Covering grey hair: Effective treatments and why you shouldn't pluck them out

Take your pick from at-home and in-salon products and treatments to cover, blend and disguise silver streaks

From hair colour sprays to tinted powders, there are various ways to cover grey hair. Getty Images

It’s a hair conundrum most people face sooner or later – what to do when grey roots start showing through?

With an array of temporary and permanent solutions available, knowing when to do a quick-fix at home or when to visit the salon can be confusing. Add into the mix the fact that greys can be inconsistent when they start coming through, and it can be difficult to determine the best course of action.

“Greys can be a bit mysterious,” says Cat Hawkes, owner of Salon 971 in Dubai. “For some people, they start popping up in certain areas like around the temples or at the crown. Others might see them sprinkled all over. How those little silvers make their debut varies from person to person.”

Maria Dowling, founder of Maria Dowling Salon, adds: “For 90 per cent of people, they appear on the front of the hairline or around the ears – exactly where people can see them – rather than at the back of the head.”

What to do when greys first start showing

While ageing is the main cause of going grey, the age at which roots start turning silver is not fixed. “It is scalp-specific when someone ages,” says Barry Kane, co-founder of Grafton Hair in Dubai. “Some of my clients have gone grey by the time they are 30.”

Copper, iron and nutritional deficiencies can also lead to premature greying, as well as genetics and environmental factors. Ultimately, hair turns grey or white when the pigment cells in that follicle have died and no longer produce colour.

When grey roots start appearing, and if you don’t intend to let nature take its course and go grey naturally, experts agree there’s no need to run to the nearest salon for a full dye job just yet. “When just a few greys sneak in, don’t stress, and definitely don’t pull them out,” says Hawkes. “You can use a super-handy root touch-up product at home.”

Hair colour will also dictate how long you can wait before greys start to show prominently, with blonde hair better able to disguise grey roots than darker tresses.

Temporary root touch-up products: Powder power

There is a range of products to cover greys, from area-specific options such as hair mascaras, to powders and sprays that can target larger areas. Most root touch-ups are temporary and will wash out when you shampoo your hair.

“My favourite is cover-ups in powder form as they offer a natural look and are easy to apply,” says Hawkes. “Hair mascaras are super-precise for small areas, sprays are quick and cover larger areas fast, and creams can offer a bit more control.”

Dowling adds: “It also depends how much grey you have. Colour Wow is a great option if you only have a few grey hairs. It can also be used if you pull your hair tight in a ponytail and don’t want the scalp on the sides of your head visible – even Kim Kardashian does this.

“If you have more grey hairs and perhaps even a badger stripe along the roots, use a spray. I love these as they allow me to extend the time between my salon visits by up to two weeks,” notes Dowling, adding she's 100 per cent grey now.

At-home temporary fixes come with downsides, though, not least the fact it can be difficult to ensure you’re treating the right place and achieving balanced coverage.

At-home box dyes are particular tricky, explains Alison Keogh, co-partner at Headkase Salon, as nine out of 10 colours applied at home will turn out darker than expected because box colours are saturated with pigment. Hairstylists know this and can compensate. She places the blame on misleading social media tutorials, too: “These videos are edited to make it look easy. It’s not. So don’t do it. Put the box colour down.”

Kane adds: “Mascaras can be clunky and leave residue on the scalp. Sprays are popular but they can cause a barrier on the hair, which means if you visit the salon to have a tint, you may not get best results due to the presence of the spray-on product. Also, they can look a little obvious unless they are colour-matched carefully. Powders are best to use in my opinion, as you have control and they do not leave hair feeling dirty.”

When choosing a temporary treatment, look for quick-drying products so they don’t smudge or stain your skin or clothes. Hair should also feel natural to the touch, and not overtly coarse or sticky.

Salon treatments to cover grey hair

For those who prefer to let the professionals take care of things, a visit to the salon is always an option even if you only have a few greys coming through.

“Covering a few greys usually involves a quick touch-up, like using a demi-permanent colour just on those areas,” says Hawkes. “It takes less time and product compared to a whole head colour, which involves a full application, often with permanent dye to cover all your hair evenly.”

Depending on hair colour, treatments such as highlights, lowlights and balayage can work with your existing tone to blend and disguise greys. “If you only have a few greys, then scattering highlights or lowlights through the hair will disguise these,” says Dowling. “The percentage of grey in your hair will determine which type of colour – demi or permanent – you should have.”

If you prefer to visit the salon for those in-between weeks when glimmers of silver start to come through, Kane recommends a tint. “You can have a tint in between other services or salon visits,” he says. “A half tint takes 15 minutes to paint on the hair, while a full tint takes 30 minutes. Generally speaking, the development time is the same as it takes this long to open the cuticle, deposit the colour and close the cuticle.”

Dowling adds: “If someone is 20 per cent to 50 per cent grey, I recommend using a demi-permanent colour. This takes between 20 and 25 minutes to develop. But if someone is more than 50 per cent grey and wants to colour their whole head of hair, they need to have a permanent colour applied as the demi-permanent will be too translucent to cover the greys. The length of time to apply and the processing time will be longer too.”

Should you pluck grey hairs out?

The old wives' tale that if you pluck out a grey hair many more will appear in its place may have been debunked, but it stands to reason that you will simply get another grey in its place often in a matter of days.

Repeated plucking of the same hairs can lead to damage to the follicle, resulting in hair that will never grow back, grey or otherwise.

“This may seem like a quick solution, but in reality it doesn’t help in the long-term, as it may cause the hair to grow back and stick up even more pronouncedly,” says Dowling.

Hawkes adds: “Resist the urge to pluck those greys. Plucking can damage the hair follicle and sometimes lead to more stubborn regrowth. Instead, use a root touch-up product to camouflage and a good wax or hairspray to tame.”