The Best Colors to Wear With Gray Hair

Dressing For Gray Hair

Okay, so you've committed to loving your gray, let it grow out the right way, and you're using the proper shampoos and conditioners to brighten and whiten your hair so it's practically luminescent! Now it's time to dress to impress!

There are very few colors that don't work with gray hair. Earth tones like olive or beige may wash you out a bit, and the yellow undertones in ivory or cream could bring out the yellow in your hair and make it look dull. But we subscribe to the never-say-never school of thought when it comes to fashion, so if you find a yellow sweater you love we say wear it!

However, there are colors that always help make gray hair even more striking. Let's take a look... 

BLACK

The contrast between black clothing and white hair always makes a dramatic statement. Wear black when you want to be taken seriously, like Meryl Streep in "The Devil Wears Prada" or José Mourinho managing Manchester United.  

GRAY

Gray-on-Gray is ALWAYS a winning combination! 

There's nothing like seeing a silver fox in a cozy gray sweater.

When in doubt, go gray!

JEWEL TONES

Dazzling jewel tones provide a wonderful compliment for gray hair in any shade. 

 When you want to stand out, wear a bright and bold jewel tone such as Ruby, Turquoise, Jade, Amethyst, Emerald Green, Cobalt, or Citrine. 

Wear a jewel tone when you're feeling flirty, fresh and want to draw attention.

BLUE

There's nothing like a soft blue color to bring out the cool tones in your hair.  A denim shirt says you're comfortable with who you are, and that you love your gray!

BOLD COLORS

Daring to wear a bright color says you may be gray, but you're still not afraid to make a big statement. As the pigment drains from your hair follicles, adding color into your wardrobe is a brilliant idea. Pinks, greens and purples are great, and a bright red may be the most flattering color of all with gray hair.  So be interesting, and go bold!

WHITE

A crisp white shirt is a absolute necessity for any Gorgeous Gray to have in their closet. It's an easy everyday look that is timeless and always looks classy.

 

What's YOUR favorite color to show of your gorgeous gray hair??

New York Times Style Section learns to Love the Gray

The New York Times Style Section has finally discovered Gray Pride. In an article entitled "For Millennial Men, Gray Hair is Welcome", the editors offer this revelation:

"Gone are the days when guys would actively avoid graying hair. For a new generation of adventurous men, dyeing one’s hair gray is gaining traction, appropriating a naturally occurring phenomenon from older men and giving it a millennial twist."

So for men, going gray is officially "trending", and hipsters are now dyeing their hair grey as a "fashion statement." The "Gray Lady" also credits celebrities like One Direction's Zayn Malik, Olympic athlete Gus Kenworthy, and YouTuber Tyler Oakley with bringing the gray look into the public eye.  

Of course, we here at Love The Gray have known this for ages. That well kept, well groomed gray hair is gorgeous on both men and women. And of course, women were already on the forefront of this trend, and the sexism of the NYT's coverage is laid out in this excellent piece on The Frisky: "The Times is a Year Behind on Hair Trends".

"It’s annoying that the 2015 piece on women and grey hair talked about embracing ageing while the men’s piece on grey hair claims that it’s not about embracing aging, it’s just about being fashion forward, making the women’s piece an appraisal of women’s entire bodies while affording men the ability to just have it be about their hair. It’s annoying that the women’s piece got stuck into their “Women in the World” vertical while the men’s piece got put into the Fashion & Style section, as if the topic didn’t belong in the more widely-read section until men were doing it."

And if you're looking for tips on easy ways to color your hair gray check out our post How To Go Gray Fast!

Clearly, Zayn from One Direction reads our website...

Former One Direction hottie Zayn Malik just colored his hair gray, and we are more than willing to take credit for the change!

Clearly, the former boy-bander must have read our recent post "How To Go Gray FAST"!

Love the Gray, Zayn!  (or should we say, Love the Grey??)

chillin. pic.twitter.com/wenI4RQ1Kj

— zayn (@zaynmalik) August 12, 2015

How To Go Gray - FAST!

With hot silver foxes like George Clooney and Dame Helen Mirren flaunting their gorgeous gray manes, and young stars like Kelly Osbourne and Kylie Jenner dyeing their hair silver just for fun... It seems everyone is going gaga for gray hair! 

Now that gray is having it's day, even those folks unlucky enough to have naturally dark hair want in on the trend. And thanks to modern science, anyone can go gray in minutes! 

After years of shaming people into dyeing away the gray, the beauty industry has realised they can make a fortune with silver-coloring products, so suddenly it's hip! Go figure!

Here are some of the top products currently on the market to turn your hair grey:

1. Crazy Color Semi-Permanent Hair Color in Silver

Sold in an iconic pink bottle, Crazy Color has one of the largest selections of bold hair dyes. If you have dark hair, you must first beach it before adding any color. Add this trendy Crazy Color Silver color cream and you'll stay gray anywhere from 3-9 weeks.

2. La Riche Directions in Silver
La Riche makes a popular silver semi-permanent dye as well, and theirs is vegan and not tested on animals if that's important to you. Again you'll need to bleach or pre-lighen your hair first, and one tub of La Riche Directions is enough to cover shoulder length hair. 




3. Stargazer Semi-Permanent in Silver

Stargazer is a fashionable brand that comes from the UK, and advertises that it's free of peroxide or ammonia. It costs less per bottle than the Crazy Color or La Riche, but the shipping charges from the UK may make the price difference a wash.

4. Pravana ChromaSilk in Silver

If you're looking for something more permanent, Pravana is one of the most popular brands of permanent hair colorings on the market. Their Pravana ChromaSilk line blends pure silk amino acids which they say helps drive the color deeper into the hair with keratin amino acids to keep the hair strong. They recommend using their Vivid Conditioner after pre-lightening your hair to help the color adhere better when you dye it.

 

Caution is necessary when using hair dyes. If you have never dyed your hair before do some research, read the reviews, and maybe even hire a professional! For some excellent tips on the entire process check out this article from Buzzfeed. 

And once you use a product to color your hair gray, don't use a shampoo with sulfates or you'll wash out the dye. We review one especially for gray hair here.

At one time it may have seemed revolutionary to write tips on actually trying to get gray hair, but whether it's natural or from a bottle our message remains the same: Love the gray!

50 Shades of Grey Hair

When people talk about colored hair such as blonde they speak with a range of discriptors such as Ash Blonde, Platinum Blonde, Honey Blonde... Blah Blah Blonde!

The stereotype about gray hair is that it's just one color. In fact, gray hair comes in it's own rainbow of hues, from Gainsboro to Glaucous and every gorgeous gradation in between. Let's take a look at some famous celebrities modeling a few of our favorite shades...

SILVER RUST GREY

Anderson Cooper 

(Source:stylelist.com) 

PALE SLATE GREY 

Lady Gaga

(Source: coolspotters.com)

ALTO GREY

Halle Berry 

(source: Squidoo.com)

PUMICE GREY

Helen Mirren 

(source: TheGloss.com)

FLINT GREY

George Clooney 

(source: Askmen.com)

WILD SAND GREY

Richard Gere 

(source: hairopedia.com)

(Come to think of it, George Clooney and Richard Gere might be good choices to play Christian Grey in the movie adaptation of E.L. James' book "50 Shades of Grey"!)

What do you call your shade of grey?

Salt-n-Pepper ScarJo

LOVE the gray, Scarlett Johansson!

Appearing on one of W Magazine's four 40th anniversary issue covers, 

it's all about Miss Scarlett's gray!

We realize it's more of a character thing and not really the 27-year-old Johansson letting her roots come in, but we are always suckers for youthful gray haired looks. 

Perhaps she's lobbying Hollywood for a new acting role...  

Young Cruella De Vil?

Kelly Osbourne Explains The Gray.

Kelly Osbourne, 27, filled in for her mother Sharon on CBS's daytime chat show "The Talk" this week and discussed why she is coloring her hair gray.

"It's something I've wanted to do my whole life. I've always wanted to be young and have gray hair. And i know that's crazy but I don't exactly come from the most normal family!"

Of course, we think gray looks gorgeous at any age. You just have to know what to do with it!

Can guys with Gray Hair wear it long?

We've generally lived by the assertion that men with gray hair should keep it short. When gray hair gets long and too out of control it runs the risk of becoming crazy, nutty professor hair.

George Clooney's length in the "The Descendants" is about as long as you want to take it. But also consider this, he's George Clooney. Unless you're George's general level of hotness, you probably won't be able to pull off a style any longer than this!

Richard Gere can pull off a long haired look with gray hair. But consider again, he's Richard Gere. So unless you are Richard's general level of hotness, you probably can't pull off his length of grayness.

And long white pony tails are a no-no! Willie Nelson is already working that look. Leave it to Willie. Sorry. If you insist on wearing it long, don't hide your gray glory, share that mane with the world!

Kate the Gray

Well placed sources inside Buckingham Palace tell the Daily Mail
that Kate Middleton has discovered her first gray hairs!
(Or grey hairs as they say over in England.)

"Now she is 30, even Kate needs, dare one say it, a little helping hand to keep those tumbling tresses in tip-top condition. Indeed, impeccably placed sources have told me that the Duchess has, to her horror, started finding the odd grey hair (‘stress highlights’, her friends joke) and has been having an organic vegetable-based dye and subtle low-lights applied during regular four-hour sessions at the Richard Ward Hair And Metrospa in Chelsea."

- The Daily Mail, January 7, 2012

The Duchess of Cambridge calls it "Stress Highlights"?
We prefer to call them "Wisdom Wefts" or "Smartness Streaks"!
And we say: GO GRAY GREY KATE!
We're sure you have something better to do than waste your time getting your roots dyed in four-hour salon sessions.
Spend that extra time working with you newly announced charity patronages!
Then the UK press might stop calling you the "Duchess of Dolittle"
and you'll be "The Next Diana™" in no time!