Why Is My Grey Hair Turning Yellow? How to Fix Yellow or Blue Grey Hair
We already know that as we age our hair begins to turn grey. This is because as we age, the pigment cells in our hair follicles slowly die, and eventually the hair strand will no longer contain enough melanin to maintain our hair colour.
It instead becomes transparent – usually grey, silver, or white. But it often seems like our grey hair is getting discoloured... today on the Blog we're tackling why that is!
Why does grey hair turn yellow?
The reason why you find yourself with yellowing grey hair might surprise you: hard water.
Hard water and hair don’t usually get along, and after enough exposure to minerals and metals (like calcium, magnesium, aluminum, copper, manganese, and iron) it can turn yellow.
For years, in order to counteract that dreaded yellowing, stylists have recommended blue shampoo. But this can be problematic.
Usually a blue shampoo for silver hair is made with a water-soluble violet dye (similar to the one used in purple shampoos for grey hair or blonde hair) that is super intense.
These dyes can temporarily stain skin and if overused even stain your hair (if you’ve ever had blue white hair, this is likely why!).
Aside from that, just like the purple shampoo that’s prescribed to blondes, a blue shampoo gets diluted with water in the shower.
In order to have any visible colour-correcting impact, your dye needs to be intense – and is usually an inky, dark dye. It stains your hair to reverse the yellow effect, but when in use it’s super messy on your skin and shower.
It’s also hard to predict the right distribution of blue dye – and often hair is left yellow in a few spots, and too blue in others leaving you with an awkward blue grey hair.
How to strip yellow out of grey hair naturally
1. Apply a pre-shampoo mineral remover
Thankfully there is an alternative. Instead of combatting yellow hair with a messy blue dye that just masks the problem, you can use a pre-shampoo mineral remover.
Our go-to is Color Wow Dream Filter (the reviews speak for themselves!), which removes the minerals and metals from your hair, restoring your gorgeous shade of grey.
Dream Filter combines 2 molecular filters with 2 polymeric filters – together, they work like a magnet to extract minerals and metals from the hair. The process is gentle, safe, and fast (it only takes 1-3 minutes!).
To use, spray Dream Filter onto dry hair, spray evenly to saturate your grey hair, wait 1-3 minutes, then wash with the best shampoo for grey hair, Color Security Shampoo. Then condition and style as usual.
2. Colour correct with a toning foam
If your hair still has a tinge of yellow, it may be getting stained by other ingredients found in styling products like essential oils or certain preservatives.
You can opt to colour correct with our Color Control Purple Toning + Styling Foam too. Unlike purple shampoo, this foam uses a much less intense dye, because it isn’t being rinsed away in the shower.
This means less mess during the application process. Plus, because it’s a styler and not a shampoo, it doesn’t get massaged into your scalp, which avoids unwanted follicle blockage.
To ensure an even application squirt onto a brush and comb through hair. (Bonus: you don’t need to worry about turning hair stiff – our foam formula uses flexible rosins, instead of the hard resins found in old school mousses.)
Not sure where to start on your Color Wow hair journey? Take our 60-second hair quiz to discover the perfect personalised routine for your hair type.
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Read more about colour care on the Color Wow Blog:
