Katie’s Gray Hair Faves
Inside: All of Katie Goes Platinum’s favorite products for gray hair
When I ditched the dye and went gray in 2018, I felt totally confused about what products to use.
So I went all-in and became a bit of a gray-hair detective—talking to my fellow gray-hair bloggers, reading articles, connecting with other silver sisters, and testing tons of products on my own hair.
Now I’m super excited to share my top picks, so that you can love your gray hair journey as much as I do!
Note: This list is updated frequently, so you can feel confident that you’re getting my current recommendations.
Please note that this article may contain affiliate links. You can read my full disclosure at the bottom of the page.
Katie’s Favorite Gray Hair Products
This list of products should encompass any products you’d need to get through your transition to gray, and to take care of your fully gray hair.
Note: To learn more about why I recommend these products, and how to use them properly, please click on the related blog posts under each section.
Blue Shampoos
Blue shampoo neutralizes brassy orange tones in fading brunette dyed hair, so it’s a great product for any brunettes who are going gray cold turkey!
Make sure to check out the related article to find out how to use it properly, as it can be very drying.
Note: Do NOT use blue shampoo unless you have brassy orange tones in your hair. It won’t hurt your hair, but there’s absolutely no need for blue shampoo unless you are trying to combat brassy orange tones.
Clarifying Shampoos
Use a clarifying shampoo once a week to remove product buildup. Clarifying shampoos can dry out your silver hair, however, so make sure to use a deep conditioner after clarifying.
My absolute favorite clarifying shampoo is Aveda’s Detoxifier. However, you can only buy it at your local Aveda salon. Do not attempt to buy it online, as the online versions are not legitimate – they are counterfeit.
Daily Shampoos and Conditioners
These shampoos and conditioners are the ones I swear by for regular maintenance. They don’t target specific problems with gray hair, but they maintain it beautifully.
By The Way Your Hair Looks Fabulous
Related: See my full review of BTW Co’s entire product line HERE
SEEN
Get 15% off all SEEN products with coupon code PLATINUM
Deep Conditioners
Deep conditioning treatments are essential after you’ve used any products that dry out gray hair (such as clarifying, blue, or purple shampoos).
If your shampoo comes with a companion conditioner, you might not need to use a separate deep conditioner. But if you find that your companion conditioner isn’t strong enough to moisturize your naturally silver hair, try a deep conditioner.
Leave the conditioner on for at least 5-10 minutes, or as directed by the manufacturer.
Hair Oils
Oils are great for tamping down gray hair flyaways, adding shine, and moisturizing.
Note: Avoid using colored oils on your gray hair as they can stain it.
These three are safe and effective:
Hairsprays
These hairsprays are effective and safe to use on gray hair:
Hair Towels
Gray hair requires a little extra care. I always wrap my hair up and let it dry for about 20 minutes before air-drying or blow-drying.
Heatless Hair Curlers
Many of us prefer to use heatless hair curlers on our naturally silver hair to avoid potential heat damage. These two work very well:
Purple Shampoos and Conditioners
Purple shampoo neutralizes yellow tones in naturally gray and bleached blonde hair. It doesn’t remove yellowing permanently but it does a great job of covering it up. If used properly, purple shampoo can also make silver hair look brighter and shinier.
Make sure to check out my purple shampoo guide to find out how to use it properly to avoid damaging or staining your hair.
Note: Do NOT use purple shampoo unless you have unwanted yellow tones in your gray hair. There’s no need for it, unless you are targeting yellow tones.
Below are my personal favorites, although lately I’ve been using Silvering’s Tonal Control instead of purple shampoo. It’s a great alternative!
Katie’s Favorite Purple Shampoos and Conditioners:
Best Budget-Friendly Purple Shampoos
- Dove Love Your Silver Shampoo
- Dove Love Your Silver Leave-In Conditioner
- Pantene Silver Expressions Shampoo
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Best Fragrance-Free Purple Shampoos and Conditioners
Best Alternatives to Purple Shampoo
Root Sprays and Powders
Root touch-up products come in handy for a lot of women at the beginning of their transition to gray hair. You can use them to either hide your roots completely, or use them to blend your newly gray hair into your fading dyed hair.
Scalp Oils and Treatments
A healthy scalp is vital for healthy hair. Massage either one of these excellent serums onto your clean scalp to promote hair growth, and prevent hair loss:
Shower Filter and Replacement Cartridge
If you don’t have a whole-house water softener, you can easily add a shower filter to your showerhead to remove minerals and other impurities that can stain your gray hair.
- AquaBliss High Output Revitalizing Shower Filter
- AquaBliss Replacement Multi-Stage Shower Filter Cartridge
Styling Products
I don’t use styling products much myself, but these products have been recommended to me by our fellow silver sisters.
- Redken Wax Blast 10 High Impact Finishing Spray
- D:fi D:struct Molding Cream
- Suavecita Pomade for Women
Sun and Heat Protection
These products will protect your gray hair from heat and/or sun damage, which will help prevent yellowing
- SEEN Blow-Out Creme
- COOLA Mist – use this in combination with the SEEN Blow-Out Creme to protect your hair if you don’t want to wear a hat.
- Wallaroo Sydney Sun Hat
Final Thoughts
I hope this list of gray-friendly products is helpful for you. If you have any questions, or would like to submit any recommendations, please comment below.
Also, if you need to find a gray-friendly stylist, check out my directory!
And for further information, make sure to check out this fantastic article about which ingredients to avoid in hair products. It’s very informative!
Please do me a favor and share this post to social media, as it helps me grow my audience and spread the word about our Silver Revolution! And remember to subscribe to my YouTube Channel and Pinterest Feed for more gray hair tips and product recommendations. Thanks!
Please do me a favor and share this post to social media, as it helps me grow my audience and spread the word about our Silver Revolution! And remember to subscribe to my YouTube Channel and Pinterest Feed for more gray hair tips and product recommendations. Thanks!
Check out my Amazon Shop for all your gray hair needs!
I am happy to read this again. I will share it with my mom.
Wonderful, thanks!
Hi,
I went gray about 2 years ago and I do miss how coloring my hair made it softer and look thicker and fuller. Is there a clear treatment for gray hair that can be applied to achieve this?
I already have fine curly hair proves to be a quite a challenge to deal with some days!
Thank you!!!
I wish I could think of one, but I’m not familiar with something like that. You might want to check out QuickSilverHair.com – she knows more about how to handle curly gray hair than I do.
I tried Joico Color Balance shampoo and it is really great. It is really fine with my hair. Thank you for sharing.
I’m so glad it worked for you!
Have you had any experience or opinions on using a semi-perm gloss conditioner such as dp hue gloss+ color while transitioning. I’m considering the dark brown to help blend the gray roots line and keep the orange at bay.
No, but that’s an interesting solution!
Hi Katie,
I absolutely love your articles and Silver Revolution. In a recent email I received you mentioned you spray your hair with coconut oil. I’d love to hear more about that and also the space buns (how many do you roll). I’m trying to get away from the heat. I appreciate your help through this journey. Thank you!
Lisa Bainter
Hi, Lisa! So glad you are enjoying the blog and SR! The coconut oil I use is this Oilology one. I love it!
And in terms of space buns, I just roll two – one on each side (like Princess Leia, but higher up on my head) – and I secure them with an elastic or clip. You could do more, but it comes out great even with just two. I’ll try to do a video about it soon!
I love, love, love the BTW life-changing leave-in conditioner. It smells so good and my wavy hair feels brand new. Especially in the winter when it is really dry here in Colorado.
I’m so glad you love it! Me, too – it’s my regular conditioner now (and my whole family uses it, too)!
Dear Katie
I have been relaxing and dying my hair since my twenties, now I am 80 and I really want to stop dying my hair dark blonde.
Could you give me some advice in how to go gray.
My hair has the tendency to go orange right after the relaxing procedures…In order to avoid dying I use a hair coloring that last 3 or 4 weeks..
Too much work. Please give me some advice. I live in the Republic of Panama in Central America. thanks
I began my real gray transition in October 2017, right before our daughter’s wedding. I actually had it, gray highlighted to get rid of my previous store bought dyes but have never colored it since. I only recently developed a yellow streak on the top of my head. I had it professionally deep treated and toned and have been using Joico Purple shampoo and conditioner regularly with no further result. I am placing an order for Overtone’s darkest silver treatment and can’t wait! My daughters love my gray hair and my husband has always teased about me being older (which I am not; I’m just more mature!) but he loves it too. Yes, Katie, going gray is freeing and it reminds me of all the things I loved about my grandparents and gives me hope that I will be a wonderful Grandma someday too!
Wonderful, Dee! I love that connection with your grandparents. It’s a great way to connect with our ancestors, that’s for sure!
Just thinking about going gray I am tired of the expense and I am nearly 70. I have read and asked questions of my salon and online. I want to know if I use a clarifying shampoo for a while or Head and Shoulders will this gradually strip away the color ( medium blond) and let the natural gray show. Will the gray show naturally or will it be some funky color? Is there something else I have to do at the same time? Purple shampoo? I can’t afford the salons near me for a process that would take hours and weekly visits. HELP! Could it be as easy as washing the permanent color away with shampoo? Thanks CONFUSED!!!
Hi, Roxanne! A lot of women (myself included) used clarifying shampoo once a week to fade the dye. It worked, but I think it DID make my dark brunette dye turn brassy orange. If your dyed hair is blonde, I don’t think it should affect you too much? (Head & Shoulders is another option). If your fading dye turns brassy yellow, use purple shampoo to help tone it down. It shouldn’t be too difficult! Good luck!
Hello, Have you heard of or reviewed a line of products out of the U.K. called White Hot? They carry an every day formula (if you’re so inclined), and a once weekly violet “luminous” line for silver hair. They ran a special where it was BOGO so I tried them. Ordered one from each line, and the product was nice, and smelled wonderful, but prohibitively expensive (shipping charges and all).
If you know of them, which products made here are comparable.
Thank you for your consideration on this subject.
Hi, Vickie – Yes, Louise from the UK recommended White Hot Hair products, if I remember correctly. I think any of the products I have listed above under “To Brighten Silvers” should work the same way. Also, have you tried the BTWCo. products yet? They are all listed above and they are excellent! Lauren, the founder of BTWCo. is a silver sister herself (with gorgeous long gray hair) and she invented them. I love the ones I’ve used and I’ve only heard good things from other silver sisters. You might want to try her purple shampoo and conditioner, and her life-changing leave-in conditioner is amazing! You don’t want to use purple shampoo every day (just once a week or so), so I would get her daily moisturizing shampoo for days in-between. I use it and really like it so far. Hope this helps!
Thank you, I’m trying to get rid of my blonde and go down the natural way of my hair. I’m fed up of having it coloured every couple of months for the grey to rear it’s pesky roots. I am going to try the head and shoulders anti dandruff shampoo, in between washes. Xx
Great, Karen! I think you’ll find that it helps. Just make sure to deep condition afterward, so your hair doesn’t get too dry. 🙂
Hi Katie. I went natural about two years ago and love it. But I’m always in search of styling products that will provide good hold and a little shine without discoloring my grays. Could you add some styling product recommendations?
Sure, Kim! I’ll look into it and update the list soon. xoxo
Dear Katie,Thanks for your blog, it is the best!I am just at the very beginning of that journey.I have the exact same “conflict” to overcome that you have: a brunette hair dye growing out very slowly with a strong demarcation line.
I was looking in your blog for a weekly manual of how to fade out the dye gently at the beginning of that journey. The demarcation line is sometimes a challenge for me so I want to soften the brunette as much as possible!
So far I found:once a week a clarifying shampoo by neutrogena plus the quick silver Kaolin mask.
Is this correct?I did not find the clarifying shampoo amongst your products.Did you ever try Vitamin C?Do you have any recommendations? THanks Judith
Judith, so glad you like the blog! Oops – forgot to add the clarifying shampoo to this list. It’s on my Resources Page – it’s actually called Neutrogena Anti-Residue shampoo. I love it! I haven’t tried Vitamin C…what is it supposed to do?
Some people say that Anti-Dandruff Shampoo Fades the Dye. For me, the Neutrogena has really helped, and I always follow it up with the Joico K-Pak Intense Hydrator to deep condition as the Neutrogena can dry out your hair.
Regarding the blorange, check out my posts and videos on Blue Shampoo. I don’t know if that’s a problem for you yet, but faded brunette dye often takes on an orange tone (“blorange”) that gets really brassy. Just search my posts for blue shampoo and you’ll see the experiments I did with it.
Re: the QuickSilverHair mask, I use it every so often to brighten up my whites. It’s great!
I’ll do a post soon about my exact hair routine. Still relatively new to the blogging world and it’s hard to keep up! 🙂