My Current Gray Hair Care Routine
Inside: My current gray hair care routine. This post is updated frequently.
Gray hair is not particularly high-maintenance, but there are definitely products and routines that you can use to keep your gray hair looking its best.
Part 1 is all about how I take care of my fully gray hair, but if you are mid-transition, make sure to scroll down to Part 2 which gives some info on how I took care of my transitioning hair.
Please note that this article may contain affiliate links. You can read my full disclosure at the bottom of the page.
MY WEEKLY GRAY HAIR CARE ROUTINE
WEEKDAY ROUTINE
During the week, I keep my routine simple. I leave for work at 6:30 a.m. (when I’m on time ?), so I can’t do anything fancy or time-consuming during the week.
My regular shampoo is BTWCo. Daily Moisturizing Shampoo. It’s light and leaves my hair feeling quite soft. It’s silicone and sulfate-free, which I like!
After shampooing, I condition my hair with BTWCo. Daily Moisturizing Conditioner. It leaves my hair soft and manageable and it smells nice, too!
Since I want to minimize heat damage (to protect my gray hair from yellowing), I usually air dry my hair:
I wrap my wet hair up in a t-shirt towel and let it rest while I do my makeup/get dressed.
After about 10-15 minutes, I pat a little SEEN Blow-Out Creme on my hair with and comb it through.
I usually let it air dry – but I still use the SEEN because it provides UV protection – and in sunny California, my fine silver hair really needs that extra bit of protection.
Some days, if I’m in the mood for big waves or curls, I’ll use the Octocurl on my semi-damp hair and let it dry naturally.
On days when I feel like blow drying my hair instead of air drying, I use my Dyson Supersonic on LOW heat or NO heat – using my favorite cheapo brush . (Yes, the Dyson is expensive but it’s the only blow dryer I trust on my gray hair as it allows for such low heat – and it’s SUPER fast!)
Finally, I apply a tiny amount of serum to my hair to smooth it down and tame any wild new baby gray hairs (the kind that stick straight up!)
WEEKLY ROUTINE
Once a week or so, I use a clarifying shampoo instead of my regular shampoo to reduce product buildup.
MONTHLY ROUTINE
Once a month (more or less – I’m not super-rigid about my routines), I use QuickSilverHair Clay. It brightens my silvers, removes any discoloration from pollution or products, and makes my hair feel really soft.
I do get a little flyaway hair action going after I use it, so I spray a little QuickSilverHair Squalane Oil on my dry hair afterward to keep everything in place.
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You can read more about the product and the silver sister who invented it in my interview with Joli Campbell.
And once or twice a month, I use purple shampoo and conditioner to brighten up my silver hair and reduce the appearance of any yellowing (because, despite my best efforts, my hair still does yellow a little).
Related article: The Ultimate Guide to Purple Shampoo
WHAT DID I DO DIFFERENTLY WHEN I WAS MID-TRANSITION?
When I was transitioning from dark brunette dyed hair to silver hair, my fading dyed ends turned brassy orange.
To combat that, I used to use Joico Color Balance Blue Shampoo once a week to brighten my silvers and tone down the orange tones that occur in fading brunette dye. (I had to use it a specific way for it to work, so make sure to read How to use Blue Shampoo before you use it!)
Since blue shampoo can be drying, I always followed it up with a deep conditioner. I would leave it on anywhere from 5-30 minutes before rinsing out.
But now that my hair is all silver, I don’t have to use blue shampoo anymore.
FINAL THOUGHTS
After writing this all out, I realized I spend a lot of time and energy on my hair. That shouldn’t be a surprise, but for crap’s sake – it’s kind of ridiculous! Get a life, Katie!
Anyway, if I didn’t care about hair – mine and yours – this blog wouldn’t exist, so I’m going to put it out of my mind. I like hair, I like nice-looking hair, and I don’t care who knows it, right?
If you have any great suggestions on hair care, let me know in the comments. Thanks!
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Check out my Amazon Shop for all your gray hair needs!
Related Posts:
Interview with Joli Campbell of QuickSilverHair
Interview with Lauren Stein of By The Way, Your Hair Looks Fabulous!
My Review of Pantene Silver Expressions
Thank you, Katie, this was very informative. Are you aware that there is silicone in the White Hot Hair Oil? Ingredients from their website are copied below. I used their products at one time, but currently avoid anything with silicone, especially an oil. Thanks again for all the info you provide!
“Cyclopentasiloxane, Dimethicone, Dimethiconol, Adansonia Digitata Seed Oil, Parfum (Fragrance), Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Limonene, Citronellol, Linalool.”
Hi, PS!
Yes, I knew there were silicones in White Hot Hair Oil. I do try to avoid silicones in most of my products, but if there’s a product that I REALLY like (and it contains silicones), I just use it sparingly and I clarify my hair regularly so the silicones don’t dull my hair. Thanks for pointing that out!
Years ago there was a product called Sun Glitz,it was organic and made out of clay.It was used to highlight instead of using bleach.We had taken a class on the product so we could get the full benefits from the product,the highlights were beautiful.However,I did a highlight on a co-worker that had a perm in her hair ,as soon as the water hit her hair the highlighted hair went down the drain.We were mortified,sick! They did not tell us the clay could have a chemical reaction with hair that had been chemically processed. Could this happen with this product?
Hi, Cyntha! I’m sure it couldn’t but just in case, I’m going to ask Joli (the founder of QuickSilverHair) to comment. I’ll let her know!
Hi Cynthia, SunGlitz has organic ingredients in it and uses clay as a carrier powder but it contains bleach and is a highlighting product. What happened to your co-worker was a severe pH swing to alkalinity. Highlighting bleach is one notch in alkalinity below drain cleaner, drain cleaner is made to melt hair. My guess is, her hair was already very damaged by the perm, and the bleach melted the part of the hair you highlighted.
QuickSilverHair Clay has no bleach, activators or lifting agents. Clay would not be able to cause any chemical reaction like this. I hope this helps.
So much great information in your blog! I can’t wait to try some of these products.
Thanks
You’re welcome, and thank YOU!
You mentioned that you use Clarifying shampoo as well as the blue shampoo once a week. Do you use them together ?
Great question – I need to clarify that (pardon the pun)! No, I only wash my hair 2-3 times a week, so one day I use the clarifying shampoo…and another day, I use the blue shampoo. They are both drying, so sometimes I will skip a week.
Curious, have you tried Aveda Blue Malva by any chance for brightening? I want to brighten the silver. Only Silverati (Oribe) has done this for me in a noticeable way – but its not Cruelty Free so I don’t plan to buy again. Thanks!!
Hi, Michelle: No, I haven’t tried it yet. However, I did just buy btwco’s Purple Shampoo & Conditioner this week. I’m going to try them out. I spoke with Lauren Stein and she said this product should brighten my silvers. I’ll let you know how it goes!
Forgot to mention that her products are cruelty-free!