I want the hair on my head to match the hair on my face as the latter greys.

December 1, 2010 1:50 PM

My head hair is brown with wisps of grey at the temples. My facial hair is salt/pepper. I would really like some way of colouring my head hair grey. I know that greying is colour loss which is difficult to mimic. I am not interested in repeated temporary solutions as might be used in theatres. I would like something similar to the semi-permanent hair dyes and going to a hair salon for this would be fine. Reason? Why not - it's just another colour. Or lack of it. Upkeep would not be an issue if the result was good. Does such a process / product exist? Thanks.
posted by episodic to clothing, beauty, & fashion (6 answers total)

You can easily bleach brown hair and dye it any desired shade of gray. Go to a hair salon and ask them; it's a very simple request for an experienced colorist. Nothing to worry about.

The reason you probably don't want to do this on your own is that many home bleaching products can be very drying to hair.
posted by Sidhedevil at 1:55 PM on December 1, 2010

Instructions on going "silver" from a wacky-colored hair site.

What you'll be doing is basically bleaching the color out of your hair and then toning it to the desired shade. A stylist should be able to do this for you if you don't feel confident doing it yourself.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 1:55 PM on December 1, 2010

Also, apparently it's hard to find good silver toners over the counter. A good colorist can do this, though, no problem.
posted by Sidhedevil at 1:58 PM on December 1, 2010

When I was in high school, some of the "alternative" hair dye brands like Manic Panic, Splat, Punky color... used to make silvery colors. Here's a white dye. Maybe a salon stylist could do highlights with it?
posted by WeekendJen at 2:02 PM on December 1, 2010

you might also be interested in "frosting" gray - leaving some of your brown to mimic the salt/pepper on your beard.
posted by nadawi at 2:02 PM on December 1, 2010

I'd pay for a colorist cause OTC stuff is *murder* on hair. Strawhead for weeks.
posted by The Whelk at 2:02 PM on December 1, 2010