“My blonde hair is turning gray!”
If you dreamed of perfect blonde hair after bleaching, this is one thing you would not want to experience.
Unfortunately, blonde hair easily absorbs various pigments, so this is not something unexpected. But where did these shades of gray come from? And most importantly, is there a way to fix them?
Check out our guide for the 4 reasons why your blonde hair is turning gray and how you can fix it.
Why did blonde hair turn gray?
There are 4 main reasons why blonde hair turns gray:
Reason 1: Toning after whitening
If you had your hair dyed at a salon, they would usually apply a purple toner to neutralize the yellow and orange tones that may appear later. Unfortunately, a shade gone wrong can lead to streaks of gray on your blonde hair.
The good news is that those gray streaks will fade after 4 washes.
solution: But if you want to speed up the fading process, the best thing to do is wash your hair more often – daily instead of every other day.
Reason 2: Application of the wrong hair color shade
If you want perfect blonde hair, don’t use gray hair dye as it will produce gray gray tones on blonde hair.
solution: To get rid of the ashy undertones, you’ll need to re-dye your hair the right color. For this, a gold or copper colored hair dye is highly recommended as it can neutralize not only the gray but also the green and blue tones in your hair.
Be sure to wait at least two weeks before re-dying your hair to ensure that all unwanted pigments have been completely washed out.
Reason 3: Using an Ashi toner
Ashy toners can help you bring out the beautiful ash blonde tone in your hair. But, unfortunately, it can sometimes be too gray, so you might end up with a smoky color instead of blonde.
If you used a gray toner, it will probably fade after 4 to 5 washes, so you just have to wait.
solution: If the gray color remains after these few washes, you may need to bleach your hair again. This time, using a 10 volume key. Here are the steps you should take:
- Mix the 10 volume developer and a small amount of your shampoo in a plastic container.
- Apply it to your hair like your shampoo and let it sit for about 5 minutes.
- Wash it well.
- Repeat at least once a week until the gray streaks disappear completely.
Reason 4: Using the wrong shade of shampoo
Tinted shampoos contain pigments; When your hair is blonde, it can easily absorb them from your toning shampoo.
If you use tinting shampoo and your blonde hair turns gray, it is most likely due to the gray undertones of the shampoo.
solution: To get rid of the gray undertones, immediately stop using the toning shampoo. Replace it with keratin shampoo, and the blonde color of your hair will be restored after 2 to 3 washes.
Alternative solutions for correcting gray tones after bleaching
Sometimes your hair will turn gray after being dyed blonde, even if you haven’t made any of the above mistakes. If this is your case, you can correct the gray tones in your hair using any of the following products:
Clarifying shampoo
This hair product is designed for deep cleansing as it can remove residue and product build-up. Because of its strong cleaning power it can also remove hair color pigments like the gray streaks in your hair.
Use this only once a week as it can cause dryness in the hair.
anti dandruff shampoo
If you don’t have to clarify shampoo, you can use an especially strong anti-dandruff shampoo. Since it contains almost the same ingredients as a lightening shampoo, it is also effective in removing gray tones from your blonde hair.
In the bottom line
There are 4 possible reasons why your hair turned gray after dyeing it blonde:
- toning after whitening,
- Using grayish toner,
- Using the wrong toning shampoo,
- Applying the wrong shade of hair dye.
Luckily for you, these problems can be easily fixed by simply washing your hair, stopping conditioning shampoo, re-bleaching or re-dying your hair. You can do all these easily by following the tips and steps above.