Five Things About Going Gray

Gray hair — friend or foe? Truth be told, it can be a little of both.

While signs of gray are perfectly acceptable to some women — signaling age, wisdom, and confidence — those pesky white strands can be a big problem for others. Whether you decide to put up a fight or let nature take its course, here are a few tips you should know about going gray.

Gray strands are associated with age, but they can strike at any time. Whether you're 29 or 69, grays are more color resistant than the rest of your hair, which makes darkening or lightening your locks particularly challenging, says Anne Minahan, owner of Riah Salon in Manhattan.

If you're less than 40 percent gray, you can color your hair at home, Minahan says, but look for permanent or semi-permanent products that don't contain ammonium peroxide or alcohol. Colors and dyes made with those ingredients can be harsher and more drying to your hair — and leave you more prone to fading color between treatments.

If you have strands of silver and white but have not yet reached the salt-and-pepper stage — when gray is anywhere from 25 to 75 percent of your hair — another option is to visit a salon and turn your grays into highlights. A good stylist can do this in one of two ways: transform your harsh-looking, slate-colored gray hair into a pretty shade that goes with your normal color, or put a glaze on your hair so the healthy strands shine and the grays simply look like natural, sun-kissed highlights.

Once you reach the tipping point — when gray dominates your hair — it's important to watch how you touch up your color as regrowth appears, notes Minahan. She recommends over-the-counter color wands as a fast and easy fix, but if you’ve got more than two inches of solid regrowth, head to the salon.

When your hair turns more than 90 percent gray, Minahan says it's time to consider going all the way. "A head of snowy white or really pretty silver hair can be so attractive on women — when done well, it brightens the complexion," she says. "What people notice is not that you’re gray, but that your hair is alluring and feminine." The silver fox look is best achieved in a salon, and you'll need to invest in special shampoos and conditioners designed to keep your sensitive white locks from turning brittle or yellow.

Try on a new hairstyle now.