The older you get, the more your body starts to change. You’re sore for no reason, you get tired more easily, your skin starts to show creases and spots, your hair begins to fall out and those unsightly grays emerge to make us “distinguished.”
Unfortunately these are just things that come along with the aging process and there’s not much we can do to reverse those affects, but there are things we can do to help hide them, especially graying hair.
Since aches and pains are not our specialty here at the Limmer Hair Transplant Center, we recommend talking to your primary care physician regarding those ailments, but when it comes to the changes with your hair as you begin to age, that is where we can help.
Our whole website is dedicated to hair loss and hair loss treatment, so with this article we wanted to focus on graying of your hair, and what the differences are between different types of hair dye and grey reducing shampoos.
Not all products are created the same, so understanding the differences between these types of solutions will help you decide which may be better for you and your situation. Not everyone is created the same, so what works for one person may not be the best option for you.
Let’s take a look at the differences between hair dye found at the salon, hair dye found at your local convenience store, and grey reducing shampoos.
How Does Hair Dying Work?
If you’re looking for a more extensive explanation about how hair dye works, please check out our post about hair dye and hair loss. The basics of how hair dye works to change the color of your hair is simple though.
Hair dye uses a chemical to break down the protective outer layer of your hair, which allows the dye to penetrate and change the pigment within the hair. Different types of hair dye and grey reducing shampoos use different chemicals to obtain the final result, but the idea is very similar.
What Are the Differences Between Hair Dyes and Grey Reducing Shampoos?
Salon Hair Dye vs. Box Hair Dye
There are a couple different types of hair dye that you can use on your hair, those that you would find at a salon and then those that you would find at a normal retail store, also known as Box Dye.
Despite what you may think, these dyes are not the same and do have some noticeable differences. Which may be obvious if you’ve ever tried to dye your own hair vs. having it done professionally at a salon.
The main difference is that salon hair dye can be customized to fit the customers hair type. Your stylist has experience dying hair, therefore they are able to tell when a certain type of hair, or a certain hair color will take better to a different mixture of products.
They can manually adjust for the condition of your hair, the shade of your hair, as well as other things that you won’t be able to do with box hair dye.
Box hair dye comes in a specific concentration, which is usually more concentrated than you would need, because it has to be able to work on all different types of hair styles. A box of hair dye doesn’t know that your hair is a certain shade of brown, or that it is thinner and more brittle than the next person’s hair, so they need to ensure that it will work well on all types of hair.
A professional that has worked with hair dye will also be able to limit the chemicals needed in order to dye your specific hair, where a box won’t be able to do that. This can help prevent issues that may require a stylist to correct your coloring. Correcting a bad color job can end up costing more than just having the professional do it in the first place.
Which leads us to our next point, a good hair stylist knows what they are doing. If you’re buying box hair dye you’re more than likely going to be doing it yourself, or with a friend, at your home. This may not be too bad if you’ve done it a few times yourself already, but that experience doesn’t equate to the expertise of a trained professional stylist. Not to mention they have a much better vantage point for working on your scalp that you do. It’s impossible to see the back of your own head without the aid of at least 2 mirrors. In order to see your hair AND apply color at home, it helps to have another set of hands for the process.
A stylist should be able to ensure that you get the color and tone you’re looking for. As we said, box dye is formulated to work on a variety of different types and tones of hair, so you may not always end up with the results you’re looking for, or the color you desire.
Box dye can be a fine option if you know what you’re getting into and are ok if the results don’t turn out exactly how you desire but be aware of the risks before attempting.
Grey Reducing Shampoo
If you’re not looking to dye your hair every time that it begins to grow out, then grey reducing shampoo might be a good option for you.
When it comes to men and trying to hide grey hairs, it can be more time consuming even though they have less hair. That’s because men tend to keep their hair shorter and get it cut more frequently, which leads to having to dye the hair more frequently than a woman with longer hair.
Grey reducing shampoo helps this by building the dye into the shampoo so that you’re essentially dying your hair every time you take a shower and wash your hair.
The hair dye is surrounded by cleansing molecules that protect the hair dye until it is exposed to oxygen while being massaged into the hair. Once it is lathered into the hair, the dye is released and begins dying your hair.
Start using the grey reducing shampoo daily or every other day for about a week. Once you have reach the desired shade or color you can then alternate between the grey reducing shampoo and your normal shampoo to maintain the color. Some of Dr. Krejci’s patients use it once or twice a week and some use it almost every day, depending on the darkness they are trying to achieve.
The advantage of the gray reducing shampoo is that as the gray roots are growing in, they are constantly being subject to a small dose of color so there’s a less abrupt change in your color as there is with monthly trips to the salon or box dye. The downside is that there are less options for individualized color with the shampoos.
All of these options are great ways to help reduce the amount of grey hair on your head, but it’s also important to understand the difference between the different types of hair dye and grey reducing shampoos.
If you’re looking for more of a blended look, without having to worry about adding an extra step to your hair care routine, then the grey reducing shampoo is a great option.
If you’re looking to professionally and fully dye away those greys, then salon hair dye is the way to go. We would recommend talking with a professional stylist to figure out what type of hair dye will work best for you, but if you’re feeling bold, you can always just grab the box off the shelf and give it your best shot.
