After having silver hair for around 3 weeks now, I thought I'd do a post explaining the process and how it's lasted etc, as I've had a few questions about it on social media.
I went silver on the 18th December, and I had it done at a local salon. My hair was a very brassy blonde before, and my hairdresser had to put extra toner & dye mixture onto my hair as it wasn't covering evenly as my hair had a lot of bleach in it. Because of this, my hair came out a lot darker than I originally wanted, but I still really loved it. (The second picture and the picture of just my lips and hair is after I'd had it done, before I'd washed it myself)
My hairdresser expected the blue tones to fade quickly, but for some reason on my hair, they didn't. My hair started to look less gray and more blue. I work at a school, so have been washing my hair a lot to try and get rid of the blue tones as it looked completely blue in some lights. I personally liked the colour, but wouldn't be allowed it at work.
The first picture is taken as my hair is now (after 3 weeks). As you can see, the majority is still grey, but I have some greenish blue tones that just don't seem to budge! I think the green tones are because of how brassy my hair originally was (if you mix yellow and blue it makes green).
I'm currently using no heat on my hair, and loads of conditioning products to try and get my hair back in good condition. I was hoping that the silver would fade and leave me with an ash blonde that I could easily grow out into an ombre with my natural colour. At the moment, my hair is in a lot better condition, and is growing again, but I think it will probably keep fading to a blueish green. I'm hoping to not have to dye it again as I'm trying to get my hair back to my natural colour, and in better condition.
At the moment, I'm still happy with my hair despite the blue/green tones. I think I hated the yellow and orange so much before that I'm just glad it's not that colour!
Would I recommend going silver/gray? Yes! I really liked mine, I'm not sure it's something I'll keep for a long time, but I really do love it! I think it's a good idea to go to a salon though, as there's a lot of different shades, and your hairdresser can pick one that will work for your hair and skin tone. Just keep in mind that if your hair doesn't take the dye well (like mine didn't) you may end up having to go darker, which may fade to blue/green like mine did.
Does it damage your hair? Not a lot. I already had very damaged bleached hair (I've had it bleached on and off for years) and my dye was conditioning and mixed with a very low level peroxide. On my roots (which are naturally blonde) the dye took really well and gave me the colour that I wanted all over, it's the bleached parts which have gone a blue/green. I'd recommend going to the salon and asking professional advice. If you're naturally blonde, I wouldn't bleach your hair first (unless it's already bleached), but if you're darker, it'll probably be necessary.
Will I suit it? Silver is a very cool colour. If you suit cool toned hair colours (ash blonde for example) then you'll probably suit it. If you suit more warm tones (red, brown, ginger) then you probably won't suit it. I've used directions conditioning dye in silver before (semi permanent) which washes out completely, which you could use first before getting it done properly to see if you like the colour.
How much did it cost? Mine cost £40, but hairdressers vary significantly in price depending where you go. I used to go to Toni & Guy for example, which is around £100 for colours. I luckily found a local hairdresser who is really good and a lot cheaper.
How to care for it? My hairdresser recommended I use a lot of conditioning masks and no heat (partly because my hair was already damaged) which I have been doing. I'd also recommend using purple shampoo to maintain ash tones, and using lots of hair oils and leave in conditioner. If you struggle to use no heat there's loads of lovely hair tutorials on youtube (Alex centomo has a lot) without using heat. I personally wash my hair at night, sleep with it wet, and usually leave it natural the first day, then experiment with buns, braids and ponytails.
How to wash it out? Head and shoulders shampoo and/or Bleach london washing out liquid. Always follow with a really strong conditioner such as Bleach reincarnation mask.
I hope this post answers some of your questions about my hair, and that hopefully you found it helpful if you're considering silver hair yourself!
