchen timer to time your hair dying according to what your strand test indicated. When the time is up rinse the dye from your hair and use any conditioner they came with your hair dye to restore shine to your hair and help seal in the color.
