From Grece Ghanem with her wavy micro bob to Sarah Harris’s long, polished locks and Teruko Burrell’s curly light grey bob, there are plenty of incredibly stylish women out there with grey and white hair.

And while going grey is often applauded and even seen as empowering, it isn’t yet perceived as mainstream for women under 40. Society is ageist, and grey hair isn’t seen as desirable for younger women, even if it is met with much more approval now than it was decades ago. Another issue is that not everyone feels like they suit such light-toned hair.

These are just a few of the reasons that led me to start dyeing my hair as soon as I started noticing greys in my early 20s – something that is very common but often not recommended by colour specialists, who encourage you to think twice before rushing to disguise it.

Both of my parents started to go grey early so I shouldn’t have been surprised when I started spotting grey hairs at 21. Within a couple of years, I was dying my naturally dark brown hair a rich brown-black and it looked shiny and healthy. A decade and a half later, my hair is noticeably thinner; it feels limp and damaged, and I’ve developed an almost all-white parting, which is a shocking contrast to my dark brown hair.

Having tinted my hair for over 15 years, I quickly learned that a lot of things I’d been doing had not prepared me for the time when I’d want to start embracing some of the grey in my hair, ie avoiding the harsh regrowth and dialling down the damage I’d caused to my hair by dying it every few weeks. Unfortunately, it’s not as easy as stripping your hair of the build-up of years of dye and starting again. It’s complicated. 

In hindsight, I wish I had never coloured my hair; instead, I should have opted to apply a toner to the grey hairs that came through to enhance the colour (lighter hairs are more prone to becoming discoloured as a result of the environment and toners can help add an icy fresh finish to the hair). But perhaps that’s something that is more common now than it was when I was 21, some 18 years ago. 

Hair that has been dyed hair is damaged, which means that lightening it will make the colour brassy and adding highlights may damage it further. Using natural colour is a great option, though,and something Michael John Guzzon, founder of the Michael John Guzzon salon in Notting Hill, is passionate about. He often sees women with damaged hair and always recommends using natural hair colour. He explains: “Most often I see hair that has been subjected to harsh treatments such as bleaching, straightening and excessive heat, resulting in frizz and exhaustion. My approach to hair care is different. We customise our treatments to meet your specific hair needs, targeting the internal aspects of your hair. For us, good hair signifies healthy and happy hair, free from harsh chemicals. Our aim is to bring out the natural colour and tone of your hair, resulting in thicker, shinier hair.”

Anna Wiig, a hairstylist and colourist at Taylor Taylor London and CEO of Wiig, is a blonde specialist and regularly advises clients on how to work with greying hair. “If you are just starting to notice grey hairs coming through, I would say less is more. Start with a soft semi-permanent colour – you can always build up the strength as and when you need it,” she advises. Anna recently launched Wiig, a three-in-one bond repair and toning treatment for blonde or grey hair that protects and restructures the hair and also corrects unwanted brassy and yellow tones using a unique violet tone.

Whether you want to embrace your grey hair, use natural hair dye or start small and build up your colour over time, these are the eight pieces of advice I wish I had known when I started going grey…

1. Less is More 

This is colourist Anna Wiig’s number one rule. “A permanent colour is quite full on. A soft gloss (which is a semi-permanent colour that washes out over time) won’t leave a harsh line with regrowth, so that is a great place to start,” she says. “You can gradually increase the strength of that gloss as the grey becomes more abundant.” Hairdresser Michael John Guzzon agrees: “Try to avoid a block colour. When it grows out, it gives you a straight line coming out.”

2. Find a colourist you trust

It might seem unnecessarily long-winded to set about trying to find a colourist that you love, but the value of a great colourist should not be underestimated. If you have an open and honest conversation about hair and you keep returning to someone who is invested in your hair journey you will get the best results. 

3. When you lighten tinted hair it will always go brassy

The main problem with tinting hair a permanent colour is that when you come to lighten it, the first thing that comes out are the warm, orange tones. One of the big problems with that is not only that very warm colours are often not desirable – they create a harsh contrast between the brassy hair and the ashiness of the grey regrowth. A semi-permanent gloss, rather than a permanent tint, mitigates a lot of these issues and a toner or toning treatment will help tone down the brassiness if you have already lightened tinted hair. Alternatively, if your hair is very light, highlights can help blend the regrowth.

4. Consider natural hair dye

If you already have a build-up of colour, Guzzon recommends using an almost all-natural pigment colour on the roots to add pigmentation on any white regrowth, followed by the salon’s Florazzon treatment, which repairs hair and removes all the brassiness. With this method, you can grow out any chemical colour on their hair, and then once the new, undamaged hair comes through, they can start working with the natural tones in the hair.

If you are just starting to go grey or have grown out any built-up colour, you could opt for a toning treatment, like Florazzon or Wiig, which would lighten white or grey strands and create the most natural look you can hope for. Michael adds: “Hair is thicker and shinier and your colour is completely unique to you – highlighted with your own white hair.”

5. You can colour your hair at home

If you find a colourist you like and have a good relationship with, speak to them about how to dye your roots at home in between appointments. Wiig says: “People are busy; you have to be realistic. You need to invest in a proper brush and proper colour, but I understand people with harsh regrowth may well need to top up their hair dye at home – often two or three times in between salon sessions. I only dye regrowth and I tell my clients to stick to the parting and the hairline at the sides but to leave the back as it is hard to see and can get patchy. As long as there are no more than three home hair colouring sessions, we can correct anything that needs correcting from those sessions in the salon at the next visit.”

6. Don’t go too dark or too light

“Darker hair always looks healthy, but hair dye is potent and it makes hair dry and brittle,” says Wiig, so if your hair is going grey, taking it darker will make the contrast greater. However, it will damage the texture of your hair, look more unnatural and be harder to lift eventually.

Not many people can pull off grey, but lots of people think going light will be the best thing to do as the white hair coming through is so light. But, Wiig says that going very light is also difficult. “Dyeing dark hair light makes it warm, and that contrast with the ashiness of the grey is very harsh. It’s a process, and we can start with some caramel foils, but I always say don’t go too light.”

7. Hair dye will change the density, texture and quality of hair

The damage associated with bleaching our hair is well-known, but dark dyes cause damage too. Guzzon explains: “It’s one of the main problems – the damage of the hair from colouring it with chemical dye. It causes your hair to grow thinner and thinner.” So the texture of your hair becomes damaged and the hair grows thinner. If you have thick hair that can take a little damage, it might not be a concern, but for anyone with thinning hair, it’s worth considering less damaging options like natural or semi-permanent colour.

8. Embrace the grey

Embracing your grey hair will ultimately be the best option for your hair’s condition. Some brilliant products, from toning treatments to root cover-up products, can help tone grey hairs and disguise root growth. 

Images: Michael John Guzzon; Getty; courtesy of brands