If you have been following me over the last year, you know I have been on a journey of embracing my gray hair. And after over 9 months of growing it out cold turkey— no dye, no nothing— I finally went to the salon.

No, I didn’t cover my roots! Instead, I lightened up the ends to create a more blended, cohesive grow-out— buh bye demarcation line! And I honestly am so so happy with how it turned out!

What is Gray Blending?

There are so many different techniques that can fall under this term— so make sure you have a good idea of what you want before heading into a salon. When I met with my hairstylist, I told her that I did not want to cover up my roots and instead lighten up the ends at much as possible.

My ends were very very warm from the hair dye fading over the last year. My main goal was to get those ends to a more neutral tone that matched my roots

How to Find a Hair Stylist for Gray Blending?

The hair stylist I went to is actually someone that did my hair 5-6 years ago. Back in the day, I used a lott of box dye to cover my roots. And it got to the point where I was in need of a color correction to lighten it up. That experience gave me so much confidence in her ability to manipulate chemicals, her technique, and her overall expertise in color theory.

In my last grow-out update, I shared that I was thinking of getting some gray blending done. Kid you not, within just a few days of that blog post being published, she posted something on Instagram about a gray blending session for another client. I immediately emailed her and got an appointment scheduled.

But how would you find someone for a similar service?? Here are a few things I would look for:

• color correction experience- look for someone who is familiar with color corrections and look at their portfolio!

• Gray blending experience- obviously, if they are marketing that they provide gray blending, you want to look at their results!

  If you are struggling to find someone, you can also call around to a few local salons and ask them if any of their stylists specialize in gray blending. This can give you a good starting point!

  If you are in Idaho and looking for someone, shoot me an email. I would love to recommend the woman who did my own hair! I highly recommend 👏
  

The Process

Now, before we get into the results.. let’s chat about the process. Because it was a bit of a long one. For context, I have very long hair that is pretty thick. I also have a lot of it.

I was in the salon for ~6 hours.. this was foiling, processing, washing, toning, cutting, and styling. It was definitely a long process. Thankfully, the hair stylist was so so kind and we chatted most of the day.

The other thing to consider is the cost— there are a lot of variables that go into the exact service but it is an expensive service. It is also a really technical process that I was happy paying a professional for to make sure it was done right. I wanted to maintain the integrity of my hair more than anything.

Plus, the idea is that this will save me a lot of salon appointments in the long run (again, another reason that I am going through this process to begin with).

My Results!

I am so so happy with how this turned out. I was getting really sick of the brassy ends, and felt like it was effecting how I was showing up in day to day life. I never wanted to do my hair, so I found myself always throwing it up, popping a hat on, and wearing a lot of gym clothes. Nothing is wrong with that— but I do notice my mental health and productivity suffer when I fall into that routine for an extended time.

Since getting my hair done, I have felt more confident overall and been far more productive. While I am all about showing up as you are, I also think there is something to be said about embracing what makes you confident (which is the whole point of my embracing my natural hair in the first place!)

And in case we need a reminder… this was where my hair was the week before getting it done!

And here is the after 😚🤌🏻 so much more blended and no more brassy ends!

And here is another picture in artificial bathroom lighting— I swear, depending on the light it looks so different.

Are you on your own journey of embracing gray hair?? I would love to hear from you— there is such community and power to be had with one another.

Kaelyn