Why the New Hair Frosting Trend Is the Easiest Way to Grow Out Your Gray Hair
It’s always fun getting in on hair trends, especially when you can spin it to work on your own hair. Hair frosting is the latest way to highlight your hair, and while women everywhere are hopping on this frosted hairstyle bandwagon for its cool multidimensional look, we couldn’t help but think how it’s a great way to start transitioning to gray hair!
A blond to gray hair transition or going from brown to gray hair can be done with a frosted hair color. Frosting is a low-maintenance coloring technique that can work for gray hair. And anyone can do it—no matter your hair color, type or texture. When your brown or blond hair begins going gray (or even if you’ve been coloring your grays for years!), all you have to do is find that frosted hair color that matches your gray roots and apply it from root to tip on the graying strands. Keep reading for all the info on hair frosting so you can ask your hairstylist to try out this trending technique on your grays asap.
What Is Hair Frosting?
Hair frosting is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. The look is achieved by a hairstylist painting color, usually blond, onto your hair like frosting, but only on some strands. Think of it like the highlighting effect using a highlighting cap. The way you pull some pieces through the cap to color is how the frosting effect works. However, hairstylists usually aren’t using a cap when creating a frosted hairstyle—they’re simply looking at your hair to decide which pieces should be colored and which shouldn’t. It’s a freehand method for highlighting that can easily be used for any color—and in this case you’re matching it to your natural gray shade.
How Can Hair Frosting Help You Transition to Gray Hair?
While the new hair frosting trend has been seen on celebrities as a highlighting method, we think it can actually be a really cool way to transition to gray hair and go from blond or brown to gray hair. Growing out your grays can be an arduous process, especially if you’ve been coloring your hair for a while. However, you can use hair frosting as a low-maintenance coloring technique for gray hair. By selecting a hair color that matches your gray roots, you can get a simple brown or blond to gray hair transition.
Think about it this way: If you get your hair frosted with your natural gray color, when the roots start coming in, they’ll blend seamlessly for a stunning salt and pepper gray hairstyle. So not only does hair frosting let you start wearing your gorgeous gray hair instantly, but you don’t need frequent trips to the salon to maintain the look! The only upkeep would be to address any new grays that appear over time, but since you’ll already be sporting silver strands at that point, these newcomers will likely be way less conspicuous (in fact, they’ll blend right in!) so you can just let your hair do its thing after the first round of frosting, if you desire. See what we mean about hair frosting being an easy, low-maintenance technique for transitioning to gray hair?
Is Hair Frosting for Gray Hair Customizable?
As with any hair coloring or highlighting you can make your hair frosting look all your own! For the most low-maintenance color for your gray hair, simply ask your hairstylist for an exact shade match and to color all the strands that are already gray at the roots. Sticking with your hair’s existing graying pattern will guarantee the look is completely unique to you—and will ensure seamless blending as your hair continues to grow.
As with traditional hair frosting, though, you can customize where you place your gray strands. For example, have your frosted hair color frame your face for a contouring effect. You can also strategically use your frosted hair color to even out your grays for a more uniform look. And if your goal is simply to minimize any harsh color lines that come with growing out your grays, you can even start slowly with your hair frosting and continue to frost regularly until all your grays are fully colored. Of course, these options are going to require more frequent visits to the salon to achieve or maintain your desired look.
How Do You Prep for Hair Frosting?
Any time you add a lighter shade to darker hair you’re stripping away color—as is the case with traditional hair frosting where you’re typically bleaching strands a cool-blond shade. So if you’re dealing with gray roots and brown hair and your goal is to transition to gray hair, you’ll need to take away color from your strands to match your roots. This can make already delicate, aging hair even more dry and brittle. And remember, if you have blond hair that’s going gray, while you’re not stripping away color like you are with darker hair, blond hair is naturally weaker so it needs lots of TLC, too. In theory, though, you’re only coloring your gray strands once, so the technique is way less damaging than typical highlights.
Nevertheless, it’s important that you’re treating your tresses with love and regularly conditioning them leading up to your hair frosting appointment. We also recommend less frequent hair washings during this time to ensure your strands are retaining as much of their natural oils as possible—this goes double if you have curly hair, which already tends to be drier. Opting for air-drying vs blow-drying and avoiding hot styling tools also helps, and is generally a good rule of thumb for delicate strands that are aging, anyway.
Try Better Not Younger Products to Show Your Gray Hair Some Love
Your gray hair needs extra love while you’re transitioning to gray hair, and Better Not Younger has a number of products to take care of your tresses. Start by washing your hair with our Silver Lining Purple Brightening Shampoo. This gentle sulfate-free shampoo is formulated to eliminate the brassiness in gray hair and keep it looking healthy. It hydrates, strengthens and adds volume to aging tresses, and it’s also safe for color-treated hair, so it will help prevent shade fade, too.
Next, treat your hair to our Silver Lining Purple Butter Masque. Like the shampoo, it’s specifically formulated for gray hair. It’ll nourish and repair your grays and keep them soft and supple with its deep-conditioning blend of nut butters plus hair-friendly folic acid and green coffee extract. All of these ingredients work together to keep your aging hair looking beautiful!
While you’re transitioning to gray hair, your salt and pepper gray hair will also benefit from products that nourish and strengthen your scalp, like our Superpower Fortifying Hair & Scalp Serum and our detoxifying and rebalancing scalp cleanser. And though we recommend steering clear of hot tools immediately following your hair frosting, when you do resume using them, make sure you protect your strands with a heat protectant spray. The proprietary blend of vitamin E and nourishing oils in our hydrating No Remorse Heat Protection & Taming Spray shields your hair from heat to protect your cuticles and preserve your color while conditioning your strands to keep them strong and healthy.
Tell Us: Are you ready to transition to gray hair with hair frosting? Share in the comments below!
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Better Not Younger has all the hair-care products you need to care for your gorgeous gray hair. Whether you have blond hair that’s going gray or are dealing with gray roots and brown hair, our nourishing and repairing products are exactly what your delicate, aging tresses need when trying out the latest hair frosting trend.