That's it, your first gray hair has appeared. And let's face it, it's a little panic. Should we color them? Make an appointment immediately with the hairdresser or rush to the supermarket? Discover the tips and advice from Corine Fravalo, hairdresser.
Few women accept their white hair. Their appearance is sometimes even experienced as a real disaster. “They usually appear around 40 years old”Explains Corinne Fravalo, creator of Le Vestibule in Hossegor. However, without really being able to explain why, some will have their first gray hair at the age of 20, while others will keep their color until a much older age. Genetics, pollution, certain treatments, drugs could play a role in their early onset. With the Coronavirus pandemic and the introduction of containment, we have seen many social media posts flourishing on social networks desperate to see their hair whiten visibly. As soon as her salon reopened, Corinne received dozens of calls from impatient customers "A real state of capillary emergency!", She laughs.
When the question of coloring arises, it is difficult to know how to proceed. Permanent coloring, vegetable or conventional coloring, organic, at the hairdresser or at home … it is not always easy to make a choice.
You have to color from the first white hair
FALSE
If you don't like the arrival of these first white hairs, you don't like it aesthetically, there's no reason not to cover it up. But this is not an obligation. More and more women are choosing not to go straight through the coloring step and to assume these first signs of time. It's even very trendy … but still easier to assume on an ash blonde hair than on a brown or brown hair fiber.
To start, we can opt for a temporary coloring, also called tone on tone. Without ammonia, it is softer than a permanent color. This avoids the marked roots regrowth effect, since the color fades on its own after a few shampoos. But beware, the latter will only be suitable if you have little white hair. “The more white hair, the more pigments I will load”Explains the hairdresser. It will therefore be necessary to make sure that you do not have more than 50% of white hair, otherwise it will be necessary to switch to a permanent coloring. It is also recommended to choose a shade a semitone darker than its natural color for better coverage.
If you are not a fan of coloring, think of the clever alternatives that color one to several days. This is the case, for example, of hair makeup: colored powders to be applied or sprayed on white hair, specific mascaras to camouflage them in 10 seconds, top time and until the next shampoo. This is a particularly interesting option if your white hair is concentrated in a specific area of the hair and forms, for example, a very conspicuous white lock.
For those who want a more lasting solution than ephemeral hair makeup, there are also treatments, such as coloring shampoos and even complete routines, halfway between care and coloring, which contain temporary and / or semi-hair dyes. perms that can camouflage your first gray hair longer. This is precisely the case with John Frieda's Bye Bye White Hair care routine for brunettes. It is composed of three complementary products that manage to hide the first scattered white hair in the dark bases and this from the first use. It is a shampoo and detangling care that contains temporary hair dyes to leave on for 3 minutes each during washing, and a foam that contains semi-permanent pigments, to be applied to damp hair – after the first two treatments – and whose coloring formula activates under the effect of the heat of the hair dryer to color even more lastingly your first white hair in warm brown tones that blend into your natural hair to give it pretty reflections. Then just use the routine between 3 and 5 times to further improve the coverage of gray hair, then use it regularly to maintain the result obtained. So your white hair will go unnoticed.
Vegetable coloring does not work on white hair
FALSE
It was certainly true a few years ago, but the technique of vegetable coloring has evolved enormously and these products are today as effective as chemical coloring or almost so. “Vegetable coloring has huge benefits. Unlike a chemical coloring, it does not open the scales of the hair and protects the hair”Explains the hairdresser. “However, you must first make a hair detox with a clay preparation to rid the hair of silicones”, She adds.
For an optimal result, it is recommended to go to a hairdressing salon which perfectly masters this technique, rather technical precisely. For those who would like to do their own vegetable coloring, it is possible, but risky. “This requires real knowledge, especially since the coloring of white hair is very specific”, Warns Corinne Fravalo. The Aroma-zone site offers all the necessary ingredients, from henna to pigments to make the application at home. Many brands, such as Garnier with the 100% vegetable coloring Color Herbalia, Centifolia and its henna, or Herbatint and its Permanent Color Care, as well as Cattier and its Colorations with Clay offer ready-to-use colors to cover gray hair.
To avoid white roots, recolor every month
TRUE
If you have opted for a uniform color and want to minimize the root effect as much as possible, you will need to redo the color every three to four weeks. A notable financial investment, whether you decide to go to the hairdresser or use a store-bought product for a homemade color.
You can color your white hair at home
TRUE, but …
It's entirely possible. Many brands, like L’Oréal Paris or Christophe Robin, offer colorings specially dedicated to coloring white hair. “Women often think that there are only two hair colors: blonde or brown. When in reality there are a large number of tones, nuances and reflections. Before embarking on a color with a product bought in a supermarket, it is better to know its natural color”, Recommends the dressing table.
We can integrate white hair into the hair without coloring it
TRUE
It’s even a very attractive option! “The confinement period linked to the Coronavirus epidemic showed women that they could live with their gray hair. It made me want to encourage them, rather than completely covering their white hair, to integrate it into their hair in a harmonious way”Explains Corinne Fravalo. Several options are possible. We can for example offer a blonde or chestnut woman a clear scan so that the white hair mixes with the rest of the hair. Thus, they are not covered, but are less visible.
Hair can be lightened to conceal gray hair
TRUE
“When the first white hair appears, around 40 years old, you can start to lighten the hair gradually, so as not to harden the features”, Recommends the dressing table. We can then opt for slightly lighter reflections around the face and more sustained on the back of the head. However, this requires regular maintenance.
Coloring white hair at home or at the hairdresser is the same thing
FALSE
The hair stylist is a real hair professional. To cover gray hair, he will not be content to apply a single product to the whole of the hair, but to play on the nuances and reflections to avoid the helmet effect and give relief and movement to the hair. “I do not work the same product on the white roots and on the lengths in order to obtain the most natural result possible”Explains Corinne Fravalo. What a house coloring, as effective and well applied as it is, cannot do.
White hair appears later on blondes
FALSE
To your blonde friend who brags because she has no white hair while your brown hair already sparkles with silver threads, remember that white hair is obviously much more visible on a dark base. They do not appear earlier in brunettes, but simply notice themselves more. And Bam !
Men can also color their white hair
TRUE
Men can of course color their white hair, but quite often they choose not to. Why ? Quite simply because the company values white and gray hair on men, to whom they give charm. Strangely, women do not benefit as much from this tolerance when their first gray hair appears, although the times are changing. Witness the hashtags that have flourished on Instagram in recent years like #grombre #silverhair #silverhairdontcare. “I do not recommend men to make a brown color, the risk is to create brown or red highlights”, Warns the hairdresser, who recommends that these gentlemen skate their color to enhance the gray and play on slate, silver or anthracite reflections. Ideal for an attractive … and natural result.
Blonde, brunette, brown, we color white hair the same way
FALSE
The hairdresser will obviously adapt his coloring to the natural color of his client. Above all, he will try to obtain the most natural result possible. Blondes can opt for a balayage that will make white hair less visible instead of hiding it. For brunettes, in whom white hair is obviously more visible, we can opt for a tone-on-tone coloring, a gradual lightening of the color to which we can later integrate reflections, or a permanent coloring if we wish to completely conceal white or gray hair. There is just one point on which brunettes are luckier than blondes. Gray hair or pepper and salt go better with their complexion! In blondes, who often have a fair complexion, gray is immediately duller.
Thanks to Corine Fravalo, creator of Le Vestibule in Hossegor for her precious advice.
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