I am not a beauty expert, it is not my area of expertise. I dedicate myself to business, and we can talk about that subject for hours.
However, like many people, I like to take care of myself, and the older I get, the more attention I pay to it.
I am a fan of Martha Debayle, I have been following her podcasts for many years, I cannot listen to her live broadcast because I live in China and the schedule is an impediment. In one of her last episodes, she had a guest named Nikol Johnson, a makeup expert, who told why and how she stopped dyeing her hair to give way to her natural gray.
I loved the program, Nikol gave a lot of amazing tips on how to get fantastic gray hair, and I was able to get some interesting information.
And what is relevant about this?
I have gray hair, quite gray, and I have “fought” against gray hair since I was 15 years old, what an interesting word “Struggled” as if somehow the gray color of my hair was an enemy.
I started dyeing my hair at the University, and yes, I did it every 3-4 months, by the time I was 33 I had to do it every two weeks because the amount of gray hair was incredible. One day I just got tired, I didn’t want to have to “fight” anymore.
The truth is that making the decision was easy, or at least that happened at the beginning when the gray hairs were not so noticeable. However, once my gray hair became more and more noticeable I started getting comments saying that I was too young to have gray hair (33 years old at the time) and that it didn’t suit me, and what at first seemed like an easy decision became doubts, but I insisted and began to investigate the best way to make the transition and so to differ a little with Martha, because not everyone has the option of paying for brands like Dayson or Kerastase, here I leave you the way I did it without having to invest a lot of money.
Processes to grow out your grey hair
What kind of grey?
The first thing is to understand what type of gray hair you have, sounds basic, right? If you don’t have to pay for a consultation with a hair expert, as I did at the time, I simply saw that there were two types of gray hair
1) Total Gray (That is to say that all your hair is gray)
2) Salt and Pepper (White strands peeking out of black hair)
It is important because that way you will know the type of products that you will have to use and even the type of haircut.
Do you want to cut it or keep it long?
I have short hair, so the process was much faster since I scheduled a haircut every month or every two months.
How to cover the root?
The most difficult thing is dealing with the root, because of course the contrast is quite obvious and the care that the hair requires is very different. So how do you cover them?
My recommendation is to use Henna Shampoo, the prices of shampoo are between USD 15-USD 20.
What is important to know about its use?
1) The best thing is that it be natural henna or without so many chemicals so as not to damage the hair
2) Do not use it daily, it works like a dye, use it only when you need to cover gray hair (I used it once every two weeks)
3) It can dry out your scalp, so you need to moisturize your hair pretty well.
You can do this until the gray reaches the length you like, you will notice it because the gray hair does not retain many colors, and little by little you will notice how even with the henna the hair will lighten. I used it for about 5 months, in the end, I used it every 3 weeks.
Grey Hair Care
Washing and drying
Gray hair is porous, which makes it much easier to dry and stiff, so you have to be very careful how you wash it.
1) Purple Shampoo & Hydrating shampoo.
Yes, you have to use the purple shampoo, this will prevent it from staining, but like henna, you should not use it daily, you can use this shampoo once a week depending on how much you expose your hair to the sun (I could see those differences when I had a trip to the beach) Kerastase it is an amazing brand but very expensive (USD 80), but there are other quite good brands like Good-Bye Yellow which can be a little cheaper (USD 60)
On regular days you can use a moisturizing shampoo and conditioner, and I like L’Oréal ( Kerastase is part of L’Oréal) I focus on wavy hair and for hydration (USD 10-USD 15 ) Hair should not be washed daily, I wash it every two days and use warm or cold water (not very hot because it dries it out)
2) Sunscreen & Anti -Frizz Spray
Yes, you have to take care of your hair from the sun, if your hair is exposed to the sun most of the time, you need to take care of it, I didn’t use the protector because I work in an office, so it’s not that necessary (plus it’s hard to get it in China if I live in China) but if you must use an Anti -Frizz, I used the Schwarz brand (USD 15- USD 20) but you can find cheaper ones from L’Oréal. This Anti -Frizz every day, and prevents my hair from looking stiff.
3) No to heat
Up to this point, you have probably already noticed that the secret is moisturizing, so it should not surprise you if I say that you should not use the dryer so often, the truth is that I use it little, I try to let my hair dry naturally, but yes you don’t have time because you have to get to the office, or you have a thousand things to do, use dryers with temperature regulation to avoid using such high temperatures. (USD 150-200)
So let’s quickly see what you should use and what budget you need:
| Product | Estimated price |
| purple shampoo | USD 60 |
| shampoo The real Hydration | USD 12 |
| L’Oreal Hydration Conditioner | USD 14 |
| Sunscreen (Depends on whether you expose it to the sun a lot) | USD 20 |
| Anti-Frizz Spray | USD 20 |
| Hairdryer | USD 200 |
I checked the reference prices on Amazon. However, if you do a good search I am sure you will be able to find products that suit your budget.
I hope this has been helpful!
Laura Cortes 