Why Grey Matters, when it comes to Colour Analysis

A few weeks ago I was chatting with a friend who happens to be one of London’s most celebrated hairdressers. His eponymous London salon is frequented by celebrities and ‘civilians’ alike who all agree that he is pure magic when it comes to women’s hair.

He told me that increasing numbers of his clients are considering going grey and he wanted to know what he should be advising them based on their unique colouring.

This is a question I get a lot from my clients – will grey work for me?

For anyone thinking about going grey, it is a big decision and if you do decide to go grey, how do you do it? Do you go ‘cold turkey’ and live with two entirely different hair colours for what could be some time? Do you opt for grey blending and do it more gradually? Should you cut it short and start again or do you do what many women are now doing and opt for extensions so that you can go grey in one fell swoop while you wait for your own grey to grow through?

Before you make any of these decisions I would highly advise having a colour analysis done (with me, obvs). We stay in the same season all our lives, but certain colours and shades within that season will work better as we age and particularly as we go grey. So this is absolutely the time to know which colours will work best before you debut the silver.

Grey hair can be the ultimate neutral base and clients often notice that more vivid shades work really well with it. Some of my grey clients will suddenly want to wear bright red or berry lipstick or strong, jewel-like shades. Other clients will notice that their particular shade of grey is making soft, powdery shades glow against their skin.

There are a whole host of cultural, economic and lifestyle reasons for women deciding to go grey right now. Many Gen X and Millennial women are finding grey hair liberating, incredibly chic, easier to maintain and kinder on their hair. Unsurprisingly, celebrities and influencers are also helping to drive this trend as more and more embrace the silver.

The actress Olivia Colman has recently debuted long, steel grey locks after years wearing her signature, brunette pixie cut. Sarah Jessica Parker, Patron Saint of the warm, balayage wave (and my hair inspiration since 1985), looks just as sensational with her greying, blended mane. If pushed, I would say that actually, the soft grey harmonises more with her cool, muted colouring, than the warm blonde.

Does grey hair work better for certain seasons?

There are no hard and fast rules on this and everyone is different. Until your grey hair comes through we don’t know the exact colour it will be. Many people find that they aren’t quite as grey as they thought or that it only grows in certain areas.

However, in my experience those who carry it really well are those with cooler undertones, particularly those who have been very dark haired previously. Grey tends to be the ultimate cool neutral, so people with warmer complexions may find that they want to experiment with grey blending before they go the whole hog.

For me, so far, no grey. I’m 51 and I know that this could change tomorrow and many of my friends are now silver vixens. When it happens, I will be faced with a real dilemma. On the one hand, I am all about embracing the changes that come with age and not trying to fight it, but…I am very low contrast and very warm , a potentially tricky combination to offset the demands of stark, cool grey.

So we’ll see. I rather suspect I’ll be taking my caramel and honey to the grave. The only nonagenarian in the salon asking my hairdresser to give me ‘Madonna, Ray of Light era’ and ‘Season 5 Carrie Bradshaw’.