Meet Mary Allen, a writer at The Right Hairstyles Magazine with a passion for the artistry of hair, who first joined our editorial team in January 2022. With a keen eye for trends in haircutting and coloring techniques, Mary Allen explores the diverse spectrum of beauty, ensuring that her articles resonate with women from all walks of life.
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While the first gray hairs appearing on black or dark hair can be pretty disappointing, it’s a natural phenomenon no one on Earth can avoid. Graying strands only mean that you’re entering a new phase of your life. Moreover, you always have a choice between completely disguising your grays and embracing them.
Or, you might want to try one of the trendy technique of gray blending for dark hair, which allows you to gracefully wear your silver strands and make a stylish statement at the same time. See the best ideas!
Gray blending lets you camouflage your gray hairs by adding hues similar to your natural hair color, resulting in a multi-dimensional shade with plenty of texture. Gray hairs are particularly noticeable on dark hair, making gray blending a popular choice for women with black or dark brown hair colors.
If you’re one of them, stay with us. We’ve browsed the works of top hairstylists for the best examples of gray blending for dark hair to help you make an informed choice.
If you want to blend your gray hairs into the dark base color as subtly as possible, consider blending them with babylights. Subtle blonde highlights can go a long way toward creating a seamless blend; however, remember to choose a blonde hue closest to your grays.
@gracehairstudio_
There’s little surprise that cool tones of blonde are the most popular choices when it comes to gray blending for dark hair. With the right shade of blonde, your grays will have very scarce chances of being noticed. If you crave to add youthfulness to your look, consider the sassy money piece.
@knot_and_mane
Ombre is another great way to blend gray hair into a dark base. However, you’ll have to go for the lightest, silvery shades of blonde when blending gray hair. While these shades usually require a couple of bleaching sessions when you have naturally dark hair, the result is really worth it!
@aaashleee
Ladies who want a low-maintenance look without compromising on style can consider silver balayage like in this pic. The top gray color will let your roots grow out without the need for regular touch-ups, while the darker bottom layer will create a refreshing contrast and well-groomed appearance.
@hairbymichelleee
This sophisticated gray blending with highlights and lowlights features ash-blonde highlights and chocolate matt lowlights to masterfully blend gray strands, adding depth and dimension. In addition, this option allows you to make gray hair growth less noticeable for weeks.
@beautyconamor
If you’re searching for an elegant gray blending option for long hair, look no further than metallic silver highlights. Silver highlights combine particularly well with black hair, making for a truly chic look.
@petertonghair
Besides looking gorgeous, gray blending for dark hair is an absolutely low-maintenance choice since it requires fewer salon appointments than traditional all-over color. In addition, it’s less damaging and more natural-looking.
@the.balayage.babe
Block highlights can do an excellent job blending your gray strands with the rest of your hair. The closer the shade of highlights to your natural grays, the better, so make sure you choose something from platinum or silver blonde palettes.
@aaashleee
If you are okay with showcasing your gray hair but still want to rock a salon look and make a stylish statement, consider block coverage. A reverse ombre combined with a gray money piece is undoubtedly a way to stand out.
@maridid_that
For ladies with just a few grays, balayage highlights featuring a wealth of shades might be the way to go. The dark base creates depth and dimension, while highlights make for an elegant natural look.
@hairandmubyloganbox
Combining highlights and lowlights can be your best bet if you seek extra depth. While color combinations are virtually endless, ash brown and platinum look amazing together, so consider this combo when setting off for your gray blending appointment.
@editdowntownsalon
Even if you plan to grow out your natural color, you’ll undoubtedly want your hair to look beautiful while your dark ends get lower and lower until you cut them off. For this, you need to ensure a smoother transition, which can be achieved with the help of a masterful combination of highlights and lowlights.
@kalirey
While highlighting is a common coloring technique chosen by millions of women of all ages, it acquires a totally new meaning when it comes to blending grays. Beautiful and flattering, highlights seamlessly blend with gray hair, making for a more youthful look.
@thathairmagic
You can combine your natural gray hair with dirty blonde babylights for a stunning salt-and-pepper look. Low-maintenance and natural-looking, this is an excellent choice for ladies growing out silver hair.
@hairdue.yeg
Adding highlights is one of the most favored gray blending techniques. However, if you’re looking for a low-maintenance option, choose a silver hue that’s similar to your natural gray. And don’t forget to stock up on purple shampoo – it will help you keep your silver shine bright.
@un.rooted
While grays are particularly noticeable on dark hair, the best way to ensure a low-maintenance grow-out is to add silver highlights here and there. Also, consider the edgy money piece if you don’t mind injecting a youthful vibe into your look.
@gracehairstudio_
If you’re looking to tap into the global gray hair trend but want your natural hair to look neat and well-groomed, lowlights are the gray blending technique you’ll love. Unlike highlights, lowlights are a couple of shades darker than your hair, which helps achieve a more natural look.
@tintedhair_byjudy
Gray hairs are notorious for creating too much of a striking contrast with black hair. But why not embrace it and add more silver to your mane, beautifully blending it with your grown-out black ends?
@domyhairdrew
Thousands of blonde babylights can work wonders in camouflaging your first grays. Since blonde comes in a wide array of shades, it’s vital to consider your skin tone when choosing the hue for your babylights. Golden tones of blonde perfectly combine with warm skin tones, while platinum blonde can be your way to go if you have a cool skin tone.
@c_n_artistry
Natural hair enhancement is all the rage today, so regular touch-ups to your salt-and-peppers should become a part of your hair care. Also, adding lowlights and shiny silver strips will help you look and feel beautiful regardless of the age.
@brendageehair
Gray blending can be your best choice to soften the look of your first grays, letting you comfortably get used to them. The best thing about gray blending is that you won’t have a harsh line when your roots grow out.
@gaila_hair_ninja
If you’re a silver fox looking to juice up your precious mane, consider getting icy blonde babylights all over your hair. This is an elegant choice for women who don’t mind oozing confidence and oomph.
@_hairartbymichelle_
Instead of looking for ways to cover gray hair, many women choose to highlight it, and they couldn’t be more right. When approached properly, incorporating highlights a few tones lighter than your natural grays can beautifully accentuate your best face features and help you make a stylish statement.
@thatrebelstylist
Women blessed with rich shades of brown might love to blend their grays with the help of golden highlights. Not to mention, this hair coloring solution looks fantastic on women with olive skin.
@jessica.hairxheels
Gray blending offers soft, natural-looking color schemes for dark hair to let women gracefully embrace their grays. If you’re searching for a flattering, low-maintenance hair color close to your natural tone, a gray-blending balayage might be your way to go.
@hairbyalyssa_buser
If you have brown hair that has started graying around the hairline, consider this lovely way to embrace it and blend gray hair with a brown base. The eye-catching money piece takes on all the attention, making random gray hairs throughout the base unnoticeable.
@nv_beautyboutique
Long dark hair is an attention-grabbing factor, so it’s a good idea to enhance its look once gray hair appears. Adding both chunky silver strips and babylights is a bombshell combo you should definitely consider.
@hairzombie
Here’s an idea for women who plan to embrace their gray hair color but need more time to be ready. The colorist used her client’s gray hair as highlights and added a couple more around the face, ensuring a seamless grow-out.
@sheenavanhook
Gray is just one of the hair colors, so if you feel confident with a full head of gray hair – welcome to the silver fox skulk! As you can see in this photo, gray hair beautifully combines with curls, so maybe everything you need to feel gorgeous is embracing your natural curl texture or getting a perm.
@shaiamiel
We won’t get tired of saying that balayage is the best way to disguise your first gray hairs. To get your gray blended perfectly with the highlights, choose cool tones of blonde, such as platinum, silver, sandy, or dirty blonde.
@hairmkupzeina
Graying is just about your hair follicles producing less natural pigment, so it’s best to take it for granted and indulge in the mature phase of your life. However, if you have naturally black or dark brown hair color, your grays will be more noticeable and might make you feel embarrassed. We hope you have found some helpful ideas that come to save the day!
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