Make Gray Hair Look & Feel Younger: 3 Tips Every Stylist Should Try

3 Tips For A Fast Retouch To Soften & Cover Every Type Of Gray

Love them or hate them, gray coverage clients will always be a stylist’s bread and butter. We compiled three unique (and useful) gray coverage tips that we don’t think you’ve heard about! Scroll down to learn how to keep tiny streaks of color off your client’s face, how to revitalize gray hair to match your client’s soft natural texture and color brightening tips to try. 

1. Stop Parting Your Retouch Sections After Applying Color

If you struggle with micro-streaks of color across your client’s face at the end of root retouches, we may have found a simple solution. Lived-in color specialist Ashley Smith (@paintedbyashleymarie) shares a sectioning technique that will prevent the tail of your color brush from collecting excess color that somehow ends up on your client’s forehead. 

“Instead of applying the retouch and then parting out your section…section FIRST, then apply color to the top of your section before flipping over to get underneath,” Ashley explains. This easy swap of parting your section before applying color will keep any micro-specks and streaks from flying off your brush. 

Click the photo below to watch Ashley’s full demo:

2. Soften Wirey Gray Hair With This Formula Trick

If you have frustrated clients who don’t know how to work with the “new” texture their gray hair brings, try this. “Collagen isn’t just for the face,” explains BTC Team Member Kaitlyn Dattilo (@hair_bykate). “Joico LumiShine Youthlock Collagen-Infused Permanent Creme Color revitalizes hair while processing to lock in manageable smoothing and softening benefits to make grays look and feel younger!”

The best part? Add LumiShine Youthlock right into your glossing formulas for gray clients. Here’s Kaitlyn’s brunette mixture:

• Root coverage: LumiShine Youthlock Permanent Creme Color 1oz 7NN + 0.5oz 6NNA + 20-volume LumiShine Creme Developer (1:1) 
  • Process for 35 minutes
• Gloss: LumiShine Demi-Permanent Liquid Color 6NV + 5-volume LumiShine Creme Developer 
  • Process for 5 minutes 

Shop Joico’s entire color line from home! Click here to browse your new favorite products

3. Natural-Looking Gray Coverage For “Non-Color” Clients

At some point, your long-time “no color” clients will budge and request gray coverage. For those clients who have always lived with their natural hair, this can be a daunting appointment! Tahira Carter (@mrs_tahirah2) shares a natural-looking full coverage color service that only took about ten minutes.

“My client needed to add a color service to her appointment,” Tahira explains. “I used LumiShine LUMI10 Permanent Color Creme for 100% gray coverage that will last up to 30 washes.” 

Tahira’s all over, quick formula:

• Equal parts LUMI10 1N + 20-volume (6.6%) LumiShine Accelerator Cream