How to help your clients go grey

With salons having to shut over lockdown, many of your clients who were thinking about growing out their grey may have decided to take the plunge. However, there are several ways you can help your clients go grey gracefully. Here, we asked the experts on how to help your clients go grey, the advice to give to help them keep their grey hair looking its best and to keep them coming back to you in the salon.

How to help your clients go grey

Q: My client has been dyeing their hair with a dark block colour for years and now wants to grow out their natural grey. What can I do to make the growing out process easier for the client?

Mark Creed at Idlewile recommends using a combination of lowlights and highlights.  "This technique will only colour a certain predetermined percentage of the greys, thus disguising the ‘tidemark’ of the natural colour as it comes through," he says. "As a bonus the colour application doesn’t need quite so much upkeep, once every three months is all they need to book in for to keep things looking perfect." However, it's important to set realistic expectations for your client. "Explain that growing out their natural hair colour will take some time. Having a cut and taking it shorter would make it easier for them to reach this goal sooner," says Dominique Burgess at Tristan Eves. "Once your client has a few inches of re-growth, it will give you an exact indication of what you are working towards. Then you can work on softening and breaking up the dark block colour," she says. "Sometimes you may need to add some lowlights or highlights to their natural base to help camouflage the harsh line between the natural and what’s already on the hair. By doing this service, it will allow them to enjoy the growing out process without having huge contrast of roots and the solid harsh colour," she adds.

Q: What aftercare advice can I give to my client who has gone fully grey, to help keep the natural grey colour looking its best?

"For this client I would suggest using a good clarifying shampoo occasionally to remove any residue that tends to build up on grey hair, and I recommend for them to use a good silver shampoo once a week to keep the hair looking cool," says Sharon. Getting your client in for regular cuts will also help the grey look its best. "I would recommend that your client books in for regular cuts with their stylist – getting rid of dead ends and maintaining the style will compliment the colour," says Dominique. "Grey hair can lack moisture, become coarse and sometimes have a fuzzy or wiry texture. If this is the case, you could tell your client to have regular hair treatments and hair masks to use at home. This will enable them to style their hair with ease and will aid smoothness giving them shiny hair," she says.

Q: My client has long hair and wants to start growing out their grey hair. How can I manage expectations as they grow it out?

"For this client, an in-depth consultation is key, discussing the different textures of grey hair and advising on each," says Sharon. "I would also discuss the fashion trends and how she may be influenced by this and if growing her grey hair through would be correct for her and her lifestyle in the long term. "My concern with all clients when wanting to embrace their natural grey hair is how the colour works next to their skin tone and usually this is the one factor that would influence the client to introduce a small amount of colour – especially around the hairline," she says. "When they see how colour really enhances ones natural look, the client would usually decide that a small amount of colour is more beneficial to their look." If your client is open to taking off some of the length, this can help speed up the process. "I would explain that if they were happy to take some length off this would help speed up the process, although it still would be a working progress," says Dominique. "I would look at your clients natural base and current colour and try and blend this for them to allow the growing out stage to be a soft transition for them." Mark also recommends sharing all the benefits and potential drawbacks of the client's options. "Be sure to mention the up-keep and salon visit frequency of each option. Don’t skimp here, clients love the engagement of your time and expertise, and you’ll gain her or his trust for life," he says. "Be honest and remember to give your client a realistic program of the ‘grow-out’ plan with time frames. Don’t forget to include tips such as using the haircut/shape to help disguise the roots during the initial grow out period, also educate your client in using root disguising touch-ups to see them over the difficult first months," he says.