How to Blend Grey Hair Flawlessly: 5 Expert Tips

Grey hair deserves the same level of luxury and care as any other hue.  In this blog Laura Elliott, head stylist at professional haircare brand Neäl & Wølf, shares her top five tips to flawlessly blend grey hair.

1. Highlights and lowlights

With grey hair, adding dimension with light highlights and dark lowlights into locks is a great way to blend grey strands discreetly without trying to hide them. You should aim for a colour slightly lighter than the shade of grey you have - typically blondes like Platinum Blonde work well for highlights. For lowlights, choose a darker brunette colour such as Mocha Chocolate Brown.

The ‘balayage’ method is a perfect dye style as it doesn’t have a harsh line and the strands of grey will melt from the root and be hidden seamlessly, providing a multidimensional look.

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2. Restyle to ash blonde

A popular colour to go for when dying grey hair is ash blonde. Ashy tones are a great option when trying to cover grey locks as the ash colour doesn’t include warm tones, such as oranges and reds. Instead, the colour leans more toward natural silvery tones whilst staying away from the grey spectrum. Combining natural ash tones with blonde creates a wonderful colour where grey hair is covered well. Stylists can create ash blonde by combining our 9T GLAZE shade with a blonde such as 10P. 

With a bright super shine and quick and easy results, GLAZE is a favourite in Neäl & Wølf salons. Find out more about our GLAZE True Demi Toner: GLAZE Demi Toner

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3. Add more grey

If grey strands are looking out of place against your natural hair colour, then perhaps embracing the grey with a popular technique called grey-blending would be a suitable option. Grey-blending is a great way to introduce the grey into your hair purposefully. This method involves using grey and silvery highlights and lowlights, like our 9T GLAZE shade, to blend the existing grey into your hair, no matter the ratio of grey to natural colour. It’s really low maintenance and can help brighten and add depth to your locks to control the colour, whilst having an intentional stunning blend of natural and dyed grey tones. This look can be styled by having two toned hair or highlights and lowlights added into hair as an example.

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4. Get your hair done professionally

Grey hairs are a completely new hair type and can vary in texture and colour. It’s important to go to a professional who can advise you on the best way to achieve your desired look. Grey hair is caused by a lack of melanin in your hair, which usually provides colour to your strands. Pigment in hair is what absorbs coloured dye and with the natural declination of melanin, it means there is less pigment the dye can grab to, making it harder to dye grey hair.

Secondly, grey hair is typically coarser in structure and has tight cuticles. Hair cuticles expand allowing colour molecules to dye the strand, however with the lack of expansion in grey locks, it is harder for the colour to penetrate and stay in hair. There are specially formulated dyes for grey hair and having your hair done by a professional is the best way to have the hair colour and style you want.

Our Neäl & Wølf salons allow you to try out our new GLAZE Shades. These are gentle on hair, as well as offering a natural high shine and a boost of colour. Plan your professional consultation: Find your Neäl & Wølf salon

5. Keeping hair in top condition before and after dye

Having healthy, nourished and hydrated strands is the crucial foundation to achieve optimum results. Dry hair will further decrease the chance of the dye taking to your hair, due to the strand structure having gaps from lack of hydration, colour molecules can fall through and out of the structure gaps, decreasing the amount of pigment left in your hair.

We would recommend incorporating a hydrating shampoo and conditioner into your hair care routine like our HYDRATE Moisture Shampoo and Conditioner.

We would also suggest getting a hydrating hair mask such as the Neäl & Wølf HYDRATE Moisture Mask, ensuring you use the product one to two times a week for maximum hydration. These steps will increase your chance of dye penetrating and staying in your hair but also then lasting once dyed.

Following these five steps can help you to seamlessly blend grey hair. For more grey hair care solutions, browse our specialised products: Grey Hair Products