It happens to all of us. We wake up one morning, look in the mirror, and gasp in horror when we see those dreaded grey hairs on our heads. The next thought maybe what color toner to use on grey hair to cover it. Grey hairs don’t just occur with age. You can start growing grey hairs as early as your teens or twenties!
We’re all about embracing the greys, but if you’d rather cover them up, for now, we’ve got everything you need to know. If you’re wondering whether toner covers grey hairs, let’s break it down! This guide explores how toner works, what colors are best to cover your greys, and which products you should try!
What is a Hair Toner?
Hair toner is a product you can find at your local salon, in your local beauty store, or even online! It works by taking pre-lightened hair and enriching the color, for a more saturated, or “toned”, look. If you’ve ever gotten your hair colored, you likely got your hair bleached before getting it colored and toned.
There are various ways you can go about putting toner in your hair. You can go to a salon and get your hair professionally toned, or you can purchase a toner to do yourself at home! Both are great options, but if you’re looking to save some money, doing your own toner at home is relatively easy to learn.
Does Toner Cover Grey Hair?
There are many different kinds of toner, and they interact with hair in different ways depending on your hair color. So, does toner cover grey hair?
The simple answer is—yes! Toner does cover grey hair. Grey is an excellent base color for toner as it’s already lightened and ready to soak up color. There are various ways to use toner to cover up grey hair. You can replace the color entirely, using a toner to cover up most of your hair. You can also blend in the greys to match your natural color if you only have a few in your roots.
Does Toner Work on Natural Grey Hair?
While toner can always be used to cover up another toner or hair color, it can also be used to cover up naturally greying hair! So, if your blonde highlights came out a little too ashy for your liking, if you realized you couldn’t pull off silver hair, or if your hair is just naturally greying, toner can help cover it up!
The color toner you choose largely depends on what color your hair is, to begin with. If you have blonde hair with just a few grey strands, you may get by with using highlights or lowlights. Let’s talk about what color toner you can use to hide grey hair.
Can You Put Blonde Toner on Grey Hair?
Grey hair is a great foundation for toner to work its coloring magic. However, many wonder if you can put blonde toner on grey hair. The answer is yes! Blonde toner is actually one of the most popular color options when it comes to covering up grey hair since it’s light and warm while grey tends to be light and cool.
In addition, blonde and grey are similar in tone to begin with. This makes greys easy to cover up and blend together for a subtle, natural-looking finish to your hair. Even if you decide to wait a few weeks before touching up your roots, the similarities between your blonde and grey hairs will still hold a blend to make your greys unnoticeable.
What Hair Color is Best for Hiding Grey Hair?
The best color to hide grey hair depends on what color your natural hair is. Here are a few simple guidelines to follow.
If you have brunette hair, consider choosing a lighter, cooler shade of brown to hide your grey strands. These colors serve to blend in the greys with your natural color, which not only hides grey hairs, but it also preserves the natural look of your hair.
If you’ve got blonde hair, blonde highlights or lowlights can also be used to seamlessly blend grey strands in with your already lightened hair. If you’ve got dirty blonde or light brunette hair, colors like butterscotch, auburn, or golden brown are excellent options to hide greys.
If you have naturally darker hair, like dark brown or black, you can use dark dye to conceal greys. However, this process is a little bit trickier as your dark hair will create a more obvious contrast between your grays.
Consider using a dark black or brown shade that’s within two shades of your natural color. It’s important to find the perfect color match for your hair, so make sure to explore your options. Once you’ve found your perfect match, simply apply it wherever you have greys. This may just be on your root area, or it may extend down your hair.
5 Best Toners for Natural Grey Hair
Going to the salon and getting your hair toned is a great option, but it isn’t for everyone. If you’re looking for a way to conceal your greys without making an expensive trip to the hairdresser, here are five of the best toners to hide greys on natural grey hair available on Amazon Prime!
1. L’Oreal Paris Magic Root Cover Up
One of the best products for concealing natural greys on darker hair is L’Oreal Paris Magic Root Cover Up. This temporary color spray helps conceal gray hairs by blending in with your natural hair color. If you’re looking for an easy to apply product, this is an excellent option! Simply spray on your roots and enjoy the extra confidence!
2. L’Oreal Paris Magic Root Precision Pen
For on-the-go coverage that lasts until you wash your hair again, try the L’Oreal Paris Magic Root Precision Pen! With shades in light brown, dark brown, and black, this pen offers easy temporary coverage for in between your coloring sessions or on the go!
3. Revlon Root Erase Permanent Root Touchup
For all the blondes out there looking for an easy to use, permanent solution to say goodbye to grey hairs, look no further! The Revlon Root erase Permanent Root Touchup is available in dark, medium, and light blonde and permanently dyes your roots to hide greys and keep you looking young. As a bonus, it’s also available in darker brown and red shades!
4. Style Edit Root Concealer Touchup Spray
The Style Edit Root Concealer Touchup Spray is a temporary spray that slowly fades after a few washes. Available in a variety of shades from platinum blonde, deep red, and raven black, this spray is a great solution for concealing grey hairs in between salon visits. Plus, it’s great for all hair types!
5. Just for Men Easy Comb-In Color
While salt and pepper hair is popular with the ladies, you may not be ready to rock greys like George Clooney quite yet. Luckily, Just for Men Easy Comb-In Color conceals greys, is easy to apply, and comes in buildable coverage! So, if you want a little grey or none at all, you’ll be able to get just the look you’re going for!
Do Highlights Cover Grey Hair?
Highlights are an excellent way to cover grey hairs, as they preserve the natural color of your hair. This is because highlights stay toward the root of your head, where most grey hairs start to pop up, to begin with.
Highlighting is a process where your hair is lightened. If you’ve ever been to the salon to get your hair colored, you’re likely familiar with the concept of highlighting. Sometimes hair is highlighted in order to apply a darker color onto it and make it stick better. Other times, highlights are applied in order to lighten the hair.
Because of how light grey hair is, highlighting is a great way to seamlessly blend these greys in with your natural light color or prepare them for a darker dye. Highlighting is also thought to make the hair appear thicker, so if you have thinner hair you may be able to get two perks with one salon visit!
Tips for Using Toner at Home
If you’ve never performed your own color or used toner at home, don’t worry. It’s a relatively easy process to get the hang of. Here are a few tips to help you out!
Do a Patch Test
Doing a patch test can make or break your color experience. Simply apply a small amount of toner on a section of your hair to make sure it turns out similar enough to your hair color. Once you determine it’s close enough to your color (within one or two shades) you can apply the rest!
Get the Right Tools
If you buy one of the toning kits mentioned above, you may need certain supplies like gloves or a brush to apply the color. Make sure these supplies come with the package or be sure to order them separately if they don’t!
Conclusion
Whether you’ve noticed more greys popping up from stress, getting older, or just from the generational grey hairs of your family, you’ve probably asked yourself what color toner to use on your grey hair. The answers above can help you find the perfect toner for you. Covering your greys is easy with these tips and products, so get shopping today!
