How to Cover Grays When You Have Highlights?

As we get older, our hair naturally starts producing less melanin - the pigment responsible for color. This is when we start to see gray or silver strands in our hair. For those who love their highlighted look, this can lead to questions like: how to cover gray hair with highlights or whether it's even possible to seamlessly blend silver hair into your existing color. The good news? It absolutely is! Let’s dive in.

Can Gray Hair Be Highlighted?

Yes, it can! Gray hair often gets a bad rap for being stubborn or tricky to manage, but highlights are a fantastic tool for blending grays into your current hair color. The key is understanding that gray hair reflects light differently than pigmented strands. This unique characteristic actually makes grays a great base for highlights.

When you ask, "can you highlight gray hair?" the answer lies in choosing the right technique. A skilled colorist can use highlights to camouflage grays, creating a look that's both sophisticated and natural. Whether you want to maintain your existing highlights or add fresh ones, the process can be tailored to your needs.

How to Cover Gray Hair With Highlights - Top 3 Techniques

Covering gray hair with highlights is all about strategic blending. Unlike traditional single-process coloring, highlights add dimension and texture, making grays less noticeable. Here’s how professionals typically achieve this:

1. Low-Maintenance Blending

For those with just a few grays, soft highlights can work wonders. By placing lighter strands around the crown or framing the face, the grays appear intentional, creating a “salt-and-pepper” effect that feels modern and stylish.

2. Balayage for a Natural Look

If you’re wondering how to highlight gray hair while keeping it subtle, balayage might be your answer. This freehand technique allows for precise placement of color, blending grays with your natural hair and existing highlights seamlessly.

3. Toning Down with Lowlights

Lowlights are darker pieces that contrast with highlights. When mixed with your natural hair, they create depth and dimension that will help blend gray roots. Combining highlights and lowlights is a great technique that will allow you to keep your color natural-looking and camouflage gray hair.

Learn more about blending gray hair with highlights and lowlights from our blog.

Choosing the Right Shade

When it comes to covering gray hair with highlights, the shade you choose matters. If your highlights are too light or too dark, they can actually draw attention to the gray strands rather than blending them.

Opt for shades that complement your skin tone and blend naturally with your base color. For example:

• Golden blondes or honey tones work beautifully for warm undertones and if you have a lighter brown natural color between the gray hair.

• Cool-toned highlights are best if you have darker hair or steely gray hair and want to minimize brassiness.

• If you have just a few grays or are just starting to go gray, caramel or mocha balayage highlights can blend the first signs of gray beautifully.

A skilled colorist will help you identify the shades that suit you best, so be sure to book services now. Don’t be afraid to experiment – sometimes a subtle tweak in tone makes all the difference!

Can You Highlight Gray Hair at Home?

While professional help is always a good idea if you’re wondering how to highlight gray hair, you can try DIY highlights at home with the right tools and products. However, be careful! Gray hair can be coarser and more resistant to color, so you’ll need a high-quality highlighting kit and patience to ensure even application.

Also, it’s a good idea to start with a strand test to see how the color reacts with your hair before applying it all over.

Maintaining Your Look

Once you’ve achieved your ideal balance of highlights and gray coverage, maintenance is key. Gray hair tends to be drier and more porous, so investing in hydrating products is essential. Use shampoos and conditioners formulated for color-treated hair, and consider using a toner, gloss, or shampoo designed to help neutralize any brassiness in your highlights. We recommend Color Reviving Gloss in Crema to help tone brassiness that might start to show in your natural gray hair as well as your highlighted hair.

Regular touch-ups will also keep your color looking fresh. Depending on how quickly your hair grows and the technique used, you may need to visit the salon every six to eight weeks.

The Takeaway

Gray hair doesn’t mean the end of your favorite highlighted look. In fact, it opens the door to a new world of color possibilities. 

So, can gray hair be highlighted? Absolutely. With a little creativity and the help of a skilled colorist (or a well-planned DIY effort), you can transform your grays into a stunning feature of your overall style. Remember, the goal is not to fight the grays but to embrace them in a way that enhances your natural beauty.

In the end, your hair is your canvas, and highlights are the perfect brushstroke to create a masterpiece that’s uniquely yours.

Looking for more low-maintenance color ideas to camouflage gray hair? Check our article.