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Figuring out how to make grey hair shiny silver can be challenging and may seem like a daunting task. Although nerve-wracking, this transition is possible and can make you feel stunning, happy, and confident.
Turning your grey hair a shiny silver will take time, patience, and planning. You may need to dye your hair, clean it with a clarifying shampoo, or use a serum to assist with shine.
Creating silver from your grey hair may take multiple steps. Read on to learn how you can adopt a shiny silver look instead of a dull grey hair appearance.
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How to Make Grey Hair Shiny Silver (14 Tips)
Several steps can help you turn your grey hair into a silver shine. However, you may need to invest in many products to help your hair embrace, maintain, and hold the shine.
This process may not be a problem for those accustomed to detailed and thorough hair care routines, but beginners may get overwhelmed.
Take your time with each step to saturate your hair and understand how your grey hair will react to each product. Some products may cause allergic reactions or may not suit your hair well. So always be cautious as you journey from grey hair to a silver shine.
1. Begin With Special Shampoos
The first step to achieving a silvery shine instead of a grey head of hair is to adopt a hydrating shampoo. Although you may find that you begin to lose hair volume as you get older, a hydrating shampoo can help bring some life back to your hair and make the strands look bold, healthy, and voluminous.
A hydrating shampoo will counteract the dryness and fragility that grey hairs often come with. Additionally, you may want to use a clarifying shampoo in your hair once weekly to help make your grey hair look bright and shiny.
A clarifying shampoo will help remove product buildup and help reverse some of the damage that chemical-laden water can have on your grey hair.
2. Use a Purple Toner
Consider using a purple toner during this process if your grey hair has any yellowing strands. Grey hair can adopt yellowing strands due to many factors, including sun exposure, hard water, heating, prescriptions, and air pollutants.
If you have a lot of yellowing hairs among your grey locks, you may need to use this toner once weekly. You may use a purple toner more than once weekly to keep a shiny silver sheen without reverting to grey or yellowing hair.
Purple toners are a perfect solution for those prone to yellowing hairs and struggling to control the amount of yellowing in their grey hair because this product can neutralize yellow tones and bring them back down to grey.
3. Apply a Hair Serum
Hair serums are ideal for getting your hair to reflect that shiny look you’re trying to achieve. The formula in serums is meant to help trap the natural oils within your hair to bolster its shine.
There are hair serums specifically created for grey hair that will have all kinds of vitamins and minerals that will aid you in your quest for silver hair.
The best serums will have keratin, collagen, and other strength-building components to help prevent your grey hair from breaking and boost your hair’s health.
4. Use Hairspray
Many people may not be a fan of hairspray since aerosol sprays can damage the environment. However, aerosols aren’t as damaging to the environment as they had been in the 1970s, meaning you can use hairspray guilt-free.
Hairspray will make your hair look dull, which is the opposite of what you want. However, you can make your hair look more voluminous by spraying hairspray under the top layer of your hair to make your hair maintain its shine while boosting volume.
5. Try Keratin Treatments
Keratin treatments can be done in many salons these days, and these treatments are perfect for discouraging frizz and making your hair look glossy and smooth.
Keratin is a protein that will help smooth over the cells that line the outside of your hair and repair split-ends or broken strands. Keratin treatments can be done at home by yourself, but the product won’t be as strong as the products they offer in a salon.
6. Use a Hair Mask
A hair mask is a temporary product that you can use in your hair to give it a boost of vitamins, minerals, and proteins to help your hair build back up after some damage. A hair mask is the most ideal after a day in the sun.
For example, a hair mask after a beach day will help counteract UV damage to your hair. The sun can also make your hair yellow, which a hair mask can help prevent.
A hair mask can stay in your hair for a few minutes or hours before being washed out. Some hair masks will have heavy proteins that need more time to soak into the hair. Always follow the package instructions.
Read Next: What Is Scalp Sunscreen?
7. Use Leave-In Conditioner
A leave-in conditioner is perfect for a full day out of the house and away from other hair care products. This conditioner can help keep your hair hydrated without worrying about rinsing out. Many of these conditioners will have hydrating avocado, vitamins, and minerals that are safe to remain in your hair for hours.
8. Invest in Hats
UV rays can harm your hair and make your grey hair even more brittle and fragile, meaning it will be more difficult to make the locks a shiny silver color. A hat can protect your hair from the harmful UV rays, and it’s a nice excuse to buy matching accessories.
9. Avoid Chlorine and Chemicals
Harsh chemicals and hard water can damage your hair further and make your strands start to split. Avoid these harsh chemicals as much as possible to prevent damage that you will need to work harder to fix later.
When going swimming in a pool, use a hair cap or other protective gear to keep your hair out of the water. Additionally, you may want to have your home’s water system tested to see how many chemicals are in your plumbing lines.
10. Try Gloss Treatments
Gloss treatments can be intense for grey hair, but they can be safe when done intermittently. A gloss treatment can be a good way to add shine to your hair using natural ingredients and forgoes many harsh chemicals.
A hair gloss treatment will likely last anywhere from four to six weeks, making them beneficial for your hair without putting too much strain on fragile grey strands.
11. Eat Healthy
Adopt a healthy diet for the best, shiny hair. Those who eat a diet rife with vitamins, minerals, fruits, and vegetables will likely see better results and stronger hair than those who eat more junk food. Eating a healthy diet will mean that your hair will get all the vitamins and minerals it needs to thrive, shine, and look stunning.
Read Next: Which Vitamins Are Good for Your Hair?
12. Drink Plenty of Water
Your hair will suffer if you aren’t hydrated properly. Without enough water in your body, your hair will be one of the first things to become dry, fractured, and damaged.
Split-ends and snapped hair strands are common in those who haven’t had enough water in their system. For example, you may see your skin become dry when you don’t drink enough water, and the same thing happens to your hair.
These effects are harder to see in your hair, so keep a log of how much water you drink to ensure you’re getting enough water. You should be drinking between 60 and 100 ounces of water daily.
13. Reduce Stress
Stress can cause your hair to become more fragile and break, along with many other symptoms in your body. Sometimes, stress can make your hair fall out and cause hair loss in general.
Hair loss happens when your stress hormones are so high that they impact stem cells responsible for hair growth and make the hair stop growing. In some people, stress may cause bald spots while others may see chunks of their hair fall out only to regrow when the stress eases.
Read Next: What Exactly Causes Gray Hair?
14. Regularly Cut Your Hair
Trimming your hair regularly can help healthy hair grow and boost hair growth. Trimming dead-ends or split-ends off is one of the best things you can do.
This encourages healthy hair to grow while keeping damaged hair at bay. This is similar to how plants may need to have dead leaves removed so they have enough energy to grow new ones.
Read Next: How Often Should You Get a Haircut?
Frequently Asked Questions
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Although getting a silky smooth head of silver hair may be nerve-wracking, there are plenty of ways you can achieve this. However, there are some vital questions and answers to consider before getting started.
What toner should I use to get silver hair?
A purple or violet toner is the best product to use for adopting a silver head of hair. The purple toner will soften your hair, make it shinier, and help purge brassy or yellow colors. Purple toner is perfect for lighter shades of hair.
How often do I use purple toner for silver hair?
You’ll want to use purple toner once a week to maintain your silver hair. A purple toner will be ideal for keeping dull grey tones from creeping up obviously at the roots.
At what age do grey hairs start growing?
Grey hairs will start to grow in the mid-30s. However, grey hairs may crop up earlier if you are consistently stressed out or have a lot of anxiety.
Can grey hair be shiny?
Grey hair can be shiny with a few tricks and the correct products to boost the shine and get rid of any yellow tones. You may need to use a strict hair care routine to achieve the level of shine and color consistency you’re looking for. Consider using purple shampoo, conditioner, and toner to boost shine without missing out on color.
Does grey hair have any deeper meaning?
In many cultures, grey hair is associated with maturity, wisdom, and deeper understanding. Because you gain grey hairs as you age, grey hair will mean that you have an abundance of experiences and may be able to help coach others or steer them in the right direction.
So, How Do You Make Grey Hair Shiny Silver?
Turning your grey hair into a head of silver strands can be challenging, but with the right material and steps, you can find yourself the proud owner of stunning silver locks.
Although you may need plenty of purple toners, shampoo, and conditioner, the result is worth the wait and patience it takes to achieve your ideal silver look.
Remember that anyone of any age can have a head of silver hair and that grey hairs are a common occurrence in the mid-30s. Happy coloring!